My First Week as a Self-Published Author

What Worked, What Didn't and The Things I Learned Along the Way

Writing a book isn’t easy. Marketing a book isn’t easy. Self-publishing a book isn’t easy. But with enough drive, skill and perseverance, it can be done. Not everyone makes it past the wall of self-doubt—but I did it! I wrote and self-published a book! The thing I have always wanted to do has finally become a reality, and I made it happen.

If you’re interested in reading my books, click here!

The journey has been a joy, and I’d love to share all the highs and lows with you. The things that worked. The things that didn’t. And all the little pieces that led me towards becoming a published fiction author.

This article is for all aspiring self-published authors out there. I want to give you the tips and tricks I learned along the way. But please do treat my advice as a buffet. Pick and choose what works for you because every author is different in how they approach their journey, and there is no right or wrong way to do it.

The Creative Writing Process

To write a good book, you can’t simply write your way there (Although a lot of advice out there says to do exactly that). Of course, the act of writing is vital, but there’s more to it than that. For that writing to turn into a good story, you need to write with purpose, direction and feeling.

I spent a lot of time listening to podcasts and audiobooks about the craft of writing to build up the skill set I need to write a quality story that others would want to spend their hard-earned money on to read.

To write a fiction novel, you need to understand tense, point of view, story structure, scenes vs chapters, character arcs, incorporating high stakes into a story, and so much more. Like any good skill, you need to learn it and put theory into practice. I had limited time to practice, so I maximised my time to learn by listening while completing my other daily tasks (eg cooking and cleaning).

Things I Did Differently

There is a lot of advice out there saying you need to approach writing and publishing a certain way. I wrote this section to show that you can do it in your own way. Do whatever works for you.

Different Writing Approach. When writing my book, I came across advice saying romance should be written in first person and single or dual point of view, and here I was writing it in third person with six points of view! I was worried about it, but pressed on anyway. I knew it was necessary for the story. I trusted my gut.

I deliberately wove song references throughout the story to give it a musical / soundtrack-driven vibe that I had not seen in other books, except for one that I discovered after I was already elbows-deep into my story (Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter).

I don’t have an author website. Yet. I decided to make Substack my base, with Instagram and the linktree attached to my bio a close second.

I released two books instead of one. A prequel novella that I used as a reader magnet to push people towards Y2K Love.

I wrote on my phone. A lot more than I would have liked. Balancing life and young kids around writing is hard. I didn’t write every day. I wrote when I got a spare moment to do it. And it wasn’t always on my computer. Sometimes it was on my phone in the Microsoft 365 app while breastfeeding!

I didn’t print out my Manuscript to proofread. If I printed out every piece of marketing material I wrote in my career to review and proofread, I would have destroyed a small forest, haha. So, no, I did it all digitally.

I listened to my book to proofread. Another example of maximising my time. The Microsoft 365 app has a read-aloud function. So I listened to my book a few times over and took notes in my app when I heard something that needed to be fixed, and I’d go back and fix it when I had a free moment to use my laptop.

Leveraging Knowledge Across Social Media

I leveraged different social media platforms at different times during my creative writing, marketing and publishing process. Here’s a rough breakdown:

I established a Substack first (this one), where I built up my confidence in writing and connected with other writers along the way. Substack is an incredibly safe space for writers. Once I was reading to market my book, I created a separate fiction author substack to build up a mailing list specifically for my books. My first batch of subscribers for that Substack came from my ARC team. I’ll talk more about that later.

The Romance Authors group on Reddit proved to be an excellent source of advice in the early stages of my writing journey for this book. They helped me decide on the book I would focus on publishing first, recommended the cover designer I now use, and I found a wonderful group of supportive beta readers who offered to read and provide feedback on my very rough first three chapters. Without their encouragement right at the beginning, I’m not sure if this story would have gotten off the ground. One of those beta readers ended up sticking around and was kind enough to beta-read my whole story (she is now included in my acknowledgements).

Now, Instagram has proven to be incredibly valuable once I started marketing and seeking out ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) readers. 80% of my ARC readers came from Instagram and/or Threads. Six weeks prior to my chosen launch date, I started creating posts to generate interest about my book and then began reaching out to bookstagrammers who followed me to see if they’d like to apply to ARC read a free e-book copy of my story. I used a Google form that I pinned to my bio on Instagram to gather readers.

Being able to manage my ARC team directly meant I was easily able to interact with these readers through Instagram. It was so wonderful to read their feedback directly through DM’s and build relationships with them. The smaller accounts in particular, with a strong background in reviewing on Goodreads, have been my biggest supporters and best reviewers. I’m so proud of the little team of trusted readers and book friends I have cultivated over there.

It is such a contrast to the start of my journey. When I was only learning and writing my books, Instagram was dead for me. It wasn’t until ARCs went out that Instagram really lit up and has now become a solid part of my marketing strategy.

Facebook author and reader groups are an excellent source of community during the writing process. I found two Australian romance author communities that also have sister reading groups on Facebook. In the author groups, we share advice in posts and in private chats. Then, in the reader groups, we can promote our books. Every author is so supportive of each other and eager to share advice. I found my other beta reader in this group, along with a successful author who proved to be an amazing mentor through this process. But be warned, not all Facebook author groups are the same. I have come across some very harsh ones, so find a group of writers that will suit you.

Threads has been another great community throughout my author journey. Such an easy platform to connect with both readers and authors. I have used threads to gather advice from authors, promote my ARC reading opportunities and promote my books now that they are published. It’s a perfect all-rounder platform that is easy and quick to use and has the audience I want to connect with.

TikTok is an enigma for me. I can see the benefits within arm’s reach, and I have gained some genuine interest in my books over there. But it is disappointing that you need 1000 subscribers to have a link in your bio (This is vital to point people to my books, newsletter and ARC sign-ups, etc). I’m currently at 650 followers there, and it has been a slog to reach that milestone. Creating a regular stream of videos that trend on that platform s time-consuming, and I haven’t quite found my footing yet. This platform seems to be better for awareness rather than connecting with existing followers, so with that in mind, the approach may need to be different. Also, Australia doesn’t have access to TikTok shop, so boo to that too :(

My Marketing / Publishing Strategy

Since this was my first book, I did not want to spend too much money on it as I still feared it could be a flop. Especially since I had no one else validating my story other than myself and my two beta readers. Once I got good reviews back from my ARC readers, I felt more confident in promoting my work.

I didn’t use professional editors. Instead, I learnt how to edit myself and relied heavily on my beta readers. I also should note that most of my career has been as a content marketing team leader, where my job involved writing and editing marketing content at a fast pace, so I have a bit of history there. I did this to save money for my first book, but I absolutely get the benefits of having one, and will consider it in the future.

After I wrote Y2K Love and started upskilling in book marketing and publishing, I came across a lot of advice out there about having a lead magnet (a cheap or free novella) that will lead people into your first book. It’s a great option for new authors, allowing readers to get a taste of the writing without spending money on it. So I went ahead and wrote Schoolies ‘99 with that purpose in mind. It’s directly tied to the main story with a mild cliffhanger that leads into Y2K Love.

I gave the e-book for Schoolies ‘99 away for free for one month before the release of Y2K Love. Then one week prior, I put Schoolies ‘99 on Amazon for 99c (and the paperback version too).

I did a soft launch of Schoolies ‘99 on August 7th and a hard launch for Y2K Love on August 14th.

I sought out ARC readers for Y2K Love one month before launch. I ended up with 51 ARC readers, which resulted in 28 reviews on Goodreads and 14 reviews on Amazon so far, with an average 4 star rating.

So far, a week into my publishing journey as a brand-new author, here are my results on Amazon:

How Much Did it Cost to Publish & Promote?

Covers x2: $160
ISBNs (pack of 10): $88
Editing: FREE (me+beta readers)
Formatting: FREE (did it myself in Word)
Bookbub Promo: $250

Total: $498

My first goal as a published author is to make the money back that I invested into these books, as I hear that there are many self-published authors who do not, unfortunately. Hence why I was determined to keep costs as low as I could while also making the book the best it can be and promoting it through as many free avenues as possible.

Things That Worked

My Covers - I got my covers designed through GetCovers, and I love how they turned out! GetCovers were excellent to work with. Affordable, fast and high quality. I will be using them again.

Taking Ownership of my ARC team - I was able to cultivate relationships with the most supportive reviewers directly, use my Google Forms to vet their credibility and ask if they would opt into my newsletter (90% said yes).

Sending e-ARCs via BookFunnel - fast, easy and affordable. I would not consider doing physical ARCs. The cost outweighs the benefits when you can reap the same benefits by sending a digital copy for free.

Posting on Instagram, Threads, TikTok and in Facebook Reader Groups - These platforms have been the best platforms for me to convert people into readers. I have had people mention on each platform that they were interested in reading my book or told me they were currently reading it (had already purchased).

Building Real Relationships - Making an effort to connect with authors and readers in my genre has been a joy, and I feel like I have a supportive community around me as I continue on this journey.

Creating Posts and Promo Material in Canva - I find it very easy to whip up graphics in Canva on my PC and on my phone when an idea springs to mind. I tried to make sure my posts on Instagram, in particular, were consistent with the book cover colours and followed the same visual and nostalgic vibe my books gave off.

Things That Didn’t Work

Bookbub New Release Promo. This was a BIG waste of money for me. Cost me $250. Apparently, my new release was sent out to 600,000 people, but I only got three new sales from it.

Formatting in Word. Formatting myself in Word was arduous and painful! I’d like to avoid doing that again next time if I can, and invest in professional formatting software like Atticus or Velum for my next book.

Things I Will Do Better Next Time

Start my hunt for ARC readers earlier. I wish I had more. Early reviews are like gold for a launch day. But ARC readers are not simply reviewers. If they love your book, they become your advocate across social platforms, recommending your book and sharing posts about it ahead of launch day. Don’t underestimate the power of a great team of ARC readers.

Get ARC readers from multiple countries. Since my story is set in Australia, I sought out mostly Australian readers. But it wasn’t until I hit publish that I realised that these Australian reviews were not showing up in other countries. It seems like people can only see reviews from their own country. It’s a huge shame as I have 14 reviews on Australian Amazon, but only two are showing in the US, and none are showing in the UK and Canada.

I gave Schoolies ‘99 (my prequel novella) away for free for the month prior to release to bulk up newsletter subscribers. The uptake was not as significant as I hoped it would be, with 24 downloads of that free prequel despite pushing it a lot on Instagram and Facebook groups. But I guess a few extra newsletter subscribers were better than none, and some of them ended up leaving reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, which was nice. I just don’t think the title was hooky enough to draw interest from a wide audience. I’m glad I ended up putting it on Amazon and creating a physical copy as they are selling despite me making little profit from them.

What Next?

I’ve decided to start up a group of ‘Inner Circle’ supporters in a private group chat on Instagram. Link to the signup form is in my bio. I really like the idea of having readers and friends I can talk to about my books and the writing process as people in my real life really don’t care haha. I’m not in this journey alone anymore and I genuinely want to share the journey with others. I have six members so far. Will see if that will continue to grow!

I’m going to continue writing the next book in the series called Y2K Betrayal. I have already started it so I’m keen to get back to it and find a new balance around all my new marketing and social media tasks!

I have so many partially written stories and ideas still to come. A few Sci-Fi stories too, so I need to figure out if they will all go under one pen name or if I will need more than one. We shall see!

And finally, I want to thank all of you. My original Substack subscribers who have been here with me since the start. Well, before I published this book. Every like, comment, and kind word matters so much, and I’ll forever be grateful that someone chose to read this little substack newsletter of mine in a lonely little corner of the internet that is not lonely anymore x