What I Have Been Learning

For anyone who is just starting out with becoming an Indie publisher there is a great deal to learn. I have been doing research, taking online courses and watching utube videos since 2018 and things are only now starting to gel so don't give up!

I was watching a you-tube video and there is a lovely woman on there how talks about what you need to be an indie publisher who actually makes money off what you are doing. To this list I have added a few more things.

These things make sense to me and resonate also and include:
You have to be in it for the long haul and don't give up at the first hurtle.

• For example, since I began doing this I have had a ton of issues with both my computers and also the programs I am using as well as how compatible they are. If I had given up, I never would have been able to get my words written in Word to a publishing platform...first Adobe In Design and then Affinity Publisher which all come with both glitches and compatibility issues!

If you are too extreme, you could be in trouble! By this I mean either too much of a perfectionist or too sloppy!

• An example of this is the fact right now there are a ton of low content books being thrown into the market place such as on Amazon. Everyone and their dog is making these books. It is amazing how someone can upload not hundreds but THOUSANDS of these journals, diaries, calendars and coloring books! And the thing is, you don't have to know how to write or draw to do it! Do you think all of these books are great or that they are not infringing on copyrights and so on? Of course not! Many of them are down right terrible! This is the one extreme however on the other hand, because of the shear volume of books, they are able to make a decent income monthly.
  
• On the other side of this I agree with Oprah; always strive for excellence. These books are out there and mean more disappointments for the consumer and eventually there will be a consumer base that is more scrutinizing. I can't help but think in the long run, books that are sincere and done well will live long past the shelf life of the thrown together mass produced things that are flooding the market right now.
  
• And by this, I don't mean perfectionism. There has to be an expectation of a learning curve. Your first project is not going to be good as the next one and the next one and the next one! Each time you can expect to improve, if you are too much of a perfectionist, you will never get that chance to grow because you won't get past your first books! There has to be also a certain degree of balance I think, where you can accept that not everything you do can or will be perfect. Do your best, with what you know right now, that is all that can be expected of any of us. After all, we are only human.
  

Don't expect to get rich over night!

• I know there are tons of videos out there that say you can do this or that and bamn, you will have a huge passive income.
• On the one hand, I don't want to throw a wrench into anyone's create workshop! If that is what you want, then put it out there. There do seem to be a small margin of people who do have over-night success. Put your ducks all in and row and hope for the best. So be it.
• On the other hand, have mental resilience to accept if it doesn't turn out that way. Remember one of the first things you need is mental fortitude.
  

To be an Indie publisher I think you really need to enjoy what  you are doing!

• As I said in another video, if you don't really like this sort of work and the how solitary it is then you simply are not going to stick with it. If you don't stick with it, you can find that nothing panns out.
  
• I think the buying audience will always gravitate towards sincerity. If you are sincere and are doing something that appeals to others, you are more likely to have success than if you are knocking out there a bunch of babble and no one is interested. In the end, you need to give your buying audience some credit for being discerning!
  

When it is all said and done, like with most ventures, if you do strive for exellence, you are sincere in what you are doing and truly enjoy doing it (excluding the moments when  you want to chuck your computer off your balcony!), can take criticism and figure out how to navigate having what you do in the public eye (the public can be cruel!), and carry on anyhow, then you have what it takes to do this sort of work so carry on!