Self-Publishing Success Requires a Team

Successful self-publishing in a Digital World

Who holds the keys to your publishing success?  Before the digital revolution of the last decade, publishing companies held the keys to the gates to the publishing kingdom. Their acquisition editors manned the giant pulley that lowered, or raised the drawbridge, and the moat was filled with monsters that denied access to all but the stout hearted knight, or those that knew the king. The rest of us writing peasants were confined to the banks, hoping that the proposals and queries we through at the little windows at the top of the castle wall would find their way through the tiny openings, and be delivered to the editors in their ivory towers.

Today, the publishing world has changed. The gates are abandoned and the moats are dry because down in the town, an enterprising digital blacksmith created the 21’st century’s equivalent to the Gutenberg Press. Social media and a host of digital tools make it possible for any writer to pen, publish, and pass out their ideas and find a listening audience.

Yet, publishers weren’t only gatekeepers. They provided important services that today’s writer must still address. Yes, we have the ability to write and publish our words. However, we still have to promote, market and get our well-crafted words into the hands of a listening audience. Writing success requires a team of specialists, or at least a group of friends with some of the following skills.

• CEOs (Chief encouragement officers): Writing is a lonely sport, and you will be more successful if you have a few people in your life to encourage you, and to walk with you as you write.
• SMMO (Social Media Marketing Officer): Finding a listening audience has never been easier, if you know your way around posts, tweets, feeds and friends. Social media connects us to the world. You don’t have to reach them all, but you do need to know how to reach them.
• Editors: no matter how good you writing is, you have blind spots. There is not good writing, and your work is not the exception. There is only good re-writing, and an editor or two will improve your best prose can.
• Digital Designer: Crafting words is a unique skill, as is turning pixels into attention grabbing images.
• Software Specialist: Mastering the digital publishing world requires mastering a few software programs. By adding someone well versed in the software world to your team, you can save time, prevent costly data loss, and simplify your learning curves.
• Writing Cohorts: Walking this writing journey with a few friends will help you stay consistent, positive, focused, and pick up your writing gifts when / if you want to give up.

Writers in today’s digital marketplace. If you are ready to assemble your team, contact Visible Platforms for all you online promotion needs. Looking for a writing group, contact Word Weavers and ask how you can be part of an active writing community in your neighborhood.