Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Self Publishing: Goose Your Muse Tips for Creatives
    10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Self Publishing: Goose Your Muse Tips for Creatives
    10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Self Publishing: Goose Your Muse Tips for Creatives
    Ebook109 pages1 hour

    10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Self Publishing: Goose Your Muse Tips for Creatives

    By Yvonne Kohano

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Don’t be an unsuspecting novice when you enter the indie publishing world. I learned self-publishing the hard way, by trying things and making mistakes and fixing them. Learn from my blunders and avoid wasting time you could better spend releasing your title and moving on to your next creative work. This guide offers ten areas to consider so you can become a successful indie author.

    Three factors are key: offering quality words to your readers, maintaining control over your products, and finding and holding on to dedicated followers. I provide advice and descriptions of how I’ve tackled these challenges. Each topic could be a book by itself, and maybe someday, I’ll write those too. For now, this guide gives you an overview of what issues you might face. Once you have a grip on those, you’ll know where you want to next dig deeper and learn more.  

    About the GOOSE YOUR MUSE Tips for Creatives Series: Building blocks for your best creative self! Being creative can be the ultimate joy – or a disappointing challenge. What if you could eliminate the painful parts, like running the business side or running out of ideas? This series is designed for creatives types in any field, with advice on keeping the fun in our daily creatives lives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKochanowski Enterprises/Nanokas Press
    Release dateOct 9, 2017
    ISBN9781940738604
    10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Self Publishing: Goose Your Muse Tips for Creatives

    Read more from Yvonne Kohano

    Related to 10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Self Publishing

    Related ebooks

    Reference For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Mistakes Not To Make

      Apr 6, 2023

      With more than 4 million sales in her DCI Tom Douglas series, Rachel Abbott is one of the world’s most successful self-published writers. Here, so you can learn from her experience, she outlines what she got wrong when she started her self-publishing

      6 min read

    • Article

      Healthy Helping

      Oct 18, 2021

      Healthy Helping
      4 min read

    • Article

      Turn The Beat Around

      Oct 30, 2019

      Turn The Beat Around
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Quest For The Edge

      Jun 14, 2021

      A friend of mine is the marketing director of a California winery. One day, she called to ask if I’d be willing to help create brands and write labels for the bottles. “Why me?” “We’re seeing a trend toward consumers wanting stories,” she said. “They

      10 min read

    • Article

      Publishing Your First Book

      Feb 14, 2018

      SHELLY ORIA is the author of New York 1, Tel Aviv 0 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), which earned nominations for a Lambda Literary Award and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, among other honors. Recently she coauthored a digital novella, C

      9 min read

    • Article

      Publishing Your First Book

      Feb 7, 2018

      SHELLY ORIA is the author of New York 1, Tel Aviv 0 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), which earned nominations for a Lambda Literary Award and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, among other honors. Recently she coauthored a digital novella, C

      9 min read

    • Article

      Lessons Learned

      Oct 10, 2022

      Everything about writing, selling, and promoting a book is hard. And sometimes, no matter the diligence and creativity you bring to the project, success eludes you. If this describes your experience, you’re not alone. Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Funny You Shouldask

      Jan 30, 2019

      Dear FYSA, What are your favorite productivity hacks from high-volume clients? Sincerely, Seeking Shortcuts Dear Shorty, Ah yes, the age-old question: How do I get the most by doing the verrrrry least? It’s basically my zen kōan. Oh how I wi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Ways To Level Up

      Feb 1, 2020

      Ways To Level Up
      8 min read

    • Article

      Is This Good For You?

      Jul 7, 2022

      Is This Good For You?
      5 min read

    • Article

      Is This Good For You?

      Jul 7, 2022

      Is This Good For You?
      5 min read

    • Article

      Got A Shiny New Idea?

      Nov 14, 2020

      Got A Shiny New Idea?
      5 min read

    • Article

      Knowledge Is Power

      Mar 3, 2022

      Knowledge Is Power
      5 min read

    • Article

      Christina C. Jones

      Feb 13, 2023

      90+ books including: Ante Up, Equivalent Exchange, Behind the Scenes, Love Notes, Wonder (Romance in nearly all the subgenres, mostly contemporary) WHY SELF-PUBLISH? I chose to self-publish because I love the freedom of giving exactly what I want to

      2 min read

    • Article

      Write What You Love

      Jul 6, 2023

      Write What You Love
      5 min read

    • Article

      Publishing Insights

      Nov 2, 2020

      Publishing Insights
      4 min read

    • Article

      Deciding to Self-Publish

      Dec 21, 2021

      Whether you’ve been querying for a while or are still considering how to get your book into the world, self-publishing might have crossed your mind. The great thing about self-publishing is that technically, it’s open to anyone and provides opportuni

      4 min read

    • Article

      NOT by the BOOK

      Aug 19, 2022

      NOT by the BOOK
      5 min read

    • Article

      Make The Scene

      Mar 2, 2023

      Make The Scene
      6 min read

    • Article

      Switch It Up!

      Jan 5, 2023

      Switch It Up!
      5 min read

    • Article

      Beat The Blues

      Jan 4, 2024

      Beat The Blues
      5 min read

    • Article

      Rethinking Procrastination: Maybe It’s Not So Bad After All?

      Feb 9, 2021

      Estimated reading time: 7 minutes — Writing a second book should be much easier than writing your first, right? After all, you know what it takes so it should be a breeze. Oh, how I wish that was the case for me, but alas it was just the opposite. B

      4 min read

    • Article

      Planting Seeds

      Jan 4, 2024

      Planting Seeds
      6 min read

    • Article

      Q&A: Dorie Clark

      Sep 24, 2021

      What’s the most important advice you would give someone just starting out in their career to help them achieve a successful and fulfilling professional lifestyle? It’s essential to make sure you’re running your own race, rather than following the pat

      3 min read

    • Article

      Milking the Cow, Part 1

      Aug 7, 2023

      The art and craft of writing nonfiction. Making a living as a freelance writer can be challenging. I know because I’ve faced every obstacle the job can throw at a writer, from uncooperative sources and unresponsive editors to uncompromising deadlines

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for 10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Self Publishing

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Self Publishing - Yvonne Kohano

      About 10 THINGS

      Don’t be an unsuspecting novice when you enter the indie publishing world. I learned self-publishing the hard way, by trying things and making mistakes and fixing them. Learn from my blunders and avoid wasting time you could better spend releasing your title and moving on to your next creative work. This guide offers ten areas to consider so you can become a successful indie author.

      Three factors are key: offering quality words to your readers, maintaining control over your products, and finding and holding on to dedicated followers. I provide advice and descriptions of how I’ve tackled these challenges. Each topic could be a book by itself, and maybe someday, I’ll write those too. For now, this guide gives you an overview of what issues you might face. Once you have a grip on those, you’ll know where you want to next dig deeper and learn more. 

      About the GOOSE YOUR MUSE Tips for Creatives Series: Building blocks for your best creative self! Being creative can be the ultimate joy – or a disappointing challenge. What if you could eliminate the painful parts, like running the business side or running out of ideas? This series is designed for creatives types in any field, with advice on keeping the fun in our daily creatives lives.

      Contents

      About 10 THINGS

      WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK

      MY STORY AND I’M STICKING TO IT

      1 – WRITE NEW WORDS FAST

      What Writing Fast Means

      How I Do It

      Avoiding the Research Rabbit Hole

      Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation

      Plot Shifts

      Out of Ideas – Not

      If Writing Fast is Impossible

      2 – EDIT SLOW

      The Voice in Your Head

      Point of View Pitfalls

      Multiple Passes

      More Pets to Play With

      Synonyms and Vibrancy

      Editing Roundup

      3 – DECIDE ON BRANDS AND STANDARDS

      Format and Layout

      Interior Standards

      Your Social Footprints

      Consistent Themes and Styles

      In Charge of YOU

      4 – PREPARE YOUR BOOK FOR RELEASE

      Trustworthy People

      Paying People

      Learning New Skills

      Your Three-Legged Stool

      5 – OWN YOUR ISBNs

      Following the Money, Part One

      How Many ISBNs

      Barcodes

      Copyright

      Keeping Your Control

      6 – DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY

      Following the Money, Part Two

      Get It in Writing

      Who Else Do I Need?

      I Can’t Afford This!

      7 – DOCUMENT YOUR METADATA

      Metadata Recordkeeping

      Numbers in One Place

      Leaving a Trail

      8 – AVOID TECHNOLOGY DISTRACTIONS

      WORD COUNT COMES FIRST

      One Place You Shouldn’t Scrimp

      Social Media, Blogging and Other Hubbub

      Learn Your Audience

      Email List Control

      Technology as a Tool

      9 – PROMOTE THYSELF

      Promotion = Our Responsibility

      Easy Outreach

      Trained Extrovert Made Simple

      Cue the Business Cards

      DON’T Do This If You’re Not ‘On’

      Little Bites, Little Wins

      10 – BUILD YOUR WRITING TRIBE

      Networking Breeds Success

      How I Built My Tribe

      Introverts Hate Conferences

      Writing Community Nonwriters

      THE FINAL RULE

      Also by Yvonne Kohano

      About the Author

      WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK

      It KILLS me to know writers, dedicated and excited and just a little scared, stumble when it comes time to self-publish their book. I hate seeing them weighted down by honest mistakes they could have avoided, if only they knew who to ask. I’d love to help each of them find the WAY without the hassle and pain.

      I began releasing my fiction books in a time that seems like the dark ages now, and yet, it was only a shade over five years ago. Some things have gotten better and become easier. Other things, sadly, remain a challenge.

      Learn enough here to decide where you spend your time and money next.

      I’ve taken what I know to be true, from my own experiences and those of friends and close acquaintances, plus lessons taught in countless workshops, and put them into these ten considerations for anyone considering self-publishing. Many of these apply to traditional publishing too, so listen up if you’re heading down that road.

      I know this isn’t everything people need to know at a level of detail that answers all the questions. Each topic could be its own book, and maybe I’ll write those someday. For now, I want to evangelize on what I think it is important for you to consider as you prepare your wonderful story, memoir or self-help account for blast-off into the big world of readership.

      To avoid misunderstandings, this is not EVERYTHING you need to know about self-publishing, but it is enough to have you thinking about where to take your next deep dive and invest time and money. Much of what I refer to in specific examples focuses on fiction writing. The rules apply to more than the storytelling world, however. Take away what you need and apply it as it best fits your writing environment.

      In this book, I’ve provided tips on how to bypass road blocks to your success, speed toward completion of your journey, and relax at a peaceful rest area when each phase is completed. There are a few givens in here, and in other places, I outline your options. When you come to a fork in the road, it’s always good to know what lies ahead along each path.

      What I know, I know from experience. The brutal, costly, painful kind. Don’t make my mistakes. Avoid the accidents and detours, and you’ll have yourself a pleasant, enriching indie journey.

      Let’s take this trip together!

      MY STORY AND I’M STICKING TO IT

      I didn’t know what I didn’t know, despite hours, days, weeks of researching. I have more folders of workshop materials than I want to count. I could have taken a very nice vacation – or three – on the money I spent to learn things – and still, I didn’t know.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1