Amazing Adventures in Self Publishing! Part Four

[Continued from Part Three.]

There’s a lot going on here at Exfanding HQ today, so I’ll be pretty brief. Instead of giving up on writing the next part of my (EPIC!) Adventures in Self Publishing! missive, though, I think there’s something pretty relevant to talk about.

Specifically, my lack of any free time to work on side projects.

This weekend will be my last relatively quiet one for a while, as I’m working through next weekend and then...well, who knows? So, despite the fact that I have two family commitments (one on Saturday and one on Sunday), I still plan to carve out at least a couple of hours to devote to my little publishing venture.

I’m in a holding pattern for the moment, but once I get final art pages from my artist, things are going to pick up considerably. So, my time now needs to be spent figuring out how to make that time as painless as possible.

Because my book has a spooky feel to it, our plan has been to release the book sometime around October.

Which means it’ll need to be printed by end of summer. Which means, in the next few weeks, I need to figure out how I’m going to print it (preferably without going bankrupt) and how I’m going to distribute, both physical copies and digitally.

As that’s happening, we’ll also need to launch our marketing campaign, which will be grass roots.

For any of this to happen, of course, I need to have the time to sit down and do it. And time has been the most fleeting of luxuries as of late.

I’m not gonna sit here and use this space to say something like, “If you really want something, you need to just go out and do it.” While good advice, it’s also impractical and, well, stupid, and I’ll be darned if my quasi-journal of starting a publishing company will include something as contrived and clichéd as that sentiment.

Most people have other, more pressing matters to take into consideration—like fulltime work, or family, or looking for fulltime work while trying to raise a family, and the thought of neglecting all of that to pursue a dream? As romantic as it may sound, it’s just not for me.

Let me put this right out there: I do not, nor have I ever, bought into the “Starving Artist” philosophy.

I believe that, while one’s art (whatever that may entail) should be an important—and, frankly, huge—part of one’s life, it cannot get in the way of one’s life.

There are all these great stories about indy filmmakers quitting their jobs, maxing out their credit cards, giving it “one last shot” to make it. Those stories are wonderful and inspiring and incredibly reckless. And I can hear you say, “Sometimes we all need to be a little reckless.”

Sure, but also remember that we usually only hear about the times that recklessness leads to something great and not the countless times recklessness leads to something not so great.

So here’s my thinking on the matter: Be responsibly reckless.

Huh. I think that’s my new motto.

[Continued in Part Five.]