This is gonna be a multi-parter, sorry! Too much to cover coherently in one video. While you're waiting on the next part: 1. Check out my summary of Will Wight's self-publishing advice which is foundational to understanding discoverability → ua-cam.com/video/0Xoqx_GUxoE/v-deo.html 2. Also, here's my previous video on why indie/self-publishing does NOT require financial privilege → ua-cam.com/video/j_D-9JXCRHg/v-deo.html 3. Or a short skit on pitching your book if you need a laugh → ua-cam.com/video/Hyc8fN7JNT4/v-deo.html
@@elf1709 I think something weird is going on with UA-cam comments! Your first one didn't show up for hours and I just found another comment on a different video that showed up 7 months late 😱 but I guess it showed up eventually 😅 Edit: and now I can't find your other comment again 😔 hopefully it's still there and not disappeared
You know what I love about your videos? You talk really fast! I have ADHD and a lot of youtubers talk slowly and my mind starts wandering off mid sentence. With your videos I have to actually pause to read the text on screen and also catch what you're saying. It's a surreal difference. Great advice overall! It seems cover > everything (well, except writing the book).
Thank you 😊 I'm so glad my videos work for you! I don't really cover writing advice because I really don't feel like I'm qualified to do so. The best videos I can recommend are Brandon Sanderson's lecture series - I've found that the tools and frameworks he goes through really work for me. Will Wight's Writing and Publishing livestream had some great tidbits too, and Mark Lawrence has a couple of videos over on his channel on the subject as well.
I can share a hack I use myself. I use play back speed function to speed up. It helps to watch to video where people who speaks in a slow pace (or other way around).
Good video and certainly a good overview of how to self-pub low-cost. Up until publishing, you could certainly do it for naught or at least very little if you're smart, skilled or prepared to learn new crafts. While crafting the book, your main expense is outsourcing expertise you don't have. You can theoretically eliminate all these costs because *you* are the key factor here. Getting people to know about your book after you've been published though...
...is absolute hell. What's worse is this famous adage from marketing experts: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."
As a reader, I’d never pre-order a book without a cover. It tells me that 1) they likely haven’t run the script through a copy editor yet 2) there’s no guarantee they’ll follow through. I like paperbacks, so you need a cover bare minimum for that I understand others might be cool with it anyway, I’m suspicious. Unless it’s a kickstarter where you’d clearly need to raise funds to pay for a book cover; that’s a different story entirely
I totally get where you're coming from! Usually the authors who can get away with selling pre-orders without a cover already have established trust with their readership. Tamsyn Muir and Tor could have published Nona the Ninth with a placeholder cover and I'd STILL buy it without blinking. Without an established readership, I think there's still things you can do to mitigate risk for the reader. Sample chapters (so you can get a feel for the quality of the writing), detailed disclosure of the steps remaining to publication, transparency about your process, a track record of timely reporting against milestones and demonstrating concrete progress towards those milestones, etc-that all helps. It's a big part of why Brandon Sanderson can raise so much money for four mystery novels (besides his reputation, the visual of the huge stack of finished drafts in the Kickstarter video was very convincing). Web serial authors are probably the extreme example of this, since they first build an audience of readers, monetize gradually through Patreon, and then work towards publishing the serialized work into a book to reach new readers.
I definitely agree. Whatever Holly Black does, I know I’m gonna love. Basically, building a reputation as a reliable person matters most if you’re trying to kickstart a book. Most of us have lived through tumblr stories not falling through so frequent updates is very vital. Isn’t the Brandon Sanderson novels in the same universe? I think writers should take note if so. It would be much easier to kickstart a universe readers already love then have a completely new one
@@floragraves5167 so 3 out of the 4 secret projects are Cosmere but one is not! All of them are standalone though. Quite a few indie authors have interconnected their series in a universe but nobody has anything as ambitious as Sanderson, who is building Dragonsteel into the next Marvel.
@@roderickhuizing4651 has it right...at least on upload days! If I can get myself organized, I usually schedule the video to go live sometime between 12-2 AM Sydney time, but a lot of the time I'm editing right up until an hour or less before then. ...so yeah, hence the lateness on Saturday morning sprints 😅
I was with you all the way during the video until you suggested selling books as a way of raising funds. Heresy! I think getting your book published isn't the problem (though most people see it as the big thing). It's actually getting people to find your book. That involves a lot more time and / or money than getting published. As a side note, I've come across several mentions that many people are actually spending quite a bit to get a traditional publishing deal as well. I've seen suggestions that people find and pay for an editor before submitting their book. Sort of makes sense. The better the book, the higher your chance of getting published.
Yeah, discoverability is getting harder and harder, and it's not even a problem unique to self-pub authors. Trad pub authors, especially small- and mid-listers suffer too, as do musicians, actors, game developers...pretty much every business is facing this problem. Still not a fan of some trad publishers moving to want manuscripts that are closer to being publication ready. I understand the industry pressures driving them to it but unless it actually means the author is getting better terms out of the deal (or at least, reimbursement for what they spent upfront on editing along royalty share lines), it just sucks for authors trying to go trad pub. EDIT - so this is the genius plan: sell old books > fund cover > publish > sell YOUR book > profit! > buy SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION PREMIUM LEATHERBOUND version of the original books you sold > ...well crap, I'm out of money again > repeat
Hello Paper Tiger! You seem knowledgeable and like such a nice person! This motivates me to tell you that it is very difficult to hear what you are saying, which seems a shame. It seems as if you are speaking very very fast, but actually apparently some digital software has compressed the audio time, eliminating all natural pauses after clauses and the end of sentences. You speak for twelve minutes without taking a breath! I suppose this makes it take up less digital space. Also the audio is quite distorted, and would benefit from a mic that is good quality and placed close to your mouth. It sounds like the very cheap and low quality internal mic that is on my Macbook. This is not helping your well thought out message. Thank you for the video, I have subscribed, and will try to decipher the video!
Yeah, print is the kicker for ISBNs. For those who are REALLY strapped for cash, then going with a D2D provided ISBN to get to IngramSpark for print distribution is probably the most affordable (and best) option, simply because as a company, they're better to work with than Amazon or IngramSpark, neither of whom are really author-centric. I don't like some of the ways in which D2D/Smashwords explains ISBNs though. While not technically wrong for the most part, I think it gives a very slanted picture of the situation. Like the Smashwords FAQ which states: "You can obtain a free ISBN from Smashwords that registers Smashwords as your publisher. Although it registers Smashwords as the "publisher" in the Bowker record, Smashwords is not your publisher. YOU are the publisher." Or the D2D 2016 blog article "The Surprising Truth About ISBNs", a very old article that still references CreateSpace instead of KDP which flat out states: "Having your own ISBN, rather than using one provided by a vendor, can often impose restrictions on your distribution." And to both those things, I say, just...no!
This is gonna be a multi-parter, sorry! Too much to cover coherently in one video. While you're waiting on the next part:
1. Check out my summary of Will Wight's self-publishing advice which is foundational to understanding discoverability → ua-cam.com/video/0Xoqx_GUxoE/v-deo.html
2. Also, here's my previous video on why indie/self-publishing does NOT require financial privilege → ua-cam.com/video/j_D-9JXCRHg/v-deo.html
3. Or a short skit on pitching your book if you need a laugh → ua-cam.com/video/Hyc8fN7JNT4/v-deo.html
Doesn't look like comments are showing up ?
@@elf1709 I think something weird is going on with UA-cam comments! Your first one didn't show up for hours and I just found another comment on a different video that showed up 7 months late 😱 but I guess it showed up eventually 😅
Edit: and now I can't find your other comment again 😔 hopefully it's still there and not disappeared
You know what I love about your videos? You talk really fast! I have ADHD and a lot of youtubers talk slowly and my mind starts wandering off mid sentence. With your videos I have to actually pause to read the text on screen and also catch what you're saying. It's a surreal difference. Great advice overall! It seems cover > everything (well, except writing the book).
Thank you 😊 I'm so glad my videos work for you!
I don't really cover writing advice because I really don't feel like I'm qualified to do so. The best videos I can recommend are Brandon Sanderson's lecture series - I've found that the tools and frameworks he goes through really work for me. Will Wight's Writing and Publishing livestream had some great tidbits too, and Mark Lawrence has a couple of videos over on his channel on the subject as well.
I can share a hack I use myself.
I use play back speed function to speed up.
It helps to watch to video where people who speaks in a slow pace (or other way around).
"How long is a piece of string?" 😂🤣😂 Truly!
Yes Discoverability Is Not Publishing! Thank you!
Good video and certainly a good overview of how to self-pub low-cost. Up until publishing, you could certainly do it for naught or at least very little if you're smart, skilled or prepared to learn new crafts. While crafting the book, your main expense is outsourcing expertise you don't have. You can theoretically eliminate all these costs because *you* are the key factor here.
Getting people to know about your book after you've been published though...
...is absolute hell. What's worse is this famous adage from marketing experts: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."
As a reader, I’d never pre-order a book without a cover. It tells me that 1) they likely haven’t run the script through a copy editor yet
2) there’s no guarantee they’ll follow through. I like paperbacks, so you need a cover bare minimum for that
I understand others might be cool with it anyway, I’m suspicious. Unless it’s a kickstarter where you’d clearly need to raise funds to pay for a book cover; that’s a different story entirely
I totally get where you're coming from! Usually the authors who can get away with selling pre-orders without a cover already have established trust with their readership. Tamsyn Muir and Tor could have published Nona the Ninth with a placeholder cover and I'd STILL buy it without blinking.
Without an established readership, I think there's still things you can do to mitigate risk for the reader. Sample chapters (so you can get a feel for the quality of the writing), detailed disclosure of the steps remaining to publication, transparency about your process, a track record of timely reporting against milestones and demonstrating concrete progress towards those milestones, etc-that all helps. It's a big part of why Brandon Sanderson can raise so much money for four mystery novels (besides his reputation, the visual of the huge stack of finished drafts in the Kickstarter video was very convincing).
Web serial authors are probably the extreme example of this, since they first build an audience of readers, monetize gradually through Patreon, and then work towards publishing the serialized work into a book to reach new readers.
I definitely agree. Whatever Holly Black does, I know I’m gonna love.
Basically, building a reputation as a reliable person matters most if you’re trying to kickstart a book. Most of us have lived through tumblr stories not falling through so frequent updates is very vital.
Isn’t the Brandon Sanderson novels in the same universe? I think writers should take note if so. It would be much easier to kickstart a universe readers already love then have a completely new one
@@floragraves5167 so 3 out of the 4 secret projects are Cosmere but one is not! All of them are standalone though. Quite a few indie authors have interconnected their series in a universe but nobody has anything as ambitious as Sanderson, who is building Dragonsteel into the next Marvel.
Great video. Thank you. I’m a romance author and I’m really glad I’ve found your channel. Subscribed
Thanks Emma and welcome! Glad to have you here 😊
Nice video! I’m trying to figure out when you sleep? Cya at your daily sprint in 4 hours.
she sleeps right before the sprint starts. It's why she's usually late ;)
@@roderickhuizing4651 has it right...at least on upload days! If I can get myself organized, I usually schedule the video to go live sometime between 12-2 AM Sydney time, but a lot of the time I'm editing right up until an hour or less before then.
...so yeah, hence the lateness on Saturday morning sprints 😅
so excited for the next videos too. this was great
Thank you! Hopefully it'll be somewhat coherent 😅
I was with you all the way during the video until you suggested selling books as a way of raising funds. Heresy!
I think getting your book published isn't the problem (though most people see it as the big thing). It's actually getting people to find your book. That involves a lot more time and / or money than getting published.
As a side note, I've come across several mentions that many people are actually spending quite a bit to get a traditional publishing deal as well. I've seen suggestions that people find and pay for an editor before submitting their book. Sort of makes sense. The better the book, the higher your chance of getting published.
Yeah, discoverability is getting harder and harder, and it's not even a problem unique to self-pub authors. Trad pub authors, especially small- and mid-listers suffer too, as do musicians, actors, game developers...pretty much every business is facing this problem.
Still not a fan of some trad publishers moving to want manuscripts that are closer to being publication ready. I understand the industry pressures driving them to it but unless it actually means the author is getting better terms out of the deal (or at least, reimbursement for what they spent upfront on editing along royalty share lines), it just sucks for authors trying to go trad pub.
EDIT - so this is the genius plan: sell old books > fund cover > publish > sell YOUR book > profit! > buy SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION PREMIUM LEATHERBOUND version of the original books you sold > ...well crap, I'm out of money again > repeat
Hello Paper Tiger! You seem knowledgeable and like such a nice person! This motivates me to tell you that it is very difficult to hear what you are saying, which seems a shame. It seems as if you are speaking very very fast, but actually apparently some digital software has compressed the audio time, eliminating all natural pauses after clauses and the end of sentences. You speak for twelve minutes without taking a breath! I suppose this makes it take up less digital space. Also the audio is quite distorted, and would benefit from a mic that is good quality and placed close to your mouth. It sounds like the very cheap and low quality internal mic that is on my Macbook. This is not helping your well thought out message. Thank you for the video, I have subscribed, and will try to decipher the video!
Ahhh...I was getting sucked into D2D's marketing around not needing an ISBN, but I'd forgotten about paperbacks...hmm...
Yeah, print is the kicker for ISBNs. For those who are REALLY strapped for cash, then going with a D2D provided ISBN to get to IngramSpark for print distribution is probably the most affordable (and best) option, simply because as a company, they're better to work with than Amazon or IngramSpark, neither of whom are really author-centric.
I don't like some of the ways in which D2D/Smashwords explains ISBNs though. While not technically wrong for the most part, I think it gives a very slanted picture of the situation. Like the Smashwords FAQ which states: "You can obtain a free ISBN from Smashwords that registers Smashwords as your publisher. Although it registers Smashwords as the "publisher" in the Bowker record, Smashwords is not your publisher. YOU are the publisher." Or the D2D 2016 blog article "The Surprising Truth About ISBNs", a very old article that still references CreateSpace instead of KDP which flat out states: "Having your own ISBN, rather than using one provided by a vendor, can often impose restrictions on your distribution."
And to both those things, I say, just...no!
Yep, and I have a saying "Don't need money---wont make money..." At least in my situation lol
😂 my parents always told me "money can't buy everything, but there's a lot of things you can't do when you don't have any."
@@PaperTigerProductions too true