
This is the place to start when your main question is, “Where do I start?”
Two major myths in the world of self-publishing:
1. The process of self-publishing is completely free
2. An author must do everything by themselves
Most people assume that coaching and mentorship is too expensive for them. Some believe that asking for help somehow makes them lesser. It’s commonly thought that self-publishing is supposed to be something you do for free, on your own, fighting your way through concepts and processes you were never taught.
Let’s bust these myths right now.
Self-publishing books as a commercial product is a decision to launch a business. Every business has costs. Every business leans into resources to help them shape and grow and scale their business to the next level. The most successful businesses turn to trusted advisors to provide them with information that helps them to make informed decisions.
Advisors don’t tell you what to do.
Good coaching and mentorship involves understanding you, your needs, your goals, your strengths and weaknesses, and helps you to figure out which options are the right fit for you. And that doesn’t mean expensive 1:1 sessions as the default.
Support can come in many forms from free DIY articles, to low-cost self-serve education, to one-on-one partnerships. Your author career journey begins with understanding what support is available for you and which forms are the best fit for you.
So let’s start with that. (Spoiler: it’s free)
Click the button below to open an inquiry form with a series of questions for you to answer and submit. Once I receive your information, I’ll send you a personal email with some recommendations and a range of options to choose from, both free and paid. They might include one-time purchase options or monthly payment plans or ongoing memberships.
They are all optional.
This inquiry form isn’t an invitation to receive a sales pitch. It’s about working through what your best starting point is based on your answers to some specific questions. The goal being to help you get unstuck and moving forward in the right direction.
There is no obligation and no expectations.
Completing this form also does not automatically put you on my regular email list, so you don’t need to worry about getting unwanted follow up emails or product offers. Let’s start with a conversation to discover what your needs are. You’ll have the choice to subscribe to my email list at the end of the form if you’d like to.
~Tanya 💞
There’s no shortage of opinions and advice ready to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do.
But what’s actually right for you?
Does this sound familiar:
- Read reviews!
- OMG no, don’t read reviews, they’re for readers not authors!
- Self rec everywhere!
- Don’t self rec, that’s spammy!
- Cold DM influencers… ew, don’t that’s ick!
- Pay for ads.
- Paid ads are a waste of money.
- If your book isn’t selling you need a new cover.
- Your cover is amazing, don’t change a thing.
- That description is too basic
- Not enough tropes
- Tropes are overdone
- Too much romance
- Not spicy enough
- Be on all platforms… good grief no, just pick one
A lot of advice comes from other authors with good intent. They want to help others by sharing their experience. What worked for them and what didn’t.
Other advice comes from marketing experts who either don’t understand fiction or they don’t understand creative solopreneurship.
The problem is that every single author and every single book is unique.
The landscape for marketing books and gaining visibility changes constantly.
What works for one author won’t work for every author.
What works for one book might not work for the next book.
The biggest challenge when it comes to figuring out how to grow an author career, how to market fiction books, and how to achieve your own goals is in understanding what the options are, figuring out what the best fits are for you, and then making decisions that can be shaped into a plan.
This isn’t author territory… it’s business territory. And most authors have never run their own business.
Every successful business owner knows that they simply can’t do everything on their own. Yes, financial budgets are a real barrier. But trial and error, years of falling short of your goals, and bad decisions that don’t align with who you are as an author are all far more expensive.
Stop trying to figure everything out on your own. Stop relying on well-meaning but misplaced advice. Stop throwing spaghetti at the wall and relying on hope.
