Why new self-publishers SHOULD put Baby in the corner. (For now.)

You're going to learn lots of lessons when you self-publish for the first time and it's better not to learn these lessons at your baby's expense.

?In this blog, I’ll explain why new authors SHOULD put Baby in the corner.

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Some authors talk about their book as their literary baby. Do you? Or maybe it’s your literary calf. After all, the gestation period was probably up there with an elephant’s…

Elephants, parents and authors alike get very excited about their creation being out in the world. It’s so loved. It’s so wanted. You want to shout from the rooftops that this bundle of joy is yours and that you are so proud of it.

Come and look! Isn’t it a beauty!

But while the temptation is high to announce your new arrival, keep it under wraps for now.

Keep Baby in the corner.

Why?

Because you don’t really know what you’re doing yet, do you? You don’t want all eyes on you while you work out how to get it dressed. And you could do without an audience while you deal with things in the back end.

Do you remember those books/TV show episodes where adolescents learnt parenting skills by taking care of a bag of flour? You need the literary equivalent…

You need a flour baby novella.

I’m sure you have ideas scribbled in your notepad. Could you bring one of these to fruition? With care, attention, and nurture, is there the potential for a novella?

Obviously, don’t slapdash it. Make sure you write something you’re happy for people to read. But it doesn’t have to be your best thing. It doesn’t have to be THE ONE.

Baby is safely in the corner.

With your flour baby novella, go for a dummy run. Work out what you have to do to get your work self-published. Learn the steps. See how it feels.

And don’t launch with a fanfare. In fact, don’t tell anyone your due date. You don’t know whether it’ll go smoothly. You could be fifteen days late – ask me about it! And you might not bring it into the world to the rousing hits of Queen like you had planned.

Your aim should be to have a see-what-happens launch. Go with the flow. The objective is to go through the process with as little stress as possible.

Is launching a book stressful? Well, it can be. It depends on a variety of factors. But a very common aggravator is the ‘A’ word.

Admin. When you self-publish, it’s inevitable that you’ll encounter some admin faff. And, let’s face it, this isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time. Be prepared to have moments of frustration while you're trying to make sense of it all.

This is why it’s advisable to keep your baby out of the way while you're banging your head against the keyboard.

But the flour baby can cope. If it gets a few bumps and bruises, all is not lost.

In a worst-case scenario, you might have such a frustrating day at the KDP dashboard* that it’ll cross your mind to scrap what you're doing altogether.

You might want to throw the flour baby out with the bathwater.

But think of the insights you’ll learn if you persevere. Do your research. Ask the questions you need to ask. Jump through the hoops. Read the guidebooks. Watch all the tutorials. There'll be plenty of trials and plenty of errors. But it’ll be an amazing learning curve.

Do all the things you need to do to get your novella out into the world. Hit 'Publish'. Hoorah! You’ve done it. Your flour baby survived. It might not be the book you intended to shout about, but that wasn’t the point.

The point was to get through it and learn the lessons. Job done.

Fast forward however many months…

By now, you've caught your breath. The flour baby is out there and it is what it is.

And you’ve had time to spend with your actual baby and your love for this particular bundle of joy remains as strong as ever. Is it time to introduce your novel to the world?

If the answer is Yes, go for it. It’s your Swayze moment. Guide Baby out of the corner. It’s her time to shine.

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I’d welcome any reactions to this idea from would-be authors. What do you make of this flour baby novella suggestion?

And any indie authors who have already published and who know the ropes: did you launch something lower-stakes before you launched your passion project? Are you glad you did? And if you didn’t, do you wish you had?

Let me know.

*Other platforms are available. It's not all about the 'zon.?