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5 Things I've Learned After 10 Years of Self-Publishing

Self-publishing has grown up since 2011 (and so have I)

By Oliver DahlPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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Me with copies of my first book at one of my very first book signings. (No one showed up.)

The publishing world has changed a lot in the last ten years... and so have I! After self-publishing my first book, The Dreamers, at age 13, I've had a front row seat to the changes happening for authors and readers alike.

A 13 Year Old Author

Since as long as I can remember, I loved reading. I was always the kid sneaking my big "chapter book" out of my backpack between assignments and at recess during school. I think a natural consequence of reading so much is an inevitable desire to write.

After a vivid dream of my own, I was inspired to write my first book, The Dreamers, at age twelve for a program called NaNoWriMo, which challenges writers of all ages and experience levels to write an entire novel in just the month of November. The Dreamers follows Sam, a boy who discovers that he can live inside of his dreams--and that his dreams can have a dangerous effect on reality.

By August of the next year, I self-published the book through Amazon. I think it seems even crazier to me now than it did to me then. It's weird thinking that I've been able to claim the title "published author" for almost half of my life now. (Present-day me has a hard time keeping up!)

Setting the Scene

2011 really was a fascinating time to enter the publishing world--regardless of my age. Self-publishing was becoming easier and more widely accepted thanks in large part to Amazon's print-on-demand company, CreateSpace. I was able to sit at my family's old desktop computer and with the "click of a button" (...literally) my book was available on Amazon.com within a few hours.

This is what Amazon (and our family computer haha) looked liked back in 2011.

Good ole Windows XP and Internet Explorer. What a combo. Amazon itself has improved quite a bit too--with a lot staying the same. Despite the similarities with the Amazon.com of today, even more has changed since then.

The Growth of eBooks

The first Amazon Kindle was released in 2007, but even by 2011 it hadn't quite caught on yet. Being able to hold a physical copy of my own book was the biggest motivation behind me deciding to publish at all, and so I hadn't ever really considered eBooks before.

After hearing more about their predicted growth, I ventured into the eBook space over the next few years. The rumors were true. Somehow eBooks took off and today more of my book sales come from eReaders than print copies.

Bookstores Closing

Can you spot "The Dreamers"?

While my books have spent time in and out of Barnes & Nobles' online catalogs, (meaning people can order copies through Barnes & Nobles' website, but otherwise would have to request their local store order copies to carry on shelves) I had the best luck working with local bookstores to carry copies on shelves and host local events. The last photo was taken at a Hastings Entertainment, an absolute dream of a store: part bookstore, part music store, part Blockbuster, with collectibles and trinkets and everything else. Sadly, Hastings closed its doors in 2016.

This smaller bookstore in downtown Boise carried copies of all three of my books for a while, but they, too, closed their doors. Whether due to Amazon, eBooks, high rent, or just fewer readers, I was sad to see them go. Local bookstores and businesses are an author's best friend.

How to Market Your Books

Early on, after the supportive wave of friends and family ordered their copies of my book, I discovered that writing a book was almost the easy part--and figuring out how to make it sell was a whole other challenge. (In fact, I'm actually studying Marketing in school right now because I still haven't quite figured it out!)

I joined Twitter, because that's what all the other seasoned self-published authors recommended doing. I learned a lot of valuable marketing lessons there, but ultimately didn't find a lot of value there for myself.

What worked for me was finding a community of like-minded people, appealing to them, and then running a "free for a limited time" deal for my book on the Amazon Kindle. After a semi-viral Reddit/Imgur post, The Dreamers was downloaded over 4,000 times, and sales stayed higher than they ever had been for a few days after setting the price back. It was enough to have my book on the Amazon Top 100 Free eBooks list and later on some category lists!

As exciting as it was, it was also short-lived. The internet has a very brief shelf life, and a memory that isn't much longer. Marketing your book is a job that never ends--and the more creatively you do it, the better off you'll be.

Maintaining Quality

After my book was found by nearly 5,000 new readers over the course of a week, not all the feedback was good. Some reviews came in that I felt were just downright mean. But they often made good points. I can't even blame them all on just being 13 when I wrote it. There were some grammatical and formatting errors that I didn't catch, and they were distracting.

I quickly made arrangements and found another editor who helped me go through the book one more time and fix those issues. It was a painful lesson learned the hard way, but being confident in and happy about your book is a much better feeling.

This is something I've written about in a previous blog post, but I think one of the biggest lessons to be learned in self-publishing--in 2011 and today--is to ensure you're creating quality work.

The Evolving Landscape

The growth of the self-publishing industry hasn't slowed down any since the introduction of eBooks. Since then, eBook library rentals have been introduced, and publishing serialized fiction on websites like Wattpad and even here on Vocal continues relentlessly.

I think it's important to keep up with trends and try new things.

Amazon continues to innovate (or ride the wave of innovation) with their recent announcement of the Kindle Vella program, a mobile-first way for authors and readers to share and enjoy serialized, episodic fiction one chapter a time. With the added social aspects and unique payment structure for authors, it will be interesting to see how it is received. It may be something I have to check out.

For now, I'm enjoying using Vocal to share thoughts and photos. I'm able to reach readers without ads or a paywall, and make some money without charging anyone--just through tips, reads, and subscriptions. After ten years in self-publishing, this is starting to feel like the future.

5 Things I've Learned from Publishing Over the Last Decade

There's a lot more that I could talk about, but I feel like these five points I've touched on make for a good start that's sure to help anyone just getting started in the self publishing world.

  1. Don't ignore eBooks--they represent a bigger market than you may realize.
  2. Local bookstores are being threatened. Be their friend. Help them, and they'll help you.
  3. Be creative with your marketing strategies. Try new things, find what works, and keep at it. Unfortunately, marketing isn't a "one and done" deal.
  4. Always make sure you're creating quality work that you're proud of. Don't cut corners.
  5. Keep up with how the industry evolves. What's being introduced, and how can you help it be successful? If you can be a part of something as it's growing, you have a better chance of finding success.

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About the Creator

Oliver Dahl

Oliver Dahl is a published author and photographer from Boise, Idaho.

He currently studies marketing at Brigham Young University.

Website: www.oliverdahl.com

Instagram: @OliverWDahl

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