Jessica Smock recently self-published her book, The HerStories Project. She gained a wealth of experience during the publishing process, and she shared the most important lessons with writers who are just beginning to explore self-publishing.


“When I was a teenager, I wrote a novel, obviously thinking it was the best book in the world. I imagined sending it to a publisher, getting a call right away, receiving an irresistible offer, and setting off on the road to world fame. Of course, something completely different happened to me before I got to the point of publishing my book myself and presenting it to readers.


This is the path I took:


- I went to school for many years and earned my doctorate.


- I realized that I didn't want to be an academic after all, but rather an independent writer.


- I gained experience in online publishing, social media use, and generally in maintaining an online presence as a writer.


- I started a blog, which I really enjoyed writing, and gained a lot of online connections with fellow writers.


- I started a joint blog with another blogger, and our main topic and area of research was friendship between women. We published stories and essays on our blog about how friendship shapes women's lives.


- We collected our essays, had them reviewed by several experts, and then published them in book form.


- Now we sell the book on Amazon and in bookstores.


 


This wasn't my original plan, and I'm sure this is just my path and doesn't apply to everyone. But it worked for me. We knew that as first-time authors, it would be very difficult for us to approach publishers, so it was clear to us that we would self-publish the book. It was also a better solution for us because we wanted to act quickly, we didn't want to get lost in the machinery of a large and cumbersome publishing house and wait years for publication. So we put our book together in six months and published it.


My most important lessons from those six months:


Every book is different, but one thing is certain: you can't write and publish a book in a weekend. Or in a week. Or even in a month. You'll need a few months or even a year to make sure your book is high-quality and polished.

The cover is extremely important. For us, the cover was the biggest source of stress. Every writer wants to avoid their book looking amateurish, which is why we spent a lot of time researching current trends and designs, until we finally drove ourselves crazy with our cover.

Get as many opinions from others as possible. When you publish your book, you get caught up in a little bubble and you don't spot the mistakes in your own work. That's why I would make it mandatory to involve an external editor, but you'll need not only their opinion, but also feedback from every friend and family member you can reach. We asked for opinions on every detail of our book, from the introduction to the title. Of course, this requires thick skin and leaving your sensitivity at home, but it's worth it.

Figure out your marketing strategy before you publish your book. If you are self-publishing, most of the work begins after publication, when you have to get your book to readers. See how others do it, seek advice from experts, and do everything you can to get as many people as possible to know about your book before it is published.