Even An Indie Needs Patience

When viewing people’s reasons for self-publishing, one I often see is ‘I can get my book out faster.’

Today, I have to say this feels like bullsh!t to me.

In some ways, I’d rather a gatekeeper hold on to my book and say “No, you can not release it, because it hasn’t had enough edits/beta reads/marketing etc.” Instead, I need to be the sole person who tells myself that.

And it’s not easy.

I received a book on InDesign CS4 in the mail today. My wife’s had the program for two years and I finally have a reason to use it. Looking at its power, knowing I can set up my book the way I want and have it printed that way is empowering and very tempting.

In the back of my mind I think, “I have a finished book. It’s had some editing. Why not get this party started and publish the damn thing?”

But my calm, rational self has to intervene. It says “But you want this to be a long game. If you put out trash and kill your reputation from book one, this whole dream is over.”

Still, a boy and his toys are a hard force to control.

I’m probably more frustrated because my rewrite of Chapter Four is being a bear; that I woke up during hibernation season.

Don’t poke the sleeping bear….

I have to keep repeating my mantra,

“Better to have it ripped apart in Betas and put out a finished project people will love.”

I have to consider my GI system’s feelings when it reacts to a review on Amazon that could’ve easily been prevented if I had just taken a little more time.

And that’s what it boils down to, time.

I need to have patience. I need to tell myself that these steps are making the book better. Refer to the old saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Will my book see the light of day faster than a traditionally published book? Yes. But just as I need to learn some things about marketing and book construction from the Traditional industry, I also need to learn from them about taking my time.