Don’t Overthink Self-Publishing!

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Stop researching and take the next step. Overthinking is a common problem for new self-publishers, and it stops books from getting published. The cure is to focus on the single next step to get your book on the market and selling, and to learn only what that step needs. One common worry is whether a cheap Kindle version hurts paperback sales; does a Kindle version hurt paperback sales answers it.

Why do new self-publishers overthink?

There are two big problems when you start. The first is that for everything you do, there are lots of choices: where to put your books, which formats to use, and which tools to use to get them onto the market.

The second is thinking several steps ahead. You’ve barely started, and you’re already thinking about all the other platforms you’ll put the book on and how you’ll market it. The combination results in overthinking, and the one thing you don’t do while overthinking is publish. You feel hopeless, and it seems like progress when it isn’t.

If you are not sure what you need most, the survey results show what other authors asked for.

What did overthinking cost me?

When I first started, I was trying to find the perfect niche for a new series of books. I had already published books under my own name on a variety of topics, which watered down my author name. It’s best to stick to a single niche. As a result, I didn’t make as much money as I could have from those early books, and I learned my lesson.

With the newest books, I was trying to find the right niche again. I was using KDSpy, the tool I use to find the right keywords. But I began to overthink the process. I came up with lots of keywords and spent a ton of time researching, and I discovered multiple niches that would all have been fine. I didn’t need the perfect niche. The trouble was I didn’t make a choice and just kept researching.

Finally I slowed down and asked myself what I was doing. I chose a specific niche, started earning a decent amount of money in it, and began to wonder how much money I had lost while I waited. Time spent overthinking is time you could have spent getting a book on the market, and every day a book is on the market it has a chance of selling copies. It also takes time from your next book, and the cycle repeats.

How do you stop overthinking?

First, overthinking stops you from doing, and doing is what leads to profit. Second, overthinking tempts you to spend a huge amount of time “researching”. A little research is good, and it helps to be in a forum of authors, but you should learn a little and use it to take the next step. If you need someone to ask, see Where Can You Find Self-Publishing Help?

What happens when I update a live book?

KDP reviews the change first, and the fact that you can change it at all is a good reason not to wait for perfect. KDP says you can edit certain details of a live book, and that all updates must pass review before they are live on Amazon. While an update is in review you cannot make more changes (KDP, Book Status). So publish a good book, then improve it with what you learn, and check KDP’s help for which details you can change.

What is the next step?

Some people call this just-in-time learning. Don’t learn just in case, picking up things you might need at some point in the future. Learn only what is useful right now, at the phase you’re in. When you move on, the next skill, like marketing your book, becomes the just-in-time learning.

Focus on the next step to getting your book on the market and selling. If your book is already on the market, the next step is running ads against it or using other marketing. Once Amazon ads are in place, the next step is getting into different formats and stores, so money flows in from several networks. Where To Sell Your Self-Published Books lists the options.

Going to other stores matters because KDP Select, if you use it, makes your ebook available only through KDP while you are enrolled, and wide distributors such as Draft2Digital send ebooks and paperbacks to the other major retailers online. If Amazon changed its royalty rate, you’d already have your book on other sites. I’ve also seen people get their Amazon accounts shut down or blocked, and the other networks keep earning for them. Still, it comes down to focusing on the next step, one thing at a time.

Do you find yourself overthinking your self-publishing? Write “yes” or “no” in the comments so I understand where you’re coming from. If you’d like someone to tell you what your next step is, book a free 25-minute discovery call.

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