If you had to start all over again...

[Lex]

...what would you do differently? Or what things do you wish you'd known when you started?

This can be in terms of writing or publishing.


Mine would be:

WRITING
1. To quote Roger Ebert, "The Muse visits during the act of creation, not before. Don't wait for her. Start alone."

I used to waste a lot of time waiting for inspiration to strike, thinking I had to "let" it happen, or that I needed to have every little detail mapped out before I started. The truth is that every block I've ever had was solved by forcing myself to sit and work it out.

2. First drafts are called first drafts for a reason. Write the words, worry about making them "perfect" later.

3. Everyone, on some level, is making it up as they go along. You may have a degree in Creative Writing, or maybe you've read every How To book there is about writing. You still have to figure out most of it on your own.

PUBLISHING
4. If they don't know about it, they can't read it. Visibility is Everything.

5. No sales/low sales doesn't mean the book isn't good. They have to buy it before they can read it, and then they can decide whether it's good or not.

6. The book cover isn't for you, and it isn't for your fans. The cover is for catching eyeballs and conveying genre/tone.

[Rick Partlow]

I would have self-published as soon as I could instead of waiting until mid-2011.
I would have had sequels ready so when my first two novels took off, I could have followed them up and kept that momentum going.

[Lex]

I would have self-published as soon as I could instead of waiting until mid-2011.
I would have had sequels ready so when my first two novels took off, I could have followed them up and kept that momentum going.

Yes to both of these.

Though I didn't so much wait to self-publish as I didn't find out about it until 2014. So I guess I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and give myself some hot tips.

[Rick Partlow]

I would have self-published as soon as I could instead of waiting until mid-2011.
I would have had sequels ready so when my first two novels took off, I could have followed them up and kept that momentum going.

Yes to both of these.

Though I didn't so much wait to self-publish as I didn't find out about it until 2014. So I guess I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and give myself some hot tips.

I had heard about it as early as 2010, but I had the idea in my head still that self publishing=vanity publishing and only losers did it.

[Jeff Tanyard]

What Rick said.  I'd have gotten a much earlier start.

[Post-Doctorate D]

My first thought is that I would have focused harder in the 90s on writing and completing all the story and novel ideas I had.  And on the computer in digital files, not on paper where I'd have to type them all in.  And then I would save up money for editing and have them all edited and ready to go.  Then, sit on them.  Come 2008 or 2010 or whenever Amazon started with eBooks, I'd have those puppies all ready to go.  Or maybe I'd wait until Amazon did the 70% royalty option.  At any rate, I'd have a ton of books ready to go and I'd be the one y'all would be idolizing instead of Hocking and Howey and the others.  LOL.

My second thought is that, as long as we're going back in time, forget all that.  I'd take all my extra money, every last dime I could spare, and buy Apple stock when it was at $15.  Then, today, I'd be a multi-millionaire and I could buy ads and promos and whatnot out the wazoo.

[Lorri Moulton]

It would be nice to have a little money for promotions, but otherwise...I doubt I'd change anything.
Wait.  I would have finished a second book for Kindle Scout before they closed down the program.   

[elleoco]

My first thought is that I would have focused harder in the 90s on writing and completing all the story and novel ideas I had.

Not doing this is my first regret. My investigation of traditional publishing after I finished my first book and when I was writing the second turned me off so thoroughly, I stopped writing until I discovered indie publishing in late 2009.


My second regret is not starting a mailing list right from the get-go. I first published in early 2010 and didn't start a list until 2013.

[HSh]

I don't think I was ready to self-publish any sooner than I did.  It was a long journey to the point of gaining enough confidence (or at least enough "f*ck it") to put my stories out there.  It's been a long journey from there to here.  I've got further to go. 

I can't say I'd go back and make a different choice without having the resources to do that.  Of course, if I could just snap my fingers and remove the learning curve from life, I would probably do so.  I'm not sure it would be for the best, but probably I couldn't resist!

[Lee Carlon]

I wouldn't have disappeared into corporate-world between 2014 and 2017. If I were starting all over again, I'd tell myself to focus on established genres (IMO cross genres = subset not superset), write full length novels, and don't put swear words in the titles.


As it is, I feel like I'm starting again right now (considering the above is it any surprise?), and I'm taking all that advice

[Lex]

My second thought is that, as long as we're going back in time, forget all that.  I'd take all my extra money, every last dime I could spare, and buy Apple stock when it was at $15.  Then, today, I'd be a multi-millionaire and I could buy ads and promos and whatnot out the wazoo.

OK, but the real question is: TARDIS, DeLorean, or...?

[munboy]

Write stuff that sells instead of writing stuff I wanted to write.
A LOT more research into self publishing.

[Post-Doctorate D]

My second thought is that, as long as we're going back in time, forget all that.  I'd take all my extra money, every last dime I could spare, and buy Apple stock when it was at $15.  Then, today, I'd be a multi-millionaire and I could buy ads and promos and whatnot out the wazoo.

OK, but the real question is: TARDIS, DeLorean, or...?

Well, if you have a TARDIS, you have plenty of storage space, a place to live and you can travel anywhere in time and space, which sorta negates the need for a ton of money.

[katc]

I would have self-published as soon as I could instead of waiting until mid-2011.
I would have had sequels ready so when my first two novels took off, I could have followed them up and kept that momentum going.

Definitely this.
I would've done more research and been better prepared to self publish. Definitely wouldn't have waited so long to make writing my career.

[She-la-te-da]

I don't know that I really could have done anything differently, considering my circumstances. I was out of work, broke and really struggling just to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. I couldn't change that, or the fact that my parents got sick one after the other with serious health problems, or that my youngest son hit some rough years, or that my own health failed (stress and extremely poor diet, most likely the cause).

If I'd had even a little money, I'd wish I could have believed in Select, in mailing lists, in Bookbub. I'd wish I could have focused on writing novels, instead of barely writing at all. I'd wish I didn't try writing erotica right before KUv1 ended. Though even my crappy stories were selling pretty good for a couple of months then.

I try not to look back with regrets, because whatever I was doing, it wasn't wrong for the times, and self-publishing was so new there wasn't really a "wrong" thing to do, just things that as the industry developed turned out to not be how it ended up. Things changed, stuff some writers were doing pushed us in certain directions, Amazon changed how they wanted books to go, and we got what we have today.

Doing what "works" today likely won't be "right" in ten years. It's always changing, self publishing is maturing as a thing, and we have no idea what it's going to be, just like in 2009. My belief is we do what we can today, and be ready to adapt. That's how you stay viable for whatever changes are coming.

[The Bass Bagwhan]

In a sense, I think most of us are starting over again with every new title. The scene is constantly changing and in particular the effectiveness of various promotion sites, the rules over Facebook, how AMS ads work...
But to answer the OP straight, it'd be build a platform. Build myself, and let everything else flow from there. Because followers who actually welcome your blogs, or welcome your mailing list emails, are invaluable. Those followers take time to attract and grow.

[LD]

My second thought is that, as long as we're going back in time, forget all that.  I'd take all my extra money, every last dime I could spare, and buy Apple stock when it was at $15.  Then, today, I'd be a multi-millionaire and I could buy ads and promos and whatnot out the wazoo.

I know someone who made millions off of Yahoo stock.  When each of his kids got married, his wedding gift to them was $1 million.


I wish I wrote every day, even if it was only a little, instead of thinking, "There's no way I can meet today's goal, I'll start new tomorrow."

[Lex]

I try not to look back with regrets, because whatever I was doing, it wasn't wrong for the times, and self-publishing was so new there wasn't really a "wrong" thing to do, just things that as the industry developed turned out to not be how it ended up. Things changed, stuff some writers were doing pushed us in certain directions, Amazon changed how they wanted books to go, and we got what we have today.

Doing what "works" today likely won't be "right" in ten years. It's always changing, self publishing is maturing as a thing, and we have no idea what it's going to be, just like in 2009. My belief is we do what we can today, and be ready to adapt. That's how you stay viable for whatever changes are coming.

All good points, and an important reminder to focus on what we can do now, not what we maybe could have done in the past.

[Anarchist]

My second thought is that, as long as we're going back in time, forget all that.  I'd take all my extra money, every last dime I could spare, and buy Apple stock when it was at $15.  Then, today, I'd be a multi-millionaire and I could buy ads and promos and whatnot out the wazoo.

You'd have made more money investing in Amazon stock.

1997: $18/sh
Today: $1,974/sh

Buying Amazon stock is one of the best hedges for authors.

[LilyBLily]

Just when the rotten conditions of old-style self-publishing were finally changing (I'd been involved in more than one failed attempt over the years), I was caught up in major family events--all negative, some unexpected. I wrote during those years, but there was no way I had the focus to investigate or pursue self-publishing. So I missed the gold rush. I actually had several completed mss. by 2011, when people often say everything took off. Too bad. 

If I were to start from scratch today, I'd binge watch about a zillion TV shows and movies to try to catch up on the zeitgeist of a potential audience. I'd read a bunch of ebooks. I'd carefully consider what the tropes and trends in romantic novels are today. And then I'd probably ignore them as I have ignored them for years now, and write whatever stories call to me.   

Last night I read (or reread) parts of The Indie Author Power Pack, which collected advice from several leading lights of 2014. Their advice seems quaint now.

Indie publishing is changing rapidly, but the urge to write holds steady. I'm happy enough to have published a dozen novels in four years without losing my shirt. My dashed hopes aren't all that dashed, either.

I can't look back. My list of regrets is so extensive that missing the first big wave of ebook self-publishing doesn't even make the first page.

[plennox]

Still in the prawn stage (started in February), but I spent a few years ghostwriting and sometimes wish I still had those stories to publish for myself now.

On the other hand, the regret of seeing my stories published with someone else's name attached was what eventually propelled me into this. I'm not sure I would have done it, otherwise. Jealousy (the healthy kind) is powerful motivation!

I also would have written one of my standalones so it could become a series.  It still leads some people into my backlist, but there's a pretty high drop-off/"one and done" thing going on.

[Max]

There are things I could have done differently, but my thinking is that if I didn't do things the way I did, I wouldn't be where I am. I like where I am. So, in that case, I don't think I'd change a thing.
Now, if I could assure I'd have been in this stage even if I changed things, then I'd have written faster, stayed out of group projects, and kept my head down.

[NeverGiveUp]

I wouldn't have switched from YA to Contemporary Romance to try to break through and make some real money. The romance is difficult to sell with such a wide category (duh). I should have stuck with what I was actually interested in writing to build my brand. I lost a year, and a ton of momentum. 

[Vijaya]

There are things I could have done differently, but my thinking is that if I didn't do things the way I did, I wouldn't be where I am. I like where I am. So, in that case, I don't think I'd change a thing.
Now, if I could assure I'd have been in this stage even if I changed things, then I'd have written faster, stayed out of group projects, and kept my head down.

You make an excellent point. I wish I'd not gotten side-tracked with so many write-for-hire projects and instead focused on my own. Also, I wish I'd self-published 5 yrs ago because the book was ready.

[guest116]

I wish I had listened to people and started self-publishing long before I did. I spent years trad publishing IT books while people kept telling me to self publish fictional eBooks. I kept laughing and telling them there was no money in it, and that self publishing was looked down on, and that no publisher would ever touch anything that had been self published.  Had I listened to my friends, I would have started self publishing around 2010 or 2011. Instead, I didn't jump on board until 2014.

Other things I would have done different:

For the first month or two I tried to make my own covers. Never do that. They sucked even though I thought they were great at the time.

I would never have gone six months before hiring an editor. I don't know why I thought I could self edit just because I'd been writing for years. Big mistake, but fortunately I found someone great at the six month mark.

I would have learned about marketing before I started self publishing. I spent the first month expecting people to magically find me. That doesn't happen.

I would have stayed wide instead of putting all my books into KU after about six months. KU2 started a month after I'd enrolled all my books. It sucked.

I would have waited until I had three books ready to go before publishing. Like I said before, I expected people to find me magically. Yeah right.

I would have started my ARC team right away instead of waiting until 2015 or 2016.

I would have taken advantage of every opportunity to get subscribers for my newsletter before I published a thing. Instead I waited until four or five books were out. Stupid mistake.

I would have started my Facebook Author page right away - instead I focused on Twitter for three years before setting up the fan page. They're completely different demographics and audiences, and I don't know what the hell I was thinking by alienating Facebook.

I wouldn't have invested thousands of dollars in courses. A total waste of money. You can find all of the information on the web or in YouTube videos - you just have to look for it. I'm not saying all courses were bad. I learned a lot from a few of them. But the others, they soaked me and gave me material I could have freely found on the Internet.

I'm sure there's more I would have done differently, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head and it's still quite an extensive list. 

[Kate Elizabeth]

I wish that I had taken my fantasy series seriously, instead of writing all of these tangents, and making a mess of things, and just finished the first book, at least.  Of course, those tangents are future books, but not at that time.
I wish that my health hadn't failed when I needed to follow up after having a minor hit with my first 3 erotic romances.  Still, I made some money, and got somewhat better.
I wish that I had used Xmas money to pay for audiobooks a few years ago.
Otherwise, everything I've gone through with my writing career taught me something, whether I wanted to learn it or not.

[Jeff Tanyard]

My second thought is that, as long as we're going back in time, forget all that.  I'd take all my extra money, every last dime I could spare, and buy Apple stock when it was at $15.  Then, today, I'd be a multi-millionaire and I could buy ads and promos and whatnot out the wazoo.

You'd have made more money investing in Amazon stock.

1997: $18/sh
Today: $1,974/sh

Buying Amazon stock is one of the best hedges for authors.

Yeah, but who wants to wait twenty years?  ;)

I would have sold naked call options at the top of the tech bubble.   

My list of regrets is so extensive that missing the first big wave of ebook self-publishing doesn't even make the first page.

Same here.   

[Post-Doctorate D]

My list of regrets is so extensive that missing the first big wave of ebook self-publishing doesn't even make the first page.

Same here.   

I missed this before but, yeah, that.

[Anarchist]

You'd have made more money investing in Amazon stock.

1997: $18/sh
Today: $1,974/sh

Buying Amazon stock is one of the best hedges for authors.

Yeah, but who wants to wait twenty years?  ;)

I would have sold naked call options at the top of the tech bubble.   

Something tells me I'm just a smidgen more risk-averse than you. 

[Jeff Tanyard]

You'd have made more money investing in Amazon stock.

1997: $18/sh
Today: $1,974/sh

Buying Amazon stock is one of the best hedges for authors.

Yeah, but who wants to wait twenty years?  ;)

I would have sold naked call options at the top of the tech bubble.   

Something tells me I'm just a smidgen more risk-averse than you. 

There's no risk if you already know what's going to happen.   

If I had to go back and do it all again without knowing what I know now, then that's a different story.  ;)

[Post-Doctorate D]

If I had to go back and do it all again without knowing what I know now, then that's a different story.  ;)

Remember when ;) could be represented by a little round smiley that was winking instead of ASCII characters as if we were cave people?  I remember those days like it was yesterday.  Probably because it was yesterday.

Rest in peace, little fellow.  Rest in peace.   

[Jeff Tanyard]

If I had to go back and do it all again without knowing what I know now, then that's a different story.  ;)

Remember when ;) could be represented by a little round smiley that was winking instead of ASCII characters as if we were cave people?  I remember those days like it was yesterday.  Probably because it was yesterday.

Rest in peace, little fellow.  Rest in peace.   

I 'member.   

[dgcasey]

I would start a lot earlier.

[Joe_Nobody]

I would have taken both line and story editing more seriously. I took the cheap and quick route, and I paid for it with those early works.
I would have listened to my inner voice from the get-go. I didn't trust it, and later, as it leaked out, my storytelling improved greatly.

[guest390]

Invent BookBub.

[LSMay]

I'd start with free and 99c to get my name out there and find some readers, instead of worrying about 'losing money' doing that.

[Lex]

I would have waited until I had three books ready to go before publishing. Like I said before, I expected people to find me magically. Yeah right.

That's a good one. Whether or not I'd have to patience to write three books before publishing anything is another question.