Tuesday 3 February 2015

IWSG February: Am I crazy...?

Welcome to February's IWSG post! You can check out the official IWSG website here!



This week I made an announcement about my novel Synthetica – I've decided to self-publish it. My proposed publication date is 1st April, which is less than 2 months away now. I am so so excited about the prospect of self-publishing. And yet I can't help asking myself: am I completely crazy??

There's a part of me that feels like a huge fake. What on earth do I think I'm doing? There's no way I can organise everything in two months! I've got to do the final tiny edits to the book, I've got to finalise the cover design, I need to email other bloggers to see if they'd be interested in reviewing it, if I'm having a blog tour, I need to book it in ASAP for April. Don't get me wrong, I do love being busy, but there are moments when the panic descends and I completely freeze.

But there's also a bigger issue. Whenever I read about other people self-publishing their novels, I think, that's great, good for you! And yet, the idea of me self-publishing a novel seems absurd. Who am I to think that my novel is good enough for the world? This time last year I didn't even have a novel to publish – what makes me think it's even any good to be published now?? I feel like I'm missing out on some huge secret in self-publishing, or that I'm missing a step and I don't know what it is. Essentially, I think this comes down to the question I seem to ask myself everyday, no matter what I'm doing: Am I doing this right??

There's a lot more leeway in self-publishing that traditional publishing (found a major mistake in your manuscript? Cover not working for you anymore? Simply take it down and re-work it til you're happy!), but even so, I've always been someone who strives to get it right first time. I'm so scared of being a failure before I've even begun. I guess at the end of the day, if I let these doubts overwhelm me, I'll never have the confidence to publish my novel.

It's like anything in life - you don't know until you've tried. But it would be nice to know that I'm not just stumbling my way through everything for once ;).

14 comments:

  1. You'll be all right! Two months is cutting it close, but you can do it.
    There are a ton of resources at the IWSG site, plus a ton of members who have been down that path and can help. I can put you in contact with more than a dozen if you need help.
    Congratulations on making the decision!

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    1. Thank you so much, Alex :)! You're not going to believe it, but the very first thing I did when I made the decision to self publish was to head over to the IWSG and bookmark a load of pages! I've been reading through all the resources every day, and they're fantastic :)! Thank you so much for your support!

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  2. Like Alex said there is a lot of help out there. The best you can do is put out the best book you can. The most important part is that you should be happy with your end result. You can do this!

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    1. Thanks Murees :)! You're right - so long as I'm happy with my book, that's all that matters. And if it's not going to be ready, at least I can be flexible with my deadline if need be :)!

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  3. I think everyone feels like this to some extent. It's all on you and you worry you'll forget something, or mess something up. But you'll get it all sorted out and it will be great! :)

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    1. Thank you, Rachel :)! I always tend to over-think things haha - which is why I end up making so many lists, so I don't forget anything!

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  4. Publishing is always a bit scary, but you're right, there's leeway in self-publishing and even the deadline can be moved a bit if necessary. Good luck!

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    1. Thanks, Lexa! Exactly! I think I'm just so worried about not getting it right first time, but let's be honest, who ever DOES get things right first time ;)? All I can do is try my best :)

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  5. Congrats on deciding to self-publish! I can only imagine the stress you must be feeling. Be confident in what you've created. And it's like you said, if you find a mistake later, you can always fix it. Good luck! :)

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    1. Thank you, Kristin! What a lovely pep talk :)! That's my biggest issue - confidence. But if I want to write for a living, I've got to learn to believe in myself (and my books)! Thank you :)!

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  6. Because you are asking those questions, I believe you'll do really well with self-publishing. Insecurity in this case is a good thing, because it means you'll pay attention to the details.

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    1. Thanks so much, Lynda :)! That's really nice to hear - I think there's still a bit of a stigma around self publishing, and this idea that self published authors don't always pay attention to the little things, but that's definitely not the case!

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  7. Congratulations on your decision to self-publish. I admire those of you who tackle that...it seems very complex to me! All of the steps necessary just to format it. People ask me how to self-publish all the time and I just tell them there are many people online qualified to answer that question!

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    1. Thank you, Stephanie :)! Haha, I was the same! The only reason I vaguely hope I know what I'm doing is because I researched self publishing as my major project at uni! So that gave me a little insight into the process - which I'm very grateful for now! But there are tons of resources out there from self published authors, who are much much more experienced than me!

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