The Troubles of Publishing a Book

I don't know if any of you guys have attempted writing a novel. It seems like every serial reader these days is taking a crack at being an author. These days, I have written 59,848 words towards my book, as of right now. My goal length is 60,000. I'm so close, I could lick it.

I know I'll go over my length, but I think I'll be done in a week or so. This is not what I came here to say. I want to talk about a little syndrome I call Pre-Book Release Anxiety Disorder. 

If you don't have a publisher lined up already, your probably freaked out about the thought of your book not being published.

 If you do have a publisher, I'm about to tell you something that'll piss you off. 

Having a vanity publisher does not mean your book will sell. 

Sorry to break it to you, buddy.

And those who are self publishing probably don't know how they are going to sell. Those with publishers can't sneer at indie authors, because we all know what having a vanity publisher means. It's just a name. You get less royalties. If your lucky, they'll pay for your books to be in bookstores, but that is dependent on factors A and B. A, if someone actually wants your book. And B, if you sell your soul to them and promise you'll pay the money back.

Maybe you haven't even gotten to that point yet. Maybe you haven't even started your novel. Well that means you suck.

And if you're like me and have millions of unfinished publications and have yet to finish a book, than get cracking. Now is the BEST time to get into the literary world. There are ways to publish your book for almost free. Not only that, but people are paying closer attention to e-books, especially indie ones.

So what is the point of this article, exactly?

The point is to tell you the dangers of writing a book. The sad truth is the majority of them only exist in your head.

Let's read that sentence over again. The sad truth is the majority of the dangers of publishing only exist in your head. 


You probably think your not good enough.

You probably think no one will buy your book.

You think you can't finish your story.

You'll never sell as much copies as (insert famous author name here).

 You don't have confidence or the skills.

You're afraid of breaking in to publishing.

Your scared of the risks.


The fact is, writing is a risky business. Not because you'll lose a bunch of money. Nope, that's not it, and it probably won't happen. It's because of this.  Most self-published books sell from 100 to 150 copies. Really? After all that hard work, less than one percent of the population will buy your book, let alone read it?

The reason this story I am attempting now is different from all the others I attempted is because I believe in it. I know what it's like to write until five in the morning, or in the car, or while on vacation. I know what it's like to write a book, review books, manage a blog, and complete all the other priorities in my life. It sucks, but you love it. I know the difference between a book I have passion for and a book I don't.
So here's what you need to do to get this book rolling.

1. Stop comparing yourself to other writers. If it doesn't help you, stop it. You will never be them. There will always be someone better than you, and you will always be better than someone. 
2. Dream. Visualize yourself telling people about your book and what made it so successful. Olympic athletes use similar methods to help them win in the game. Dreaming will give you the ambition to make it a reality. 
3.  Experiment with the book you want to write. Maybe if you can't finish a book, it's because you don't have a well thought out idea, or a good format. In my case, I like writing in the first person, but facts show that I am freaking sick at writing in the third person limited. 
4. Don't get feedback from anyone. Not even yourself. Involving other people in your book can increase the pressure. You can also be your own worst enemy. Nathan Bransford once wrote a blog post about how some people can suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect. It's when people underestimate the extraordinary skills they posses. You can read about it by clicking his name. This "effect" can make you underestimate your book, and give up all together.
5. Believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself and in your book, you will commit night and day to making this book perfect, marketing it like a hooker does her body, and learning about the tools you need to get people to read what you worked so hard on. 

Of course there are a lot of other elements that come to writing and publishing a book. I just hope this post gave you motivation to keep moving on. I wrote this one a whim. But I am 152 words away from the goal length in my book and I cherish the time it took to write it. 

Being a book reviewer/blogger/vanity publishing company owner, I know what it takes to publish a book. And I know the factors that contribute to not publishing at all. 

You miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take. 

Many books sell less than a hundred copies. Let's make sure your book is not one of those many.