My debut self-published story collection ‘And The Angels Cried and other stories’ is launched on Amazon Kindle tomorrow. I’ve hardly slept for a week and have been obsessively checking and double checking everything. I can do no more.
I have read, with great interest, many blogs written by friends and colleagues who have gone down a similar path to mine and have found them, without exception, to be filled with great advice for the novice self-publisher. Without their help, the tricky process of formatting, negotiating the author interface on Amazon and pricing dilemma would have been much, much harder. But what I haven’t been prepared for is the sheer emotional anxiety of the process.
Maybe it’s just me. I don’t normally consider myself a worrier, but I do obsess about the little things. I am a control freak. There, I’ve said it.
My family are always complaining at how early I choose to leave for appointments because I have a morbid fear of being stuck behind a tractor and turning up late. I re-arrange the dish-washer so that the plates and pots will, in my opinion, have a better chance of being washed properly. I’ll usually take 17 pictures of a subject ‘just in case.’ Can you imagine how out-of-control I feel now the publishing process has begun?
I feel as sure as I can that I haven’t forgotten anything, but what if I’m wrong? What if my friends have just been kind to me all these years and I can’t write for toffee?
Tomorrow will be the proof or not. And to be honest, I just want it over and done with. I can cope with people hating it (I think), but it’s the not knowing that kills me.
I have a new, more serious web site now, dedicated purely to writery stuff where I shall probably call myself an author and postulate on all things grammatical. Want to take bets on how long that lasts? While I am very serious about my writing, I can’t take myself too seriously. My author profile on Amazon is the proof of that. I won’t be giving up on this site – how else would I be able to tell you stories about my mum? – but if you’d like to see what ‘serious Nettie’ looks like, head over to www.AnnetteSThomson.com before it all descends into fart jokes and poodles.
@nettiewriting 
Breathe, you will be fine, Nettie. I do know what you mean. I woke up to the nightmare of uploading my old, unedited file. You will do very well, you have a keen eye and I am sure your book is perfect. Good luck, and get some sleep so you can enjoy tomorrow! x
Sleep…. I remember that….. ~;0)
Nettie, First off, congratulations! and second have you thought of the worst case scenario? In the worst case, you pull the book and re-upload. I had your worst nightmare come true when I first formatted 5 Pillars of the Gypsy, uploaded to KDP select, campaigned a very successful give-away (152 downloads in 2 hours) and then the HORROR hit that my book looked like sh** in the format I had uploaded, the images were terrible, the font seemed to have changed entirely… I pulled it immediately, ate humble pie, had it re-done and waited 3 months as per the KDP select contract before re-releasing in e-book format. I was beside myself but it is over and life still happened the next day. 🙂 Still, 152 people think I am a loser LOL
Wait. This was meant to calm you. I hope it did. 😀
Oh, Lesley! You made me laugh! That is one of my worst nightmares!
I have used the preview facility to quadruple check every single page. There is one small formatting problem I couldn’t get around- a title on the contents page isn’t lining up properly – but I hope that’s it! Fingers crossed anyway.
And thank you for sharing your experiences with us xxx
Nettie – I am so very excited for you. I know what you mean about worrying over the details, but honestly, you are a very talented writer and you will do great! Can’t wait to read your stories!!!!
Thank you, Margot. You are always such a lovely, supportive friend I am blessed to know you xxx
Yup – being an obsessive compulsive isn’t a good way to publish a book – I’m with publishers and I go through all that too. Take heart, sweetie – you couldn’t do worse than I did with my first self-published monstrosity. I did it first – you will be fine. I know the book is excellent – I read it. Now, take my hand, have a cup of tea and munch on some of my homemade fudge – you’ll be great!
Thank you, lovely. I appreciate your support x
I just started to follow your blog and I viewed the excerpt from your newly published book. I was able to read the first story and I loved it! I don’t have a Kindle currently but plan on getting one for Christmas this year and would love to purchase your book at that time 🙂
Thank you so much! That means a lot to me xxx
Big hugs. I can’t wait for tomorrow so I can get a copy. I’m sure it will be ace and massive congrats on reaching this stage! The cover looks fab, too. xx
Thank you so much, Emma xxx