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Don’t DIY by Yourself {It takes a community to publish an eBook}

My whole goal in writing this series is to encourage you that even if you have a {smaller} platform or are a novice marketer, you CAN make your self-publishing dreams a reality.

But doing it yourself does not mean you should do it alone.

I could never have written much less published my eBook with out the support of family, friends, blog readers, and my mastermind group. Some may like the idea of ‘surprising’ their audience with the finished product, but sometimes that is a well-disguised form of pride. (I’m not judging anyone, just revealing my own heart’s weaknesses!) God gives grace to the humble, and you will enjoy the process and have a better chance at success if you aren’t afraid to ask for help.

  • Tell your friends you’re working on a special project and would appreciate prayers.
  • Ask your blog readers for opinions on title, subtitle, and additional content.
  • Utilize a mastermind group for decisions about design and help with marketing.
  • Ask other bloggers to help promote your book in exchange for a free copy.

My book could never have done as well as it has without my mastermind group. They were invaluable to me in the upgrade and re-launch process. They cheered me on, prayed for me, gave valuable insight, and many of them did reviews when the book relaunched.

{Real Life Peek Behind the Scenes}
When we were working on a new cover, we initially bought a stock photo to use and when I uploaded the comp to show my mastermind group, two or three of them recognized the same photo from an eBook that had come out a year earlier. Our covers would have been so similar, I’d have completely lost the element of originality. As sad as I was to scrap that one, I was soooo glad my group had caught it before I uploaded it to my website!

If you, as an intentional blogger and hopeful, someday-author do not yet have a mastermind group, you need to stop everything and get that going right now. Not sure where to start? These two posts have some great inspiration and practical how-to:

  • {Smaller Bloggers} Don’t Do This Alone on Allume (written by yours truly)
  • How I Formed My Blogging Network Group (by Angie)

You don’t have to have a huge tribe to feel the benefit of community. (<–Tweet this!) You just have to be real and brave enough to ask for help from those you already call friends.

And Now It’s Time to Write…

Next week we’re gonna jump ahead to talk about editing your manuscript. What? You don’t have one yet? Well, a week should give you plenty of time.

I’m kidding.

But I’m serious that it’s time to write, and the writing part is up to you. (I already wrote my book. It’s your turn, now!) If God’s given you a story to share, and you feel now is the time to put it into an eBook, then, as Nike says, “Just Do It”.

To learn how I fit writing an ebook in between three children, cooking all my food from scratch, and retaining some semblance of a social life, you may enjoy this post. But don’t let reading my words keep you from writing yours!

Now go write. Oh, and start your own mastermind group.

Off you go.

Shoo.

(Pardon me. I may have been speaking with too many stray dogs lately)

 

Other Posts in This Series:
Cover Story {The God Factor in Self-Publishing}
Do You Have an eBook in You? {Psst! I think so!}

All posts in the series can be found via this tag: Path to Publishing. Share it and encourage another writer friend! 🙂

Filed Under: In the Studio, Writing Tagged With: ebooks, Path to Publishing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Christina @ Keeping Home says

    May 10, 2013 at 12:25 pm

    But . . . writing is HARD! And besides, I don’t have time to get into it today. Thank you SO much for your series.

    Reply
  2. Tereasa says

    August 11, 2012 at 9:56 pm

    Oh Trina, I am so happy to have found this post! I am at the very end of writing my first ebook and see that you have several posts that could help me through the rest of the process!

    I don’t have a mastermind group, yet, but I have a fabulous group of friends and family who are helping me finish this book. Several friends came over one night for a critiquing session. When they were finished, what I had written was even better. Best of all, it was still my voice because they know me well enough to keep that pure. (Does that make sense?)

    My husband is my best cheerleader but he is a terrible critique and I am soooo ok with that! We all need someone to tell us everything is beautiful when there is so much editing and critiquing going on.

    Finally, my dad is editing. Editing was part of his job before retirement and is very analytical. Plus, he loves me. 😉 So, he is able to fix mistakes without being subjective, but he can do it nicely.

    Now, I’m off to pray for a mastermind group!

    Reply
    • Trina says

      August 14, 2012 at 5:35 pm

      Tereasa,
      So excited for you! sounds like you’re on the right track and enjoying the process. Hooray for husband/wife teamwork. My husband helped with my book so much, he really should have had his name on the cover, too. 😉

      Reply
  3. Angie @ Many Little Blessings says

    July 31, 2012 at 12:45 am

    Thank you so much for linking to my post about how I formed my blogging group. That group has been such a blessing to me as a blogger and, really, just in general. 🙂

    I appreciate the shout out.

    Reply
    • Trina says

      July 31, 2012 at 1:16 am

      Yours was the only other post I’d found of how someone formed a blogging group–I was so glad you had written about your experiences!
      Yeah, and my mastermind group has pretty much become my favorite place online. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Stacey says

    July 28, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    I tried to get together withothers for a mastermind group when the idea originally came up in Better Writers, but it’s a very very quiet group. LOL I always feel as if I am hounding them, BUT I will take your advice and bug them again. Thanks girlie. I knew I missed this post this past week and came searching for it. Appreciate your constancy!

    Reply
  5. Susan says

    July 25, 2012 at 8:49 am

    Enjoying the series, Trina. I feel for Mandy. I’m working on a manuscript and just yesterday saw that someone published an ebook with exactly the same content. I’ll keep working on that project, but might consider starting another.

    Thanks for the scoop 🙂

    Reply
    • Trina says

      July 26, 2012 at 7:01 pm

      Oh, Susan, that is tough! Yet, AmyLynnAndrews reminded me today – “never underestimate how much others are drawn to you being you!” Are you willing to write for that handful of people who want to hear this message from YOU? That is servanthood. I can’t wait to see what you’re working on…

      Reply
  6. Lisa says

    July 25, 2012 at 6:15 am

    Thank you for posting the link to your older post about how you made time to write. You’ve given me more ideas. 🙂 Sometimes I wish I could just go away by myself for a week and get my book finished. But that’s not going to happen and that’s OK. I’m off to note what I’m (Lord willing) going to write today on my Daily Docket!

    Reply
    • Trina says

      July 26, 2012 at 6:53 pm

      yeah for daily dockets!
      Lisa, I’m positive God will give you the grace and time to accomplish everything HE has called you to in this season. Sometimes a writing get away tempts me, too, but I remind myself my writing, as important as it is, is not my top priority right now.

      Reply
  7. Jess says

    July 24, 2012 at 10:27 pm

    I’m with Mandy. I don’t feel that there is much that I can say that someone else hasn’t said, and better.

    Reply
  8. Mandy says

    July 24, 2012 at 11:03 am

    I truly want to write so bad. But every time I turn around I feel like someone already has told my thoughts. *sigh*

    Reply
    • Trina says

      July 24, 2012 at 6:45 pm

      Oh, my dear–you have a voice, angle and message as unique as yourself. Your friends and readers want to hear it from YOU, even if it’s been said before–people are looking to have relationship with the author. If they have a connection with you, they will love to hear YOUR voice or YOUR angle on a topic!
      I struggled with this one, too, but doing it anyway was how I discovered the secret…there’s always room for one more voice.

      Reply

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Just because it's common, doesn't make it normal....stepping out of overwhelm and into peace and fun! Homeschooler, Momprenuer and Author, helping you create your best life NOW. Read more...

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