Lessons from Self-Publishing My First Book

I have wanted to have my words out in the world since I was sixteen years old. I’ve wanted to write characters who look like me so that readers who also look like me won’t have to do what I did as a kid: imagine a Black character into the story or pretend an existing character was Black. On the one hand, it certainly presented an exercise in imagination. On the other hand…it becomes a sad commentary on representation at some point.

But today, just now, my audiobook went live on my Shopify website and with that, is available on my Shopify store, on Audible, and on Amazon Kindle (the ebook is there exclusively for the next 2 months). I mean…my goodness. Or rather, my God is good. Truly, I’ve had to work through His strength and wait on His timing.

That’s lesson 1. Trusting that in dedicating my gifts to God, He will bless the work.

Publishing can be a long process, whether you choose traditional or indie routes. My commitment to getting Cassie’s story out was because I vowed to honor God in my writing. It wasn’t just because I wanted to do this thing. It was my service to Him. Ministry. That gave me, if not patience, perseverance.

Second lesson? It’s okay for writing to be your dream, but don’t forget that it’s work— and don’t disrespect other’s work.

I had capital “d” Dreams for how the Courting Danger audiobook would sound and I built it up so high that I was actually disappointed in the performance of the narrators I’d chosen at first. Thankfully, the production manager advised me to have impartial listeners give me their opinion before I came too hard. They thought the book sounded great. Yes, Courting Danger is my dream but publishing and production are businesses where other artists bring their craft to the table also. They have to be respected, and sometimes our perspective as the writer can create an unreasonable and obnoxious standard.

Lesson 3: Go easy on yourself and protect your excitement!

Because this is a long process (and full of arduous administration), it’s important to be gracious to yourself. There were so many missteps I made because I just didn’t know any better. I sent so many 9-1-1 emails to tech support of various sites. So? That’s what they’re there for. I felt like friends were looking at me, waiting for me, even judging me. So? They aren’t staying up late at night grinding it out. I am. Don’t get into your head and don’t let anyone else in either.

Celebrate every little admin task completed. Post about every milestone you reach that gets you closer to publication. Do a happy dance each confirmation email you receive. Publishing is a huge deal. Don’t psych yourself out of enjoying it!

I could say so much more about each of these lessons, but these are the ones that emerge as most important. I will surely make a video for my YouTube channel, Britt Writerly, so if you haven’t subscribed and hit the notification bell, go do it! We’ll talk more there ;)