Guest Post–Choosing Self-Publishing by Laekan Zea Kemp

Check out my guest post on Self-Publishing on Disappearing In Plain Sight

As writers we know about solitude. We know that it’s an essential ingredient to cranking out a first draft and we know it’s the birthplace of some of our best ideas. We’re comfortable there and maybe even relish in it. I know I did. But solitude can also be the birthplace of our greatest adversaries—self-doubt, guilt, comparison. When we’re alone with our thoughts we don’t just make masterpieces, we make monsters. And the truth of going it alone, of becoming an indie author, is that we’re often forced to fight these monsters alone.

There’s a lot of freedom that comes with choosing to self-publish. I control the look and feel of the final product from every paragraph and chapter heading to the cover art to the blurb. I have final say during revisions. I can genre hop or create new ones. I can explore any topic I want. I can write for me. Those are the things I love about being indie. But along with the freedom and absolute control, I also shoulder all of the responsibility. Because if I fail, I fail alone, and I’m forced to pick up the pieces alone.

If you make the choice to go indie there will be no cheerleaders glancing over your shoulder, no team of PR people behind you doing the grunt work or telling you it’ll all be worth it. You’ll spend months refreshing your sales page or Goodreads reviews with nothing new to show for it. You won’t make a dime and you’ll second-guess all of the money you spent on copy-editing and cover art and marketing that could have gone to something else like groceries or gas. You’ll feel discouraged and like you made a huge mistake. And you’ll want to give up.

But if you really want to be a writer you won’t quit. Because even though there’s no one in your corner, reassuring you or stroking your ego or cutting you a check, you should still believe in yourself. You have to. That’s what separates the successful career indie authors from the failures and one hit wonders. To make it, there is just one secret. One rule. You have to know your own voice and even more than that you have to trust it. Absolutely…

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