Its author, Andy Weir, said he didn’t think the book had mainstream appeal and was surprised anyone was interested.
It began as a series on Weir’s website, and when readers complained it was hard to read the stories sitting at their computer, Weir listened to his audience and put it out as an ebook and then on Amazon’s Kindle.
It then got picked up by a small Canadian audiobook company.
Then Random House was interested, and before he knew it, Weir had a movie based on a book he started writing on his website that he went on to Self-Publish.
The Martian would later be nominated for several Oscars.
Photo by RF.
Self-publishing doesn’t just benefit authors who wish to go Independent, but it could also help authors who want to attract the attention of publishing houses.
Everyone’s publishing journey is different, and there is no telling where yours might take you.
Going the traditional route doesn’t make you a sellout, and self-publishing doesn’t mean your book is trash.
If you take the time to craft a well-written, high-quality book that people just can’t stop talking about, the sky is not even the limit of where it could take you.
For a more personal example, I didn’t intend to give the platform much attention when TikTok launched. I thought it was for kids, I don’t dance, and I didn’t think I had time to learn another app.
But I took a chance and have grown my account to over 18K followers (updated: We are now at 23.6K!) went viral at 1.3million views, started a TiKTok shop, and have over 20 new email sign-ups that came directly from TikTok.
I am not telling you to start a TikTok account. I am telling you not to limit yourself.
In the words of Maya Angelou: “Pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.”
When the Power series was first hot, my cousin said to me: “You should write books like on Power! The way we grew up, I know you can put some stuff together.”
That bothered me for two reasons:
I am not that kind of writer. Yes, I grew up around drug dealers and addicts, but I don’t write those kinds of books. (TWWBE was the closest book I’ve written with those themes.)
I interpreted it to mean the kinds of books I write already aren’t good enough for my Black audiences. In my mind she may as well have said: “We Black people wanna read books like the Power TV series.”
Self-Publishing is a lot of work, and not feeling supported by our family and friends can be crushing.
However, consider these facts, with a focus on point two:
Family and long-time friends don’t know the author you. They are only focused on who you’ve been to them growing up and will probably only jump on the bandwagon if you make the New York Times Best Seller and are introduced by Oprah.
More seriously, family, relatives, and long-time friends who don’t read the kind of books you write are not your targeted audience anyway.
Meaning you didn’t write this urban romance novel for your auntie.
You wrote it for the 34-to-44-year-old single Black woman who spends her time sharing relationship memes on Facebook, analyzing the breakups of celebrities in the Shaderoom, and devouring novels by Ashley Antoinette Coleman.
This is called appealing to your target audience, or the specific group of people within your market that your marketing is trying to reach.
Put simply: the strangers most interested in the kind of book you write who will likely go from strangers to book besties.
This is why worrying about why your relatives aren’t supporting your writing career is a waste of time.
Because you didn’t write the book for them in the first place.
Not unless they are part of your intended group.
So if auntie is within that wheelhouse, she will be a fan of your books.
But if she is more interested in the Power TV series, she should probably find an author who writes books like that.
Contrary to popular belief, self-published books can get into brick-and-mortar bookstores.
Ask me how I know…
Here Are Three Easy Ways to Prepare Your Self-Published / Indie Book for a Store:
1. Have a professionally designed cover with your name and title on the spine.
Usually, I will tell you to ensure it’s edited first (do that, please), but I want to highlight book covers here because they become even more important offline.
Imagine you are in Barnes and Noble (or anywhere) looking for your next read. The cover is going to attract you first.
Also, because you see it from that point of view, the book becomes easier to notice if the name and title are on the spine.
Some bookstores also take your book through a review process, where their team has to vote on the book. If the cover is poor and the editing is not up to standard, they’ll reject stocking your book.
2. Buy Your ISBN from Bowker
You can get your book into Independent stores with a free ISBN on consignment. However, having your book registered under your or your company’s name is a plus if your target is larger chains.
It’s a plus because bookstores hate Amazon’s guts. As soon as they see you are published with Amazon, they are judging you and already trying to come up with a way to let you down easy. It’s almost an instant no.
Publish with Kindle Direct Publishing for Amazon only. Do not choose the expanded distribution. This option puts your book into Ingram Spark’s system but under Amazon.
Instead, you will opt out of this and create your own Ingram account.
Then, you are going to publish your book there as well.
This will allow bookstores to order your book directly from Ingram Spark through you instead of Amazon should they decide to carry your title. It also prevents you from bringing copies in yourself, which you would do under consignment.
High achieving authors (Indie, Trad, or otherwise) tend to fall into a few categories:
They publish high-quality books (well-edited, dope cover art, and well-formatted, to name a few).
They collaborate with other authors and business people.
They use their book to create additional income streams through businesses and services.
Today, I want to focus on that last one, although all these are important.
No matter the route, book publishing is hard work, and most of the work happens after the book is written and published. Most of us find ourselves saying, “Dang, now what?”
Depending on what your book is about, there are so many creative things you can do to leverage your self-publishing career.
Here are a few things I do based on the kinds of books I write:
From writing black historical fiction, I lecture at schools.
and so on…
Some authors even have high-ticket courses based on the chapters in their books. Podcasts and workshops based on the book are also ways people leverage their books.
The key point is to look at the book not as the end but as the beginning. Let it (the book) stretch you to new heights!
Please help me extend a warm welcome to Terry Lister.
Welcome to the PBS Blog!
What is your name and where are you from?
My formal title is The Honorable Terry Lister, FCA, MBA, JP. While l had to work very hard to be given these titles, today l am retired. And in retirement, l have more or less retired my titles. I live in a much more relaxed manner than that under which l was burdened when l was working.
Nice. And where are you from?
I am from the beautiful island of Bermuda. We, Bermudians, believe that everyone has heard of us and thus knows where our island is but l know that both of these beliefs are false. We are an extremely small island located in the Atlantic some 700 miles from North Carolina. I have lived in Bermuda all my life except for ten years when l studied and worked in Ontario, Canada. The title The Honorable is due to my serving as a member of the Bermuda legislature for 21 years including ten years as a Minister of Government. I retired in 2014 and immediately took on my most enjoyable task of my life, that of being a slow solo traveler.
What was your childhood dream?
What I do today was always a dream for me but before I could get to it life stood in the middle. I had to get educated and I had to have a job, preferably one that paid lots of money. Growing up black in Bermuda meant that any black male who did not seek a career in the trades would have three choices: doctor, lawyer or teacher. Not wanting to do any of these, I was stumped until one day when asked for the 100th time I responded by saying I wanted to be an accountant. The questioner was floored, never had a little black boy said he wanted to be an accountant. Seeing the reaction this answer produced, I said it every time from about 12 on. It didn’t matter that I had no idea what an accountant did, I just knew it had to be special by the reaction of my questioners.
By the time I needed to make an informed response and I found out what an accountant did, I was so on it and that is what I became. By the age of 27 I was a partner in the Bermuda firm of Deloitte, becoming the first black person to be a partner in a then Big 8 Bermuda audit firm. So I made my dream come true and I never regretted this. The FCA behind my name is a special recognition in my profession given to a small number of the members due to distinguished service to the profession and the community.
Terry outside Bascillica, Ivory Coast
Wow. What an amazing and inspiring story.
What would be the most amazing adventure to go on or that you’ve been on?
Given that I am a full time traveler, I have been on many amazing adventures. However, if required to name one I would say it would be trekking Mountain Gorillas in Uganda.
Wait, what?
Your stories get better and better! Go on, tell us more.
As we were starting to leave the Gorillas and head out, one quickly came down a tree and landed very close to me. The guides tried to act calm but I could see some degree of fear. However, I acted as calmly as I could and waited for the gorilla to wander off. Got some great shots! While I do enjoy writing, travel is my first passion and many of the experiences I have had were simply mind blowing.
Wow. I bet. So, what state or country do you never want to go back to?
To date l have been to 95 countries…
Say whattt??
Just about every country has something about it that makes me wish I could go back. However, the one place I will not go back to is Tunisia. This northern African country was recently in the news about their behavior towards black Africans. I was there for 12 days in 2019. I was not treated with any warmth most of the time, often I had to fuss with taxi drivers to get them to take me where I wanted to go and, worst yet, I had an incident with the police who detained me for several hours for the crime of walking along a country road going to see a point of interest. There was a nasty undercurrent as I moved through various parts of the country and for that reason I would not return.
I’m so sorry you had to go through that craziness. Thanks for the heads up!
Let’s get into your publishing journey. When did you publish your first book?
I published my first book, Immersed in West Africa, in August 2019 just two months before my bad experience in Tunisia. My wife had organized a launch party which went really well and the book should have been off to a great start. However, we had selected a launch date and refused to move from it. The result was the publisher rushed the book and it was not a good product. Some of the attendees who bought books that night have chosen to not buy any books since which l find to be such a disappointment. When l realized the extent of the problem we sat down and fixed the flaws and put out another copy which has sold well. Beyond that this book has won 12 awards. Today, l am very proud of my first book, Immersed in West Africa.
And proud you should be. It is a wonderful and informative read. I’m glad you didn’t give up and re-released it.
What takes up too much of your time?
The most time consuming part of my writing is the marketing of the books. I am not a known author so l have to work every day to keep my books in front of people. It is both very time consuming and very challenging. Naturally, my genre is Travel and l write about my travels. So l cannot say, “enough of this, I am going to be a sci-fi writer.” Therefore I use up many hours doing things to get my books in front of potential readers.
Who is your favorite historical figure?
When l started high school way back in the dark ages, as my children would say, my class was taught Latin. Little did we learn but some of us took to the stories especially the Punic Wars and General Hannibal. He became and remains my favorite historical figure. When l went to Tunisia I went to see the remains of his city, Carthage. Consistent with the removal or destruction of many other creations of Black Africans prior to colonization, there was little to see while throughout Tunisia there are many Roman sites from the same and slightly later time period.
So, is the Honorable Terry Lister a political man?
Am I political? Does a horse drink water!
Yes, l served 21 years in the legislature of my country from 39 to 60. These were the peak years of my work life so it is impossible to not be political. However, I see my role today as observer and scribe. I spend very little time in political discussions or arguments as I was expected to do for the previous 21 years. My experience does make me well prepared to observe and to ask questions as l travel along.
You’re amazing.
Thank you, Terry Lister, for spending this time with us.We enjoyed you!
Terry Lister on the Skywalk at Kakum Nationsl Park in Ghana
Traveler and author Terry Lister enjoys both. Prior to this, he worked as a realtor, a minister in the Bermudan government, and a partner in the accounting firm Deloitte. However, he had always desired to travel, so in 2014, at the age of 60, he decided to retire and started traveling alone.
Lister had visited 48 nations when he retired, but since then, he has visited 50, staying in each for a week to six weeks. It’s been a journey! His first book, Immersed in West Africa, chronicled eight weeks of action-packed travel across five different West African nations. He has now traveled to 18 more countries in Africa and authored four more books.
While he is off the road, Mr. Lister enjoys unwinding with a good book, which must be historical or biographical. Although Terry would like to read more books in different genres, there are enough excellent novels in his field to keep him reading. He always has a few travel books in progress in anticipation of his upcoming trip.
Before leaving, Terry says he undertakes much research to identify activities that visitors are not always aware of. There is little time to be bored for this wanderer. He enjoys playing football and cricket in his spare time-cricket and football being his games. So little time to be bored!
I logged into my WordPress dashboard this morning, and my last 5-6 posts were gone, including paid book reviews.
Can you hear my heart breaking?
Thankfully, after about thirty minutes, they showed up!
My face after deleting my tweets cause I thought the links were dead. Photo by MART PRODUCTION
Too bad I had already deleted the tweets to what I thought were now dead links. Way to go, Yecheilyah.
A glitch, maybe, but the scare was real!
Chile, I almost cried.
Then I put my big girl panties on and understood today’s message.
ALWAYS back up your content!
Make sure your photographs, graphics, videos, and articles are stored in a folder on your computer or on a USB drive. Before composing your posts in WordPress, it’s simpler to write them in a Word document (or whichever program you prefer) and save them to your computer.
Never depend on ONE social platform to reach your audience
I have never been a fan of putting all my eggs in one basket, and this experience reemphasized the importance. I am all for monogamy, but cheating on your other social media profiles with a backup plan is okay, lol.
It is not a smart idea to rely only on one platform, whether we’re talking about Instagram bugs or if US companies and content creators will no longer be able to use TiKTok. (Are you following the case with them? Back those videos up!)
Keep your options open and stay as informed of all the developments as you can. Even if we disagree with AI, for instance, it would be a bad idea to ignore how it is affecting the book publishing industry and how authors and publishers create and distribute their works.
It is not farfetched to say that we might one day have to pay to use these apps. If that’s not your flavor, you will want to maintain contact with your people somehow.
Blogs are great alternatives to email lists since subscribing to someone’s blog mean you get an email for every update anyway.
If you simply use your blog, however, always refer back to point one and backup your blog content.
After all, we don’t own WordPress either.
Interested in joining my email list for updates you won’t get here or anywhere else?
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