{"id":1906,"date":"2021-07-01T13:54:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T13:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.draft2digital.com\/blog\/?p=1906"},"modified":"2022-07-22T17:53:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T22:53:22","slug":"from-zero-to-indie-author-the-self-publishing-blog-series-prequel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/from-zero-to-indie-author-the-self-publishing-blog-series-prequel\/","title":{"rendered":"From Zero to Indie Author: The Self-Publishing Blog Series (Prequel)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve been reading or listening to the excellent content coming out of D2D\u2019s Self-Publishing Insiders podcast, you might find yourself thinking, \u201cThat all sounds like great advice. But what if I\u2019ve never written anything? What if I have no books to promote yet, and I\u2019m starting from zero?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you have <\/em>written a book or two, and you\u2019ve been waffling on publishing or promoting them because it all feels so ... big<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or maybe you\u2019ve published and promoted your books, but they just aren\u2019t selling quite as well as you\u2019d hoped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point is, starting from ground zero\u2014or what feels like ground zero\u2014is daunting.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An object in motion stays in motion, and an object at rest stays at rest. There\u2019s nothing worse for your momentum as a writer than the feeling that you have a massive amount to learn and are lacking the tools to get from Here to There.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Of course, those tools exist. Most of them are right here on this very blog<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you\u2019re anything like me, it helps to see everything laid out in order, from beginning to end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those of us who learn methodically\u2014or get overwhelmed by too much information before we\u2019re ready to use it yet\u2014it\u2019s helpful to see a process from start to finish. Zero to sixty. Blank page to completed (and hopefully best-selling) ebook, with everything that comes in between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To many of us, the process of writing a book looks almost mystical<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no way to fully understand how it\u2019s done until you experience every stage yourself. Yes, the finer details will look a bit different depending on whether you write fiction or non-fiction, your genre of choice, and your own goals as a writer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No two processes will look exactly the same, just as no two children do. (It was only a matter of time before we compared the writing of books to the creation of human life, right?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they\u2019re close enough where it counts that we can all learn a thing or two by following each other\u2019s progress and sharing our own results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post is the first in a year-long series about every stage in the process of becoming a published indie author\u2014from developing a consistent writing habit to putting a published work out into the world and convincing people to buy it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout that series, I\u2019ll share my own experiences of working through the indie author process from ground zero. But this series isn\u2019t about me or my journey; it\u2019s about learning everything there is for newbies to know about indie authorship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll share my discoveries, challenges, and pitfalls\u2014and I hope you\u2019ll share yours, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From zero to indie author in 12 months<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The plan for the year, in case you want to follow along and write your own book, looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n