Indie Book Publishing Q&A - My Answers to 11 Questions

Sue Collier just posted my answers in the latest installment of her 11 Questions for the Indie Publisher series.

Here's a peek at just two of the questions and answers:

4) What has been the biggest surprise about self-publishing?

That so many people are still resistant to self-publishing or intimidated by it. I've often said that many authors suffer from SPIS -- Self-Publishing Inadequacy Syndrome. It's the outdated stigma that implies you only publish a book on your own if it's not "good enough" for a regular publisher. Baloney!

I believe you should put out your own book because it's a great way to get it out into the world. And your readers (the only people who really matter) generally don't care what entity published your book. They are most interested in the subject matter and you as the author.

Sure, there's a lot of effort involved in self-publishing and a bit of a learning curve (especially with your first book). But it's quite doable, and you're foolish not to take advantage of all the amazing tools at our disposal these days. Using "I'm confused about self-publishing" as an excuse won't do much to cement your legacy as an author.

5) Describe your writing process.

Luckily, I never suffer from writer's block. Years of working with magazine deadlines cured me of that long ago. I write something practically every day -- from tweets and Facebook updates to blog posts and work on my next for-sale title. I think you should always be in the process of cranking out some type of content: text, spoken-word audio, video clips, public speaking ... whatever suits your communication style.

As for the mechanics of writing, I like to come up with a strong title and topic focus first. I use that to create an outline of the chapters. Then, one by one, I focus on each little content piece as I write it.

To me, an author's life is all about sharing your message with the people who need to hear it the most. Quite often that content is freely given away in small chunks. Doing so builds awareness and, hopefully, an audience. And that growing audience is what will eventually support you financially.


Other questions include:

• What have you found to be the biggest challenge in self-publishing?
  
• How do you stay disciplined?
  
• How are you financing your publishing project?
  
• What is your favorite self-marketing idea?
  
• What advice do you have for burgeoning self-publishers?

Read all my answers on this page.

Thanks to Sue Collier for posting these on the Self-Publishing Resources site!

-Bob

The question mark photo above comes from Segozyme on Flickr.

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