On writing … a self-publishing plan
Fact: I meet more writers than readers these days. I wonder how many of us still read novels, excluding those who are writers. Google’s Gemini tells me 50% of the UK population regularly reads for pleasure. Another unverified AI snippet announces 12% of adults in the UK have read sci-fi in the last year. I find this hard to believe, from my IRL evidence. I probably met most of them.
And still, it’s hard to forget the magical experience of reading a novel for the first time. The immersion, the adventure, the delight. From a tender age (9ish?), I would postpone playing, schoolwork, sleeping, just to read a book. I lost count of the nights I stayed up all night (I had more neurons to spare) because I couldn’t put a book down.
The ability to create such a delight became an aspiration. Favourite treats growing up were empty notebooks – soon to be filled with ideas, characters, plot twists, and ridiculously bad stories.
The aspiration remained.
Writers write. That’s all you need to be a writer. Publishing? Optional. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Yes, it does. The personal expression happens in the act of writing, regardless of who reads it. Writers publish for one or several of the following reasons: money, validation, vanity, a sense of duty or service to others, finding acceptance, building community, self-improvement. Often, I ask myself how these different factors weigh in in my own decision to publish. They are all legitimate reasons, but I haven’t come to terms with half of the list.
I reckon each of my novels took me at least 1,200 hours of solid work (conservative estimate), spread over a couple of years. That’s thousands of hours spent researching, planning, drafting, editing, alongside a full-time job and a young family. Add hundreds of hours more in writing courses, exercises, discussions, improving the craft, improving the language (by chronology, English is my second one), seeking feedback, reviewing and refining manuscripts, and you get a rough idea of the amount of effort that goes into each book.
Writing a self-publishing plan is much easier than writing a book. It’s also more stressful, and more exposing.
I’ve decided to start with a Kickstarter campaign! I’m setting up a page that will allow people to pre-order a copy of The Seed Vault, which in turn will help me with paying the remaining expenses (professional copy-editing, cover design, ISBN etc) to get it ready for publication. I will share more details soon. Maybe what I’m learning will help others going through the same process.
I don’t know if publishing is the right decision, but I do believe books are worth writing and reading – and mine are definitely getting better, just by going through this process.
Self-improvement wins.
