5 THINGS I LEARNED FROM SELF-PUBLISHING THE EVERFLAME
SERIES
You
must figure things out on your own
So, you have a
manuscript, now what? Well, the truth is that unless you have a lot of
financial backing, then you’d better learn to become a jack-of-all-trades. When
I started trying to figure out what I was going to do with the first Everflame book in 2009, I had no
money. I was working a minimum-wage job while going to school to get a degree
in graphic design. I had to use the resources that were available to me. So, I
used a graphic design program, Adobe InDesign, to layout Everflame, and then made it available
at Lulu.com, a print-on-demand website. Lulu.com was free to use, and they only
charge you once you order a book. (Note
from Captain Obvious: ordering one book is monumentally cheaper than paying a
publisher to print a run.) Now, I was lucky that I had a great program like
InDesign available to me, but I had to learn how to use it. It took long hours
and persistence. Most computers have a program you can use to layout text. It’s
up to you to master that program, as well as any other program or resource you
may need for help. When I wanted to convert Everflame
to ebook, I had to learn to do it myself and find a cheap resource to do so.
Professional editing of a book costs roughly $2,000. I had to improve my
editing skills and resubmit versions of Everflame
as I improved. The list continues, and you have to be willing to do research to
figure out how to fix your problems and get what you want. Being a
self-published author is a fight, and the more you can do, the stronger you
will ultimately be.
Getting
reviews is the key
The best thing
you can have going for your book is a list of good reviews, so spend time
figuring out how you can get those reviews. Reviews are the first thing a
reader will look for before they will take a chance on your book. If you don’t
have any reviews, no one will take that chance. Here is a dirty little secret
for you: When I first released Everflame, and
had no reviews, I created my own reviews and posted them as other people. I had
friends and family post reviews. I created online profiles of people that
didn’t exist and used those profiles to review Everflame. Was it underhanded? Yes. Did it work? Absolutely.
You’d
better have some thick skin
“This reads like a fourth grader's first creative
writing assignment.”
Yup, that is an
actual quote from an actual reader. Another reviewer wrote that Everflame was literally the worst
book they had ever read. (Isn’t that wonderful?) In the end, you have to
remember that you can’t please everyone, and some people are just vicious. You
take the criticism, and work to get better. I’m sure those are not the last
scathing reviews I’ll receive, but each one makes me all the more grateful for
the glowing reviews I do get, as well as grateful for the fact that my good
reviews far outweigh my negative reviews.
Get
comfortable with promotion
When I was
starting out, I advertised Everflame on Craigslist, under the “free” section.
It was completely against the policy of the website, and the ad was taken down
soon after, but I received a lot of downloads from it. In fact, I spent a lot
of time that year finding places that I could post about Everflame online. I joined online
fantasy communities just to talk about Everflame,
and I filled out every free book listing I could find. I sent bookmarks to
local bookstores. I did anything and everything I could think of that was
within my meager budget. To this day, promotion is something I’m constantly
looking to improve upon. My most recent ideas have been contests to
promote fan interaction and I’ve also tried creating Everflame-themed internet memes. (You never know what might end up
going viral).
Never
give up and never stop improving
All told, the
number one thing that self-publishing has taught me is that you can never give
up. You never know when or where your break might come, but you’d better be
ready for it, and willing to fight for it. I love writing, and because I have
that love I know I will continue to work at and improve my craft. If you love
writing, and have considered self-publishing your work, I’ll leave you with
words from Densa at the end of Everflame
4: As the Darkness Waits:
I go forth with my love, knowing nothing can stop me
now.
The world is old and full of lies,
But also full of truth,
And here between the earth and sky the questions fall to you.
Long ago, when the earth was young, four ancient beings created man to be the bastion of the earth and its creatures, but when the Great Tyrant came and chased the Ancients away, the world was transformed into a place of fear and isolation. Over time, humans lost their connection with a world they had been created to protect, they forgot the ways of their ancient creators, and accepted the Tyrant’s lies as truths from the mouth of a god.
Now, deep in the forests that surround Gray Mountain, two bears find a small child that is abandoned and left for dead. The bears name him Evercloud, raise him as a member of their kingdom, and teach the boy of the Ancients, all underneath the light of the Everflame, the flame that burns atop Gray Mountain as a monument to the integrity and spirit of the bears.
As Evercloud grows, rumors reach the bear kingdom of the Ancients’ return, and now the young man must leave his home to find them, and help save the world he holds dear.
Will Evercloud lose himself in the darkness of the Great Tyrant’s lies, or will he have the courage to judge his own heart, the strength to master the darkness, and the faith to follow his purpose until it burns within his heart like the Everflame?
