Just a note… my selfpublished/indie titles take a lot of time. I don’t always have a lot of time. I get the basic formats because those are the quickest to get, PDF, HTML, LIT, EPUB… they work or can easily be made to work for most, if not all, readers. I don’t tend to send out to many (if any) review sites, other than doing the occasional call for reviews on twitter.
There is a lot more work that’s involved in doing a title solo-I got to figure out the cover art and since it’s just me and the graphic artist, that usually involves me spending hours searching over stock art sites.
Edits involve me figuring out which editor, since I’m still trying to figure out the freelance edit thing-I think I’m looking for a ‘perfect’ fit, and finding freelance editors isn’t as easy as dropping by the store for eggs. So it’s not just sending the book to get edited.
Then it’s formatting the book-not even getting it in the right file, but formatting the original and for me, that takes hours. Then getting the various files and that’s another time consuming task.
All of this adds up to a lot of work. I have to fit it in around a workload that is sheer chaos. I have a novella due in July, two full-length books due by fall and that’s not touching on any books I may try to do for my epubs, if I do any. So, unfortunately, I can only spare so much time for the indie stuff-things like going with the basic files, not spending hours worrying about reviews or file conversion services, etc-I can’t do that if I’m going to keep up with my workload.
If I have to choose between being pressed to do all of that or just shelving any indie work? Well, the indie work gets shelved for the time being. I’m contracted to finish certain books by certain dates and those do have to come first.
I do what I can, but the time involved in doing it yourself is mind-boggling…and I can only do so much. I hope you understand…if there are certain things I can get around to when time allows, I will, but it has to wait it’s turn in line. And it’s a scary long line. :O/
I am amazed by what authors are able to do in a days time. We all love your work and will wait patiently until you find a way to clone yourself. Or, the self publishing “industry” finds a way to make it easier on the authors. Take a deep cleansing breath. It’s all good!
Thank you for being a writer . If it takes time to self publish the books that makes the books so much better for the wait for them