I had this moment… “I want to be an indie author!” I said to myself. Then I thought, “…well, now what?”

Making a decision about your publishing path is a great accomplishment! That means you did tons of research, wrestled back and forth with the pros and cons, thought about what was best for you and your books, and made the decision. 

But some may wonder…now what? Where do you go from here? You don’t just come across publishing advice for indies as commonly as traditional. Maybe you heard the whole indie thing is a ton of work. Yes, it is (*cough*says the one who hasn’t published yet*cough*). It can be hard to know where to start.

01. Start a Resource List

Even if you are years away from starting the publishing process, you will appreciate this list when you are ready. Being a self-published author is like starting and running your own business. You have to hire people for their services, and do tons of research before that. At this point, you don’t have a list of go-to experts to cut down on time, so being able to go to a resource list when you’re ready to publish will help you be more efficient. I’d recommend getting a new notebook (or grabbing one from the large stash I know you have 😉 ) to make these lists. Some things you can make lists for…

• Editors (developmental, line, and copy editors)
• Cover designers
• Publicists
• Book reviewers/book bloggers
• Websites or blogs that post about self-publishing
• Book interior formatters (print and ebook)
• Book tour services
• People you might want as beta readers
• Tools/apps

This can go on and on. And it might change depending on your book genre, audience, and how you want to uniquely market your books.

02. Keep researching indie publishing

There’s so much to learn and you want to be well-prepared for when your book is ready to be published! You will be ahead if you already know lots about this publishing path before hand. Subscribe to blogs and podcasts, or buy books and courses.

03. Make a list of authors similar to you

You’re going to probably want to do some cross-promotion in the future to gain new readers (and help someone else get some too). Plus, you’re going to need to get endorsements at some point. So start making a list of other authors that write in your genre and have similar books to yours. These can be indie or traditional.

And start connecting with other indie authors, following them on social media and building relationships. Not only is this encouraging, but these relationships will help you in the future.

04. Come up with a publishing plan

When you’ve done all the research and feel like you’ve chosen your team that will make your book shine (beta readers, editors, cover designers, formatters, etc.), you can make a rough plan of your publishing process. Every step up to the book release (and beyond) with the names and links of services/resources you want to use.

I used Google Documents to start mine and I went step by step. Finish first draft, self-edit (developmental), self-edit (line edit), send to beta readers, edit, send to beta readers again, edit, send to professional editor, edit, etc., etc. You get the idea. As you research indie publishing, you’ll get a better feel about how long things take and when in the process you need to get them done. For example, I would need to work with a cover designed while I’m still working with a professional editor.

Once you have this list done and you get to the point where you’re ready to start the publishing process, grab a blank calendar to start planning out exactly when each step should take place.

05. Read indie books!

Support other indie authors by buying more self-published books, reading them, and posting reviews wherever you can. Promote indie books on social media to help your fellow authors out. This will also help you with step 3.

If you chose to go the indie route, I hope this post helped you. And whether you want to go indie or traditional, I’m just glad you’re here and doing what you love. 🙂 Share with me what other things you do to prep as an aspiring indie author.

The Writer to Author blog series…

In case you missed it…

I mentioned a little while ago about a new blog series for writers wanting to start treating writing like a business and set themselves up for success in publishing. In case you missed it, below is the link to the survey so you can add your input on what this series will talk about. I can’t wait to receive your feedback!

Write to Author Blog Series Survey

Another quick note: this blog series will be accessible by password only. Email subscribers automatically get sent the access code (NOT WordPress Reader subscribers, unfortunately). So If you’re excited about this series and want to gain access, then CLICK HERE to get the password!

NaNo Update no. 4

I’ve finished. I WON! Long story short, I reached 50k on Wednesday and I am so excited! More details in my monthly newsletter coming soon. 🙂

Do you want to be an indie author? Why?

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