BM1
New Contributor
Hello: After devouring MJ's book on a long-haul flight from Tokyo to London, the cogs in my head started to turn. Entrepreneurial ideas and ambitions had been lurking in my subconscious for a while and MJ managed to drag them to the surface. For that, his wonderful book, and this community, I thank him.
I came to the forum about a month back and spent a lot of time stunned and excited by two threads: Held for Ransom's story and ChickenHawk's progress thread.
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/hello-from-denver-self-publishing-success.46006/
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...kenhawks-self-published-fiction-ebooks.47885/
My dilemma since graduating university has been wrestling with what I assumed to be two conflicting ambitions: to write and to make money. I imagined these to be mutually exclusive unless you really made it big after many years of work.
Thanks to MJ, Held for Ransom, and ChickenHawk, I am certain that there is good money to be made in the field of self-publishing. Sure, the barrier to entry is practically non-existent and I will not have complete control over my income, and it's not a set-it-and-leave-it style of work, but these things don't phase me.
Anyone can write a book and upload it to a platform like Amazon but what I've learned from this forum is that many do not have the perseverance to keep publishing despite lacklustre returns at the beginning. I do have this perseverance. The rule is to just keep churning, churning, churning the books out.
I won't have complete control over my income but I can improve this situation somewhat by spreading my products across multiple platforms and even constructing my own platforms.
It's not a set-it-and-leave-it style of work but so what? I'm a writer. It's what I enjoy, talk about, and think about all of the time. I've been an avid reader and writer since my early teens. I was also admitted to a top university to study the subject I love so much: literature.
When I think about the journey I am on to increase my income I become extremely excited. My mind is brimming with ideas.
The Plan: The plan is similar to what the successful writers on this forum are preaching.
- Provide value. I want my readers to enjoy my books. There are many self-publishers who bang out books of questionable, or downright terrible, quality just to make a quick buck. This is not what I'm about. I will be writing quickly in order to have many books released but I will not sacrifice quality. A lot of care and understanding for the craft is going into the work.
- Multiple pen names. I will spread myself across many different genres. Once I get a gauge on what pen names are most popular, I can construct my own webpages for them, construct mailing lists, and foster a relationship with my readers.
-Write, write, write.
I've received a huge amount of value from the posts on this forum and am incredibly thankful. This thread is my little way of giving something back. I will post my progress and share tips that I uncover along the way. After enough time has been put into this endeavour, I hope that this thread will stand as a valuable blueprint for anyone else following the same path. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. And if you have any advice or wisdom for me, I would be grateful to hear it. Also if anyone is in the same area as me, pursuing self-publishing, and wishes to meet up to swap stories, don't hesitate to get in touch.
Steps for this Week: I have just finished a non-fiction book. This week will be spent editing it and adding illustrations. It will also begin the process of being translated. I'm not sure how long that will take, but as soon as it is done I will be hitting publish. In the meantime, I will be setting up a website in order to distribute the book. This includes design and adding articles. I will also be getting familiar with Amazon KDP and looking into other distribution platforms. The book will also be looked over by a few beta readers. I will also look into covers.
I have another book connected to this one which I will also begin drafting a plan for. Added to this, I have a fiction novel which is a third away from being completed. I would like to set the goal of completing that as well.
Thanks again to everyone here and wish me luck
I came to the forum about a month back and spent a lot of time stunned and excited by two threads: Held for Ransom's story and ChickenHawk's progress thread.
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/hello-from-denver-self-publishing-success.46006/
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...kenhawks-self-published-fiction-ebooks.47885/
My dilemma since graduating university has been wrestling with what I assumed to be two conflicting ambitions: to write and to make money. I imagined these to be mutually exclusive unless you really made it big after many years of work.
Thanks to MJ, Held for Ransom, and ChickenHawk, I am certain that there is good money to be made in the field of self-publishing. Sure, the barrier to entry is practically non-existent and I will not have complete control over my income, and it's not a set-it-and-leave-it style of work, but these things don't phase me.
Anyone can write a book and upload it to a platform like Amazon but what I've learned from this forum is that many do not have the perseverance to keep publishing despite lacklustre returns at the beginning. I do have this perseverance. The rule is to just keep churning, churning, churning the books out.
I won't have complete control over my income but I can improve this situation somewhat by spreading my products across multiple platforms and even constructing my own platforms.
It's not a set-it-and-leave-it style of work but so what? I'm a writer. It's what I enjoy, talk about, and think about all of the time. I've been an avid reader and writer since my early teens. I was also admitted to a top university to study the subject I love so much: literature.
When I think about the journey I am on to increase my income I become extremely excited. My mind is brimming with ideas.
The Plan: The plan is similar to what the successful writers on this forum are preaching.
- Provide value. I want my readers to enjoy my books. There are many self-publishers who bang out books of questionable, or downright terrible, quality just to make a quick buck. This is not what I'm about. I will be writing quickly in order to have many books released but I will not sacrifice quality. A lot of care and understanding for the craft is going into the work.
- Multiple pen names. I will spread myself across many different genres. Once I get a gauge on what pen names are most popular, I can construct my own webpages for them, construct mailing lists, and foster a relationship with my readers.
-Write, write, write.
I've received a huge amount of value from the posts on this forum and am incredibly thankful. This thread is my little way of giving something back. I will post my progress and share tips that I uncover along the way. After enough time has been put into this endeavour, I hope that this thread will stand as a valuable blueprint for anyone else following the same path. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. And if you have any advice or wisdom for me, I would be grateful to hear it. Also if anyone is in the same area as me, pursuing self-publishing, and wishes to meet up to swap stories, don't hesitate to get in touch.
Steps for this Week: I have just finished a non-fiction book. This week will be spent editing it and adding illustrations. It will also begin the process of being translated. I'm not sure how long that will take, but as soon as it is done I will be hitting publish. In the meantime, I will be setting up a website in order to distribute the book. This includes design and adding articles. I will also be getting familiar with Amazon KDP and looking into other distribution platforms. The book will also be looked over by a few beta readers. I will also look into covers.
I have another book connected to this one which I will also begin drafting a plan for. Added to this, I have a fiction novel which is a third away from being completed. I would like to set the goal of completing that as well.
Thanks again to everyone here and wish me luck
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