Self Publishing Questions and more Questions....oh my!

The question today is: Should I self publish my work? But to self publish is not as easy as the power points would have you presume.  

Recently, I’ve been contemplating uploading some of my work to the (KDP) Amazon’s kindle site, but as I researched this, I found a lot of different information about what you might want to, or need to, do first.

Apparently, there are many areas I hadn’t thought about, for example: Is it wise to be a sole proprietor as a writer or do you need to become a single member LLC?

And if I create the LLC, do I have to have an attorney as my Registered Agent for contact.

Why would I need an attorney, I asked myself? Will I ever have legal issues? Why would I have legal issues if my work is my own, and I have every right to publish it?  

I’m not sure that I need the Registered Contact to be an attorney, but I’m not positive.

The next question, according to my research, was: Do I need a business address, separate from my home address?

But I don’t have a business- I answered myself. I have a computer and a desk!

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to worry about using my home address as where I write from. Maybe tax purposes - but I read for writer’s (if I even net any sales income, and that’s a big IF) I would enter the income on Schedule C or E as part of my personal tax return…I think.

All I wanted to do was to upload my work and enjoy the feeling when I saw it on the page as ready to be purchased… that’s all I wanted to do , but with all these new concerns...that's not happening now.

These research self publish websites have complicated my ability to hit the darn SUBMIT button.

So I sit here and stare at my computer screen, at the beautifully completed book cover, eye catching title page and typo scrubbed manuscript ready for e-book... and I really want to hit that submit.  

I want to see my story in print and I want to order a book for myself - To hold my own book, my story in my hands. That’s really the whole purpose of this self publishing, not any kind of fame, and certainly not looking for, or expecting, any fortune.

I'd like to send copies of my book to friends and family and yes, ok, maybe that is a little like wanting fame but its 'family fame' – not the whole world kind of fame.

Still, I suppose it is ego driven to want to feel like an accomplished writer on some scale. Having a book with my name on the cover, that I can put on my book shelf…yeah, I hear it…ok, it’s fame.

But no matter what it is, it will be awhile before I can have that small fame or that book in my hand.

I am sure there are some reading this who think how does she not know what to do? And I agree these areas are not something I've ever pondered about. Established writers probably have agents who can walk them through these issues but for me, it is only me.

So....

I pour more coffee into my half filled coffee mug and continue scrolling through tax accountants and business attorneys whose names I’ve goggled hoping to find someone to talk to…someone qualified to answer these questions…

it’s going to be a long day…but in the end...I still may hit that submit button anyway...que sera sera!

Thanks for listeningsmiley

 

 

Comments

I'm thinking of self-publishing too. Kindle, I think, is  the way to go. They offer an ISBN. Upload using scrivener, I think. I guess it's a bit of learning by donig. The problem, as I see it, isn't technical issues (although self-published books tend to be crap because of poor editing) but simply the sheer weight of numbers. Over a million books every year. You get lost in the wave of new books. There's no way of rising about the wave, because nobody sees who you are, or what you are. You are invisible. That being the case, the question becomes not of writing but of marketing. The answer I get, is usually, why bother? 

 

I know it is daunting but I guess I'm ready to give it a try. Thanks for the link I will definitely check it out. smiley

Penny4athought

If you want to go the e-book way I would recommend Smashwords. You just submit a Word manuscript and they do all the rest. Have a look and see if it suits you
https://www.smashwords.com/

 

Thank you Luigi - I certainly will check it out. I think I've all but conquered my fear of submitting and I am almost ready to try publishing one novel and see how it goes.

Penny4athought

I've self published 5. Because I can't afford an editor it's a drawback but I do what I can. I recommend Scrivener then outputting to a word file and using kindle create for the formatting. For reviews I recommend Netgalley where you pay to have your book seen by thousands of reviewers. For my current book I've 17 reviews which helped get 3 so far on Amazon. My last book ended up with 29 reviews on Netgalley and 9 on Amazon 22 on goodreads. Reviews are good for promotions if you have some good reviews. Netgalley can be brutal but you can learn from negatives. 
 

 

Thank you grover, I will definitely look into those help tools.

Penny4athought

Pay for a book cover. I can recommend you to the person who did mine and it includes full wrap for paperback. Message if interested. Alternatively you can buy pre made covers. My book Dead Again was pre made and Water Voices designed.