Why I Chose to Self-Publish
When I decided I wanted to write a novel in the winter of 2018, I didn't know that I would have two books finished and published by mid-July, with two more in the works. I didn't know that my first two books would end up as Amazon bestsellers, both reaching the top 10 (The Treehouse was, for a bit, the #2 young adult thriller listed on Amazon) in their respective categories. I also didn't know how wide-open the world of publishing is now. As I wrote in a previous blog post, the rise in technology has democratized the publishing industry. Much like the music industry, anyone with a computer can write a book, publish it, market it, and have it distributed all over the world. Where there were once gatekeepers who could block you from reaching an audience, there are none. Instead, creatives and content creators like myself can reach our audiences directly and have direct relationships with the people who are interested in what we are creating. (Think Lil Nas X, whose breakout hit "Old Town Road" was released on Soundcloud independently)
I chose to self-publish my books and take not only creative control but also marketing control into my own hands in order to reach my audience directly. The world is changing, thanks to platforms like Facebook, and content creators—novelists like myself and Andrew Monroe—can reach an interested audience without having to go through an agency.
We also are not beholden to release dates. I am on a six month release cycle (May and November), but there's nothing stopping me from pumping out new content as I see fit. What if I want to publish a short story in between my six-month releases? No problem. As long as we are making quality content, we can publish whenever we want.
That also helps keep top-of-mind to our audience. There are so many distractions out in the open world, so indie authors have more competition for readers than ever. However, and this goes back to 1,000 True Fans, once you are able to reach your core audience, you can keep them engaged with content, posts, etc.
My latest novel IN THE FOG will be released later this month via Amazon Publishing and Caprock
Publishing Group. It's available for pre-order here (ebook, $4.99) or here (paperback, $14.99).
I can't wait for you all to read the latest release.