Oops! 3 Mistakes I’ve made in self-publishing since I started with Zombie Turkeys in 2016. I’ve made unique mistakes with each novel, but I’ll cover the big ones in this blog.
Zombie Turkeys, where my self-publishing started
Oops! 3 Mistakes – The First Mistake I Always Make
What could it be? I’ve got an MBA. I’ve written computer programs to schedule, I’m a certified project manager. I have both training and experience in managing projects, like self-publishing.
Time estimation. Things always take longer than you think.
I break time deadlines
For example, my latest book, Oops! Tales of the Zombie Turkey Apocalypse, should be in my hands today. I planned to sell it at the Chambanacon convention. It’s not.
Andy Zach and Brenda Sutton at Chambanacon 2016
The book isn’t printed. The covers are done, but not the binding. And I just fixed a problem with the ISBN yesterday.
What went wrong?
First, writing the book took longer than I planned. I traveled to California and Israel, which impeded me. I also waited until the last minute/month to finish up.
Second, my editor took longer than I thought. She got a lot of work all of a sudden. No problem, if I had been done a month earlier.
Third, we found a mistake in my binding. Oops! 3 Mistakes I’ve made, number 1.
Andy’s soon to be published book
Oops! 3 Mistakes – My Second Mistake in Self-Publishing
Where else did I go wrong?
I thought nothing would go wrong. Never before did I have a typo in my binding. I never made a mistake with my ISBN before. But I have the capacity to make new, never before seen mistakes.
Maybe you do too.
Plan for mistakes in your plan.
Do you think this was planned?
Finally, Mistake Number Three
I know better about this one. I haven’t always failed here, but this time I did.
What else did I do?
Andy Zach at Archon, instead of writing in October 2019
I didn’t plan for slack time.
When I realized how little slack time I had to publish by November 29th, I should have blocked off all October as slack time to catch up with any problems. I should have targeted September 30th as my writing deadline.
Woulda, shoulda, coulda. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes.
“Okay Andy Zach. You got me to click. Now show me How An Indie Author Grew Sales 111% Per Year.”
At your service! First, the proof. My sales for the years 2016-2018:
Andy Zach Book Sales 2016-2018 Bubble size is percent growth.
Next, the first tip!
How An Indie Author Grew Sales 111% Per Year – The First Tip
Write and publish on a schedule. I began my first book Zombie Turkeys after I was forced into retirement in November 2015. I wrote it during November thanks to NaNoWriMo and edited myself until March. In April, I enlisted a professional editor Dori Harrell.
Zombie Turkeys audiobook cover. Click to get it!
I gave myself a deadline. The goal: publish on Halloween 2016, one year after I started. I announced the launch date and pressured my artist Sean “Fuzzy” Flanagan and editor Dori Harrell to finish by September so I could make it. Finally, I pressured myself to publish my first book and print copies on Createspace in time.
I kept it up for three years. This is the real key. Don’t give up on writing on a schedule. As soon as I published Zombie Turkeys, I started on My Undead Mother-in-law in November 2016 at NaNoWriMo. I wasn’t satisfied with my one-year performance, so I set the goal of July 31st, 2017.
My Undead Mother-in-law audiobook cover. Click to get!
I actually made it. I got my paperback books on July 25th and I had the official book launch August 4th and 5th.
Following my pattern of one book per nine months, that meant my next, Paranormal Privateers, had to be ready by the end of April. I made it at the beginning of May.
Paranormal Privateers audiobook cover. Click to get it!
And so on. February 28, 2019 is the deadline for Secret Supers, my fourth book. Look for it!
How An Indie Author Grew Sales 111% Per Year – The Second Tip
The second tip: Try things! In the words of Ms. Frizzle, “Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!”
How messy? How many mistakes?
Next are all the places I’ve spent money marketing. Then notice that all the bold items I consider to be failures, in that they didn’t sell any books. Italic items I consider to be successes, in that I’m sure they sold some books. Then everything else is of uncertain effectiveness. I can risk trying again or I can risk not trying. What would you do?
2016 06
Facebook ad
2016 07
Facebook ad
2016 09
Facebook ad
PO Box 10705
2016 10
Author launch cookies
Facebook ad
2016 11
Amazon ad
Chambanacon registration
Chambanacon table
Facebook ad
San Fran Design Social Media promotion
2016 12
Amazon ad
Arts Partners of Illinois
Merchant Services
2017 01
Amazon ad
International fee
Merchant Services
Nonnie’s book store
www.idns.as domain renewal
2017 02
Amazon ad
Facebook ad
Merchant Services
2017 03
Amazon ad
BookDaily promotion
Facebook ad for B&N signing
Merchant Services
2017 04
Amazon ad
Facebook ad
Merchant Services
Tornado ad
2017 05
Amazon ad
AUTHORWEEK Interview (Bloom Factor)
Facebook ad
Merchant Services
Script pipeline
Vistaprint
Vistaprint – promobox
2017 06
2017 07
Amazon ad
First Book Promo
Second Book Promo Book and Bear
Book Promo Jay Digitals
BookDaily promotion
BookDaily promotion Arcamax
Evensi
Facebook ad
Merchant Services
Vistaprint
2017 08
Amazon ad
Amazon Book to Review
Facebook ad
Merchant Services
US Postage for gift
Vistaprint
2017 09
2017 10
Amazon ad
Facebook ad
Merchant Services
NaNoMo
RyanZee marketing
Vistaprint
2017 11
Amazon ad
Merchant Services
Nevermore Publishing – winter giveaway
Nevermore Publishing – Zombie Boxset
PO Box 10705
2017 12
Amazon ad
BookDaily promotion
Facebook ad
Merchant Services
Postage to
Vistaprint
Vistaprint – business cards
2018 01
Amazon ad
Author interview
BookDaily promotion
Merchant Services
Paypal fee
Shipping cost for free book
Square card reader
2018 02
Amazon ad
BookDaily promotion
2018 03
Amazon ad
Arcamax Promotion
Best page forward
Best page forward – refund
BookDaily promotion
Goodreads Ad
Penned Con table
Shipping cost for free book
2018 04
Amazon ad
Arcamax Promotion
Author asst ticket
Facebook ads
Shipping cost for free book
2018 05
Amazon ad
Book Daily
Facebook ads
Flip loud
Leekmedia.net
RyanZee marketing
2018 06
Amazon ad
Author signature game
Book Cave
Facebook ads
Leekmedia.net
Script pipeline
2018 07
Amazon ad
Bookworm
2018 08
Amazon ad
Free book postage
2018 09
Amazon ad
Book magnet
Chambanacon
Free book postage
Video creation
2018 010
Amazon ad
Facebook ads
Free book postage
2018 011
40Billion ads
Amazon ads
BookGrow ad
BookPromo.net
DWO Media
2018 012
Amazon ads
Book Cave
Postal fee for book
2019 01
Amazon ads
If you glance through this list you’ll see many failures, more than my few successes. Yet I, as an Indie Author Grew Sales 111% Per Year.
Further, each book I wrote is actually three products: a print book, an ebook, and an audiobook. So right now I have nine books to sell, not just three. I plan to publish two books this year, which mean five more products by 2020.
So I took chances in offering many kinds of books in many kinds of channels.
How An Indie Author Grew Sales 111% Per Year – The Third Tip
It’s simple: Get Out There!
Every year and almost every month I’ve had author appearances. I’ve had promotion campaigns on Twitter and Facebook. Try promoting other authors. I have. Also, I hold cover reveal parties where I conduct games and give away prizes. Then, I go to conventions every year.
Go to book store signings every year. I’ve also tried library appearances. Then I’ve taught classes. I’ve taken writing and business classes. People have interviewed me on radio, television, and over the internet.
My biggest lesson learned so far is, I could do twice as many appearances and sell twice as many books. But I’d have less time for writing.
What’s the balance? I don’t know. Do you? Reply with the answer and if I sell books because of it, I’ll give you a book.
But you say, “Andy! I want to publish my book! Can I just ship my first draft to a publisher or editor or agent?”
Of course you can do that! They’ll be happy to take your money! But on the off chance you want to sell your book, you need to do more work. That’s what this blog is about.
First Draft Complete: My Editing Steps
First, these are my steps I’ve borrowed from articles I’ve read. You’re different and may need to/want to do this differently. But these are my starting points for my second draft.
These are the actual steps I followed for my latest novel Paranormal Privateers.
Don’t worry: I’ve deleted spoilers out of these notes. I plan my editing before I even start writing.
Read through, noting problems – For me, these’ll be comments inserted in my Word document.
Add missing scenes, if necessary – This step, well as the next two, depend upon having a scene chart, as documented in my earlier blog post.
Delete/combine scenes, paragraphs – The goal here is to simplify and clarify for the reader what is happening and eliminate unnecessary words. I had 98,000 words after the first draft.
Paranormal Privateer Edits: The Next Three Steps
4. Rewrite 1st POV into 3rd. – If you write only in 3rd person point of view “he said, she said”, you won’t need this step. But I wrote several characters from a first-person point of view. I had too many first-person POVs, in fact, so I had to trim this down. The narrative becomes too confusing and the reader’s focus can be diluted.
5. Review character arcs: Paranormal Privateers has eight protagonists, five antagonists, and minor characters: You need to check character arcs, their entries and exits. Are they introduced properly? What happens to them during their scenes and afterward? Do they teleport between scenes? What happens to them?
6. Update timeline and scene chart, detailed scene flow. See here for more information on this important chart. Ask yourself, Is this scene really necessary? Do the scenes fit together on the overall timeline?
The Final Set of Edits
Read the book out loud. I’ve found this is the best way to find awkwardly worded sentences. I also find logic errors and wrong words that I’ve used.
Look for passive words: is, were, was, am, be, been. Combine this check with Grammarly Free Version to find spelling and grammar errors.
Review adverb use. Search for “ly”. Adverbs should be used sparingly, like salt.
Do you think this is all that’s necessary for the next great American novel? Nope! The first half of the editing process is complete. Now you must work with your editor to perfect your novel.
