Over the course of four years, this poem morphed into a children’s book by the same name that I self-published with my friend and illustrator, Olivia Wischmeyer. We crowdfunded over $3,000 to cover the cost of producing our book and donated all profits raised from sales to Reading Partners Colorado and Books for Africa. Our book was officially released in April 2017 when we were both seniors in high school. We’ve since sold nearly 1,000 copies and the book has been sold in five different stores.
As young people, we were new to the process of self-publishing and endured many failures before we held the final book in our hands. Here are nine things I wish I had known about self-publishing before starting the process.
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1. Use traditionally published books as a guide
2. If you choose non-standard formatting, be aware of the consequences
3. Know the distribution process and what profits to expect
4. Start networking early
5. Trust the experts
6. Don’t rush through the process just because you want to see your finished product
7. The key to marketing is persistence
8. You don’t have to get on the Today Show to sell a lot of books
9. Convey confidence
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