Self Publishing

 

Since self-publishing isn't my background, I interviewed Dana Fraedrich, self-published author of the steampunk fantasy series Broken Gears. Warm-hearted and serious about craft, Dana is not only the friendliest writer on the block, she's also eager to help others find their way in the writing world. Learn more through her on social media below, and check out her website here: 

https://www.wordsbydana.com/

Gill: In your view, what's the difference between self-publishing and traditional publishing?

Fraedrich: With self-publishing, it’s right there in the name--self. You’re taking on everything yourself by essentially starting up your own publishing house. Congratulations! You’re a business owner. You source your editor, your cover designer. And you’re responsible for paying for them too. You’re responsible for all the marketing. You create the launch plan and upload the book and choose to which platforms it will be distributed. It’s all on you.

Whereas, with traditional publishing, the publisher handles all that for you. They pay the editors and marketers and cover designers. Your agent, if you have one, handles the contracts and negotiations. It’s two very different paths to the same goal.

Gill: ​Is self-publishing a better idea for certain genres, styles, or voices? 

Fraedrich: I don’t think either self-publishing or traditional is better or worse. Some genres, styles, or voices might simply be harder to find an agent or publisher for if you decide to go traditional. The thing to remember with traditional is that publishing houses are businesses. They’re going to pick up what they think will sell. It might be that your book’s market is currently saturated, meaning a traditional publisher doesn’t want yet another book of that type right now.

Does that mean you should go straight to self-publishing? That depends on what you want for your career. If you don’t want to run your own business, as you have to when you choose to self-publish, and you really want to just go traditional, that’s okay. Put the book that didn’t get picked up in your trunk and move onto the next book. Maybe one day, once the market changes a bit, that first book will get picked up. Or maybe, once you’re in a different place in your life, you will want to self-publish it.

Gill: ​What questions should you ask yourself to know if self-publishing is right for you?

Fraedrich: I have a blog entry that goes into all of this, from looking at the reasons why you want to publish in the first place to the nitty-gritty of which goal types match best with which publishing path. You can find that here:
www.wordsbydana.com/blog/2019/12/15/should-you-go-the-traditional-or-self-publishing-route

Gill: ​Are there any myths or misunderstandings about self-publishing you’d like to address? 

Fraedrich: Firstly, one of the biggest ones is that self-published books aren’t as good as traditional. That they haven’t received the same level of editing or formatting quality. That self-published authors aren’t good enough to be traditionally published. This simply isn’t true. The self-publishing world is full of phenomenally talented writers, editors, cover designers, etc. Are there examples out there of poorly done books? Yes, but there are so, so many more brilliantly done self-published books. Again, it’s just a different path to the same goal.
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Secondly, I’d like to dispel the myth that self-publishing is easier than traditional publishing. Pardon me while I laugh. Believe me when I say it. Is. Not. Remember what I said earlier about every single step in the process and all the bills being on you and only you and no one but you? Trust me, it’s not easy. Not in the slightest.

Gill: ​Once you decide to self-publish your book, where do you start? 

Fraedrich: Whew, this is a tough one because you can start any number of places. Speaking as someone who had no idea what I was doing when I first started down this road, though, I think research will benefit the first-time self-publishing author the most. This blog post

​ https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2020/03/13/how-to-self-publish-a-book/

from massively successful self-published author Joanna Penn is a great jumping off point. In the post, she’s collected a ton of her starter advice into one place, and you can get her book on self-publishing, which covers the process from square one, there too.

Gill: ​What’s the biggest reward of self-publishing? The biggest challenge? 

Fraedrich: I’ll start with the biggest challenge, which is something I’ve already mentioned: the fact that everything is on you. There are so many steps involved with self-publishing, so many little things to check and keep tabs on—when will you editor be done with the first round of edits and how much time does that leave you to make those edits before getting the manuscript back to them for the next round? What’s my budget? And if I need a change made to the cover design, how much will that eat into said budget? How will that affect my time table?
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Then again, there’s a huge feeling of satisfaction when you hold the completed book in your hands for the first time. Knowing you did this, you coordinated all the things to make this come together. It’s an achievement to be extremely proud of.

Gill: What else should people know?

Fraedrich: ​I’ve talked a lot about how hard the self-publishing life is, which is true. But you should also know you’re not alone. There are fantastic indie author communities all over the place. Mine happens to be on Instagram. Reach out, make friends, and you’ll see there are hundreds and thousands of people out there with the same doubts and worries as you. Hang onto one another, lift one another up, and be kind to both others and yourself. If we all do that, we’ll all be okay.

Gill: ​Do you have any more resources or links that would be useful? 

Fraedrich: Boy, do I! Truth be told, I have too many to link here, so I’ve created a handy Resources page on my website where everything is helpfully categorized. There are even more links in some of those listed, so get ready to be prepared!
https://www.wordsbydana.com/resources

And feel free to reach out to me on my Contact page if you need help:
​ https://www.wordsbydana.com/contact

Thanks to Dana for taking the time to answer these questions. And whether you decide to self-publish or go traditional, we wish you the best of luck!