Steff Green - How to Rock Self-Publishing

• Do you have a story youre bursting to tell the world?
• Are you sick of being rejected by the publishing establishment?
• Do you want to inject a little punk rock, DIY ethos into your indie author career?

In How to Rock Self-Publishing, bestselling indie author and publishing coach Steff Green shows you how to tell your story, find your readers, and build a badass author brand.

As a self-published author youll learn how to:

• Define your measure of success and set attainable goals.
• Create an exciting author brand you want to write under forever.
• Tame your monkey mind and consolidate your gazillion ideas into a solid plan.
• Choose the best platforms, editors, designers, and tools to create a high-quality book.
• Plan a compelling book series in any genre that will have your readers chomping for more.
• Write faster, release more often, and enjoy what you create.
• Spot trends and gaps in the market where you can add your unique voice.
• Publish your book in print, ebook, and audio with all the nuts and bolts.
• Launch with a BANG! including handy launch checklists.
• Create an engaging author platform to turn your readers into lifelong fans.
• Find unique and emerging opportunities in self-publishing to build your audience and earn a living.

Steff breaks down the 11-step process thats seen her go from failed archaeologist and obscure music blogger to a USA Today bestseller with a six-figure income. With dozens of examples from across the publishing landscape and real-talk from her own career, Steff shows how imagination, creativity, and perseverance can help you achieve your dreams.

How to Rock Self-Publishing isnt just a book about writing, its about grabbing your dreams by the balls, living faster, harder and louder, and cranking your art up to 11.

Chapter One

So youre ready to start self-publishing

Youve been working hard to hone your writing chops and create work youre proud of, and now youre ready to share it with the world.

Perhaps youve approached a publisher already and been pushed back, or maybe you have a small audience online and you want to know how to deliver something meatier than a blog post. Maybe youre a writer with the dream of seeing your name on the spine of a real book, or perhaps youre excited about the possibilities of making writing your full-time career. Maybe youre all of those things. Or none of them.

Whatever kind of writer you are, allow me to welcome you to the wild, crazy, frustrating, and wonderful world of self-publishing.

Digital reading and self-publishing through platforms like Amazon KDP, Apple Books, and Kobo Writing Life have opened up tremendous opportunities for writers to get their work directly in the hands of their readers. We no longer need a publisher to make a book and get it found. This means we can keep the majority of our royalties instead of sharing them with a big corporation. Because of this, writers all over the world can find their voice and audience, make a profit, and write full-time. It sounds awesome, and it is.

But

theres a steep learning curve from being a penmonkey hiding in your cat pile to become your own publisher. Youre no longer just a writer you have to be the editor, designer, business manager, marketing department, and tea-and-sandwiches person.

Whats fantastic about this route is that there are many paths to success every day Im amazed by stories of writers making it big and finding their readers in new and unique ways. This book is mainly about my own experience and the things Ive learned so far, but Ive tried to also include lots of stories about other writers Im lucky enough to know to show you that you dont have to do things my way to succeed.

Ive set out How to Rock Self-Publishing as a set of eleven lets call them guidelines. I dont like to call anything a rule, because for every rule' I believe exists, I can point to a writer who is killing it breaking that rule. But they are guidelines that can help steer you to a path of least resistance and put you in the best possible position to hit your writing and publishing goals. If your ultimate dream is to quit your day job to write full time, then paying attention to these guidelines will help you get there.

This book is short, but its absolutely packed with information. Its going to feel a little overwhelming but I hope it will also inspire you to action. What I want to do is show you all the possibilities that are open with self-publishing, and leave it up to you to choose the path that suits you best. Dont feel as though you have to do everything but you should definitely start with something.

The main thing I want you to take away from this guide is just how possible it is to be a successful self-published author, that there are many different paths to success, and give you some solid next steps for your particular project. Are you ready? Lets get writing!

Chapter Two

Who am I?

Just so you know that I'm not talking out my arse, Ill tell you a little about my writing career and success with self-publishing.

Im Steff. Im a New Zealander. I love to brew my own mead and cuddle my cats, and Im legally blind. I grew up in a small town with book characters as my only friends. I was a genuinely weird kid who sucked at sports and had an unhealthy obsession with Ancient Egypt incidentally, I grew up into a weird adult who still sucks at sports and I still have an unhealthy obsession with Ancient Egypt. Reading was an escape for me, and from a very young age I wrote stories about worlds I invented and the people who inhabited them.

I wrote all through high school and university, finishing around four full-length novels that are all completely terrible. I sent one off to a publishers mailing address I got from the back of a Baby-Sitters Club book and received a very encouraging form rejection.

Fast-forward a few years. I went to university to study archaeology. I got a postgraduate degree and volunteered in every museum and for every excavation that came up. When I finished my studies, I tried to find a job, but after a year of searching, no one would hire me. I was told I was a 'health and safety risk because of my wonky eyes. After a museum curator said I couldnt be trusted around artifacts, I took the bus home in tears.