Monday, January 7, 2013

Self Publishing: Fear It or Face It? I did Both...

Have you ever had something you wanted to do and for some reason, you just couldn't get the hang of it? Well, that's where I was with self-publishing several months ago. Oh sure I could easily publish articles using website templates, and I can find my way around Blogger okay, but for some reason, the mere thought of self publishing on Amazon like many of my writer friends were doing terrified me.

I belong to a writers group on Facebook, and the more they all talked about self publishing the more I wanted to try it. So, I had a talk with myself and said, "Look here! There is no reason you can't do this. Just get off your butt and get at it!" Yes, I can be pretty harsh with me when I think I deserve it. Well, I didn't want Me to be mad at Myself for long, so I took my own advice and decided to just jump in there and give it a try.

If you are thinking about self publishing and are procrastinating like I was, the best thing you can do is get a few friends behind you that have already done it. I bet I asked a zillion questions while I was formating my short story and getting it ready to upload. But guess what? I had a good friend that hung out on facebook's chat to answer each and every one I asked.

With each step I managed, my confidence grew. It really wasn't as hard as I had convinced myself that it was. It didn't take long, until I had everything filled out properly on Amazon's site. I had to upload a cover for my story, but once again, my friend came through for me and designed one that I just love. I will tackle figuring out how to make my own covers eventually, but for now, I was glad she had offered. Baby steps is where I am comfortable!

Let me tell you, I was in a sheer panic when I finally hit that upload button to send my story into cyber space. I watched the little wheels spinning and thought, "Oh, please let it all look okay!" Even worse was the fact that I should have been able to preview it, as it would look on a Kindle. Nope, just one more thing messing with my nerves! Somehow the page glitched and I never got to see a preview. Okay, time to panic, now!

My writer friend assured me that it was probably fine, and even if it wasn't I would be able to quickly edit, even after the story went live. okay, that made me feel a teensy bit better. Well guess what? My short story, "Night Dreams" is live on Amazon right now and available for digital download and it feels great!

So, if you have been considering self publishing your own short stories or even a full length novel and have been putting it off because it scares the daylights out of you, like it did me...I say just go for it! If you need help, let me know. I learned a lot and what I don't know, I can sure hook you up with folks who do!

Here is a peek at my brand new baby: Night Dreams





2 comments:

The Image Studio said...

Well, I just read Night Dreams and really enjoyed it. Great job and Congratulations on being published on Amazon!

Donna Thacker said...

Thank you so much for reading it Julie. I am glad you enjoyed it.