Start Early

 Happy Wednesday!

So a few weeks ago a friend of mine and I were talking about what it's like to be a self-published author. I mentioned how I wish I had started early with my brand and marketing and social media and all that good stuff before publishing my first book. When I published Weapon Icean, I had no idea what I was doing. I just thought I'll publish my book, and there's that. It'll sell itself, and I don't really have to do anything. That was back in 2016 when I was 17. Five years can change a lot in the publishing and self-publishing industry. Branding has become a buzz word in the author community. Everyone's all about your personal brand, about being on social media and creating a community. It's about learning how not to be smarmy with your selling, but to build an authentic community of readers. But back when I was 17 in 2016... I had never heard the word branding in the same sentence as self-publishing. All I knew about self-publishing was that you had complete control over your book, and it was easier than traditional publishing. That was why I self-published Weapon Icean, because I thought it was the easier route. Little did I know that it is just as difficult and time consuming as traditional publishing.

What I mean by starting early is not to start too early. This really comes down to knowing yourself and following your intuition. For me, I just knew Weapon Icean was the book. Before Weapon Icean I had written at least 5 or 6 full length books and so, so many half-finished or unfinished drafts. But when I sat down to write Weapon Icean, I knew that this was the one I was going to publish. It was the right book. So, in terms of starting early... start when you write and/or finish the book that you just know is the one you're going to publish. Even if that first draft is a complete mess and it's going to take a year or more to get it ready to publish. If you love that book to death, feel passionate about it and would work on it till the end of time to make it publishable, then that's the one. That's when you should start.

What do I mean by start? I mean figuring out social media, having a website and starting a newsletter. It all sounds super overwhelming and daunting, but if you work on these things in little bites, it's not so hard. Personally, Instagram is my favorite and I think the easiest and best way to slide into the bookish and writer community. Since being a part of the bookstagram and writer community on there I've met a lot of amazing self-published authors and all of them have one thing in common: they all have their own brand. And by brand, I mean, they know themselves so well that they are completely authentically themselves in what they share on their pages. Their feeds have their own unique vibes that fit who they are as a person. Some are silly, some are heartfelt, some accounts revolve around their WIPs and characters. Some of them only post quotes from their books or writing quotes and WIP and character aesthetics like @lina_amarego_writes. Some are personal, heartfelt and meaningful like Jenni Sauer's account and some are a mix of about their WIPs, writing, and personal, meaningful content like Gabriella Slade. I'm a bit of a mix in that I mostly post bookstagram pictures, but I've also started branching out into aesthetics and more personal/meaningful content.

I could write a whole other blog post on how to set up your Instagram for beginning writers/authors. But when I saw starting early, one of the main things I wish I had done before publishing Weapon Icean was building a community and a following on something like Instagram first. The launch would have gone a whole lot better and maybe been more successful if I had. I would use discernment on when it's the right time to start, although I think anyone can and should have an Instagram. Even if you don't have a book, you're ready to publish or getting ready to publish, you can still take some fun bookish pictures and have fun in the bookstagram community.

I would definitely recommend a blog. I know some people aren't into blogs or just don't have the time to keep one up. There are sometimes (usually in the middle of a busy college semester) that this blog goes unused for too long. But I love blogging. I love having this space, my own little corner of the internet, where I can share whatever I want. This is a space for my thoughts and my writing to be seen and read by anyone and everyone who comes across it and I love that ability and that space to be able to share my writing in that way. Some people might get caught up on what to even write about. I've come to realize that this is my blog... I can write what I want on it. I can write about writing, I can do book reviews if I want, I could write a whole post about one of my WIPs or I could write about my faith. This is my space. And your blog will be your space which means you can write whatever you want on it. If not a blog, then you should definitely get a website set up.

Before last year I had heard of newsletters by others in the author community, especially in the self-publishing author community... but they just seemed like too much work to me. I didn't know anything about them or if they were worth it, so I let it be for a while. Last year I finally decided to dive into newsletters, and I realized the value in them. I view it as a more personal blog. Having a newsletter gives you your own space outside of social media. A few people I follow on social media has talked about how, what if social media went down? What if it went dark for a while or what if Instagram moved out of its popularity and a new app took its place? What would happen to your audience? You would lose them is what would happen. But with a newsletter you have people's emails. Email is never going to go away. It has withstood the test of time already. Kirsten Oliphant calls email the cockroach of communication because it has and will continue to survive the onslaught of new technology. A newsletter following is permanent and consistent. It can be a little hard to launch a newsletter. I'd recommend having social media and a website and/or blog before starting a newsletter. To get subscribers, you kind of need at least some people who know who you are or likes your writing and to do that you have to put yourself out there. Again, I could write a whole other blog post about newsletters, but the main thing is consistency and having a freebie. Give away a short story for free in exchange for a subscription. I use the first five chapters of Wayward as my freebie. Be consistent with when you send out your newsletter. You could send one out monthly (which is what most people do and what I do), you could send it out weekly or biweekly. Whatever you think works best for you and your audience.

So when I say I wish I had started earlier with my branding and audience, what I'm really saying is I wish I had put myself and my writing out there more before publishing my first book. I wish I had marketed myself a little better and done my research and been full educated before publishing my first book. I wish I had taken myself more seriously as a writer instead of letting my insecurities, fears and doubts get in the way.

If you want to self-publish that's great! But make sure you are fully educated before you hit publish on that book. Know your genre, find your audience, take yourself seriously as a writer. When you publish that first book you become an author and as an author you need to take yourself seriously. Put money into yourself and treat your writing like a job. Give yourself respect as the author you are. Only when I started doing that, did I really start to feel like an actual author and only then did my books start selling and I started building a following/community on all my platforms. It isn't easy, and it's a lot of work. It takes a while and honestly, progress will be slow, but I promise it's worth every second. Celebrate each and every follower and book sale you get whether it’s one, ten or hundred. Hannah Brencher says a lot that you can't fully appreciate and celebrate the hundreds if you can't appreciate and celebrate the one. That really changed my mindset to never take a single sale or follower for granted. Every one of them counts and matters and is important to me.

This post is for all you aspiring authors out there. Don't be afraid to take chances! Start somewhere. Start with an Instagram or a newsletter or a blog. Just take that risk, don't let your fears, insecurities or doubts get in the way and start somewhere on your author journey. I promise, it'll pay off.