 More and more frequently I am reminded that, of all the qualifications a self-publisher needs to have, none is more important than developing the hide of a rhinoceros. For the next few days, we'll take a look at some of the reasons.  Your first clue lies in the deceptive word "self." In my book, The Second Mouse Gets the Cheese, I argued that every self-publisher needs a staff. I wrote, "You cannot hope to sit isolated in your little home office and do everything yourself, no matter how talented you may be. The success of your book will depend upon how well you assemble a team of assistants.I then compiled a list of all the people who had helped me with the publication of my books. Even I was surprised at how many there were: travel agent, mail clerk, photographer, design artist, layout expert, production company, printer, web host, banker, credit card manager, professional promoters, financial advisor, accountant, lawyer, sounding boards, manuscript readers, salesmen, and cheerleaders. Each of them deserved partial credit for any success my book had achieved.  Despite the arguments I made in favor of a staff, the simple truth is that in self-publishing, everything boils down to you. Are there spelling errors, grammatical bloopers, punctuation flaws in your new book? Who made them? You did. Who failed to catch them? You did. Did your interior design team, or your cover designer, or your content editor mess up? Well, who hired them? You were wrong if you made mistakes. You were wrong if you didn't hire an expert to do what you couldn't handle yourself. And you were wrong if you didn't second-check the experts. Each member of your staff deserves partial credit for any success you achieve. But the ultimate blame falls on you.
2. Not only are all the mistakes your fault. There isn't anyone else to clean up after you. You're all alone with the mess -- thus the need to develop the hide of a rhinoceros. |
