Can Publishing Be A DIY Project?

This is a question I get from many would-be authors. Sure, there are some authors who go through a Do-It-Yourself route and may be successful. Like many rules, there are always successful exceptions.

However, when we get professional help we can accelerate our results. 

Writers I see trying to undertake this DIY publishing route are really frustrated. They feel like they’re spinning their wheels, and are confused about what’s next. These writers don’t know what kind of publisher they want, what kind of query letter they should write, where they should start, what the genre restrictions are, and more. 

This is the reason why many of these would-be authors end up giving up, never publishing, and why they feel so incredibly frustrated. 

When writers are getting that professional support, they see accelerated results and they write more, faster, and better. We see this every week over in the Writing Gym, in the Publishing Mastermind, and more.

They see everyday the results or getting help from a professional. 

A by-product of working with a professional is a competence boost. Suddenly these writers know what they do well, and it’s based on actual craft requirements. They know what the publishing industry is looking for. 

Writers in the Writing Gym get this professional help and all its by-products. They know what the standards are and how they measure up to them. This boosts their confidence in submitting manuscripts to publishers. 

Think of it this way- I am not a car mechanic. If I tried to fix my own car, I wouldn’t have an idea what a “good” fixed car is. I can say that my car is running, but I would have no idea if there is a problem in the line. This is when an expert comes in handy. 

One of the Writing Gym members, Stephen, published a book by himself before. He will tell you this himself if you ask–his book did not sell well. Yes, he worked hard on the manuscript, yet it didn’t become as successful as he wanted it to be.

The next time around, he wanted professional help. Now, he is a member of the Writing Gym, and was looking for professional representation–an agent–for his work at this time last year. 

We were talking about his query letter and the agent he planned on querying. We could not find any information on the internet, so here’s what I did: I picked up the phone and I called that agent, because I knew her personally. She is an agent who only works with  high level publishing companies. We talked for an hour about Stephen, his manuscript, about what he wants to see from him.   

That is the power of professional help, of not DIYing.

What do you want for yourself? This is ultimately the question. Do you want to stay lost and without confidence? Or do you want to make you life easier, to work with someone who can pick up the phone and make some calls for you?

Take your writing seriously. If you want to talk to me about your writing, where you want to go, and how you can get there, click this link.