30 Days to Self-Publishing - The Aftermath and The Math
I came up with this idea on the 14th of September 2019 and implemented it on the 15th. I had no website, no name, no book, nothing. I wanted to see if I could self-publish a book on Amazon in 30 days. I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to see how far I could get.
I wrote the novella in under twenty-four hours. I set up my online universe, hit social media like gangbusters, started running giveaways, and uploaded both the paperback and eBook to Amazon on September 17th; the 32nd day. I didn’t consider it finished because Amazon takes up to seventy-two hours to approve your book. Both the eBook and the paperback were approved by morning of the 33rd day. So technically, I made it. Kind of. Not exactly. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think I would get this close. The last few days have been a bit of a gauntlet. There I was, just a few days before the deadline and I still hadn’t finished my proofread.
Thirty-three days is as good as a month. To answer my initial question: Can you self-publish a book (start to finish) in a month? Remember, on the 15th of last month, I didn’t even have a book. It ended up being a novella, but I digress. Yes, you can. Do you want to? Not really.
Have I come up with a good product in thirty-three days? A book I can be proud of? Hell yeah! I’m so proud of Lessons in Love I can’t stand it. Not only is it good (if I do say so myself), I did everything right. This was not a half-ass job. I put the work into it. Let’s look at exactly what I accomplished in thirty-three days:
Wrote a 18,000 word novella
Created, set up, and filled an entire author website
Ran four giveaways
Built a small following on social media
Designed a book cover
Managed social media with posts and handmade graphics
Shot and edited a video ad for the big launch giveaway
Edited the novella
Proofread the novella
Formatted both eBook and Paperback
Figured out Kindle Direct Publishing and other digital distributors
Created several handouts for the Readers Collective
Sent out four newsletters to the Readers Collective
Formatted and prepped the first chapter preview for the Readers Collective
Created a Spotify soundtrack to the novella
Started a side-Twitter for the Apple Creek Gazette
Wrote and pre-scheduled two weeks for the Apple Creek Gazette posts
Posted on social media everyday
Wrote and posted on the blog daily
Yeah. That’s a lot. There’s probably more I’m forgetting, but you get the idea. It’s weird that it’s kind of over now. I’ve been go-go-going for a month and now that the novella is uploaded, I can actually take a break. It feels weird.
Let’s look at how much I spent:
Because I didn’t hire-out for the major tasks, I was able to keep the cost around $500. Some items were wastes of money, like Publisher Rocket, the Facebook ads, and an accidental stock photo purchase. By accidental, I mean I didn’t know I would hate it until after I bought it. Further, some of those costs are for the entire year. I also probably could have gotten away with NOT buying a new font, but a professional font makes a big difference. And I love fonts.
I do not recommend you DIY certain jobs unless you have the skills necessary to do so. For example, I’ve been doing graphic design for years. I’m also a trained copyeditor. Even so, I’m not a book designer or a professional book editor. There will be typos. Hopefully not too many.
The costs add up. Will Lessons in Love make my money back? Probably not. If I take away the operating and set up costs, I spent far less just on Lessons in Love alone, not including creating and maintaining the Melanie Brodie brand.
Will Lessons in Love recoup those costs? Probably not. If I make ten bucks, I’ll be a happy camper. I’m considering doing an ad-run on Amazon and spending some real money. I’m not sure yet. I’ll keep you updated.
I hit social media like a tornado. Let’s look at what I built in a month:
Facebook: 20 followers
Twitter: 672 followers
Instagram: 133 followers (increase of 49 - I started with an old account that already had some followers)
Readers Collective: 57
Good Reads: 0
Amazon Author Page: 0
Website Traffic 30 Days: 293 visits
Blog Post Comments: 0
Emails from Fans: 0
Handouts via Readers Collective and Website Links:
Lessons in Love Character Structure Sheet: 1 download
Lessons in Love First Chapter - 1 download
Twitter is the clear winner, but that’s because the #WritingCommunity is awesome and I engaged in some serious engagement. All in all, I spent more time on Twitter than anywhere else. I put the second-most amount of effort into Facebook and got little-to-no return on my investment. I spent money on boosted posts, but got hardly any engagement and a few clicks that amounted to nothing. I’ve gotten almost no engagement on the Readers Collective. That is, no one emails me. I’ve gotten a few clicks from handout downloads, but nothing to write home about. As of today, only one person has downloaded the first chapter of Lessons in Love. That’s sad.
Social media is a slow boat to China - unless you’re already in China, then it’s a slow boat to America. Building a following takes time. Even so, the numbers aren’t bad for the first thirty days. Will all those people buy my book? I predict under 1% will.
So now what?
Now that the novella is uploaded, I’ll announce the launch on the 21st as planned. I’ll continue to promote the book on social media, run a new giveaway, and start on the second book. Yep, I already have an idea for that one.
How do I feel after all this?
There is a woman online selling entrepreneur courses to authors who claims she had 100,000 downloads of her book in the first three days and after only a few months of set up. She claims she was an unknown. Is she lying? I’m not sure. I’ve watched her videos and while she seems smart, I’m pretty sure she’s not telling the whole truth about where those numbers came from. She claims she created a launch team, but what else? Did she spend $500 on Facebook and Amazon ads? I can’t see any other way. Now, she says downloads…she doesn’t say sales. She only has 104 reviews of her book on Amazon. I checked. Her book has 131 ratings on Good Reads, 3.25 stars, and 15 reviews. Does that sound like 100,000 downloads? Where are those downloads coming from? She’s clearly not telling the whole truth. That said, I feel AWESOME about my accomplishment. I don’t expect 100,000 downloads. I’ll be ecstatic is someone reads my book and gives me a good review. And I mean, bouncing off the walls ecstatic! Because this project isn’t just about making it big. This whole thing has been an exercise in stepping out of my comfort zone, putting my work in front of REAL people. OK yes, I’m still hiding behind a pen name, but up until a month ago, the only person who read my work was my husband and some writing colleagues.
I’m thrilled because I accomplished so much in a small amount of time. I’m a published author. I have a book out that people will read - and hopefully like. I feel amazing. A year ago this was impossible. Hold on. I’m not quite ready for a break. There is still work to be done to keep the momentum going. Starting now I will only blog a few times a week. I’m glad about that. Blogging every day is a grind. I might spend the weekend writing blog posts and scheduling them for later dates. We’ll see. Or I’ll just watch Hallmark Channel. I must also prep the launch day posts and graphics. Now I have to SELL the book.
I’m not one of those girls who goes, “woooo!” every chance they get. I wear my heart on the page. If you met me, you’d see I’m not an excitable person, but I am excited. I just looked at the Amazon page for the eBook and paperback and I’m actually trying not to cry here. This past month has been epic in ways I can’t fully explain - even for an author. It’s like, it hasn’t hit me yet. I did it! I published my own little novella. People are going to read about my characters! It’s weird because this isn’t the first time I’ve created something and worked hard on it. I ran an online music magazine for ten years. I ran a web design business for two years. I ran a decently successful wedding photography business for seven years. But this…this is different. Writing has been my truest love since I was in the second grade. I’ve been published before. I wrote a (paid) review column for a year, I’ve had work published in literary journals. I’ve been out there. But this is different somehow. I don’t know why yet. All those other ventures were fruitful and fun. They didn’t make a million dollars, but I learned a lot. Self-publishing is the culmination of everything I’ve learned and it combines all the things I love and am good at. This feels like a real win for me.
Thank you for being here, reading, and watching it all unfold. We’re just getting started!