You are quite the brave soul. The road to self-publishing isn’t an easy one. It will demand a lot of energy and patience. Self-publishing might sound like a gamble, but if you know the tools of the trade and you work well, success is achievable. Many self-published authors have proven that. Self-published authors are topping the charts and are receiving fat monthly paychecks. So make up your mind and stand firm on your decision to self-publish. Don’t worry too much. You can do it!

Here are a couple of things you should pack for your self-publishing journey:

All your marketing efforts will be put to waste if your book is badly written. So write and write until you think it’s the best you can produce.

Yes, you are skilled in weaving words into beautifully crafted sentences, but you might not be as skilled in Photoshop or in social media. You can get an agent to help you organize everything, an editor to improve your book, a graphic designer to create your book cover, or a marketing consultant to advise you in your marketing endeavors. Know that you have the option to hire these people. If you don’t want to, then there’s nothing wrong with that.

Sort out your goals. Set short-term goals to further your progress. For instance, if you’re still new then you can focus on growing your fan base. In time, that will be a factor in achieving long-term goals like topping the charts. This way, you won’t feel frustrated. Remember, set realistic goals.

You will encounter better writers with better cover designs, and better marketing strategies. However, that shouldn’t pull you down. Do your work to the best of your abilities and believe in it. You can’t convince people that you’re good if you can’t even convince yourself.

Continue to expand your knowledge about tools and services which you can utilize. For example, Kindle Direct Publishing won’t charge you for publishing e-books. Moreover, there are several social media tools that will help you with your marketing strategies. One example is Buffer. If you do your research, you can get quality services for a low price, or for free even.

Stop changing your decisions. You won’t get to finish your book if you’re always indecisive. If you have a team, they won’t be able to keep up with the ideas you bombard them with; for instance, changing your concept when your designer just finished making the last one you requested.

This is your saving grace. It will get you through promotions without ever having to spend too much money, time, or effort. Creating your marketing plan will allow you to organize your ideas and strategies which you can plot into daily tasks. This will keep you on track.

If your strategies aren’t getting you to reach your goals, then revise it. Again, do your research. Create a better marketing plan and stay true to it.

Always strive to find new ideas. Don’t settle with whatever your rivals are doing. What sets you apart from them might just be your ticket to success.

Once you know your target audience, you will know how to approach them. For instance, if your target audience is the young adult community, then you can concentrate on using social media to market. Moreover, you will know how to entertain them. For instance, updates on the latest juicy details of commercialized fiction might please them.

As a self-published author, financially, you rely on your audience. You get to pay the bills because they think your book is worth the buy. So, do not disregard them. Be thankful. Repay them simply by interacting with them.

This is the digital age. It’s only right to take advantage of the technology we have. E-books and audio books are quite as popular as print. The best part is that you won’t have to spend a lot on publishing.

Self-publishing has never been easy. As long as you know that success is possible for a self-published author, it should be enough to keep you going. If you continue to perform well, you can reach success. So, never give up on your goals. Work well and best of luck!