Self-publishing your book is an adventure—one filled with excitement, challenges, and more than a few unexpected lessons. Last year, I published my first novel, Bane, along with a prequel novella, Eve Was Framed. Now, I’m deep in the process of preparing my next book, Nightshade, which is due for release in June (and available for pre-order on Amazon…just sayin’ 😉).

Going into this, I thought I had a solid understanding of what self-publishing involved. After all, I’ve worked as a copywriter for years and have helped businesses with content and marketing. But publishing a book is a whole different beast, and I quickly realised that even with professional help, there were things I hadn’t accounted for.

So, if you’re considering becoming an Indie Author—or you’re already in the thick of it—here’s what the experience of self-publishing your book is really like.

Everything Takes Longer Than You Think

One of the main reasons I decided to self-publish was time. I didn’t want to go through the long and gruelling process of querying agents, waiting for representation, enduring multiple rounds of edits, and then hoping a publisher would pick up my book—only to wait even longer for a publication date. Traditional publishing is a years-long process, and I’m impatient. So, I decided to do it all myself.

That being said, self-publishing is still a time-intensive process. You have to write the book, edit it, then edit it again (and again). Then it needs professional editing, proofreading, typesetting, and cover design. I was fortunate to have the fantastic team at Rebel Wolf Marketing to help with finding editors, managing the project, and handling the logistics, but at the end of the day, the writing, approving edits, and making final decisions were all on me.

I thought I had a realistic timeline in mind. I was so wrong. However long you think things will take, double it. At minimum. And that’s before we even get to marketing, which brings me to…

Marketing is a Bitch

If you’ve read Bane or the prequel novella Eve Was Framed (which, btw, is free!), you’ll know my protagonist, Amelia, is a marketing powerhouse who runs her own agency. She knows exactly how to wield social media and branding to great effect. 

I, however, am not Amelia.

I’ve worked as a copywriter for years, partnering with marketing agencies, but social media marketing isn’t my forte. I had help from Rebel Wolf Marketing figuring out what kind of content to create, how it should look, and how to schedule it. But ultimately, it’s up to me to create and post it. And… well, I don’t. 

Not consistently. Not regularly.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to post daily. I haven’t done it. 

I have no doubt my novel would be doing a hell of a lot better right now if I’d followed the advice given, stuck to the schedule, and done the work. I haven’t. That’s on me. Part of it is the time required. But, honestly, I had so much help setting up a system creating posts and scheduling them are now super simple. 

I just don’t do it. 

I don’t know if it’s self-sabotage (probably), some kind of mental block, or both. But a big part of self-publishing is marketing—probably more so than writing. If you’re considering self-publishing, don’t underestimate how much time you’ll need to market your book. Most of the work isn’t writing—it’s marketing.

You Have to Invest in Marketing

Building an audience isn’t optional. You need to grow a mailing list, build a social media following, have a website, blog consistently to start ranking in searches, collect reviews, do PR, and establish your authority and visibility. I was lucky enough to invest in professional help, but if you can’t afford that, you’ll need to invest your time into learning how to do it, and doing it yourself. 

I’ve had training and help in creating plans and schedules. It’s now up to me to write my blogs, create and schedule my social media posts, and engage with my audience. Am I doing it perfectly? No. Do I need to do better? Absolutely. But if I hadn’t invested in help, I’d be nowhere currently. You can learn a lot from free resources, you don’t have to pay for help, it’s just a lot more effective and easier when you do. 

Start Marketing Well Before Self-Publishing Your Book

I’ve been actively marketing since well before Bane was published. My website went live in September 2023, but Bane wasn’t released until November 2024. That wasn’t due to a delay in publishing—it was intentional. Marketing needs to start well before launch, or you’ll be releasing your book to crickets. You won’t have an audience, a platform, or a way to sell books effectively.

There are plenty of ways to get a simple website up and running quickly, cheaply, and DIY. I chose to invest in a professional website created by Rebel Wolf Marketing, and I love it, but it was a hefty investment. If you can’t afford to outsource, you’ll need to be prepared to put in the time and effort yourself.

Stuff Costs More Than You Think, and Sales Don’t Start Quickly

At the time of writing, I’ve spent over £13,000 on self-publishing. My earnings from book sales? Well under £1,000.

I knew this would be the case. Self-publishing is like launching a business, and most businesses don’t break even in their first year (or even the first five). You have to be prepared to invest time, money, or both before seeing results. My second novel is due out in June, which means more investment while my first book is still finding its audience.

This is normal. It’s frustrating and disheartening at times, but it doesn’t mean I’m doing anything wrong. I’m not a big publisher. I’m one person with a growing audience and few reviews. Expecting high sales straight away is unrealistic. Which brings me to…

Reviews Are Everything For Indie Authors

I underestimated how hard it would be to actually get reviews. I’ve had hundreds of people sign up for ARCs and download free copies, yet I only have a handful of reviews to show for it (FYI mine are mostly appearing on Goodreads, not Amazon as you might expect! That was a surprise to me!). Most readers simply don’t review books. They might love what they’ve read but never think to leave a review. Even if they do finish the book, there’s no guarantee they’ll take the time to write one—and if they do, there’s no guarantee it will be positive.

The more reviews you have, the better. That means you need more readers. It’s a numbers game—get as many people as possible to read your book by whatever means necessary (ARCs, giveaways, free promotions, etc.), and eventually, reviews will start to trickle in. That hasn’t fully happened for me yet, but I didn’t expect it to. Bane has only been out for four months, and these things take time.

The Benefit Of ‘Bad’ Reviews

And remember—there’s no such thing as a bad review. In fact, negative reviews are actually useful. They show your reviews are authentic. If a book only has glowing 4- and 5-star ratings, it can look suspicious, especially in self-publishing, where fake reviews and shady tactics are common. We’ve all seen indie books with heaps of five-star reviews that turn out to be riddled with errors, clichés, and plot holes. Readers know this happens, and so do industry professionals.

If you don’t believe me, look up Handbook for Mortals. That whole fiasco is a prime example of how indie authors sometimes game the system—and why readers have learned to be sceptical. Even the biggest bestselling novels of all time have 1-star reviews. Why? Because reading is subjective. No matter how brilliant your book is, someone won’t like it. And that’s not just okay—it’s good.

Professional reviewers, award committees, and industry experts actually look for a mix of ratings to confirm that your audience is genuine. If you submit your book for professional reviews or awards, having only 4- and 5-star reviews can work against you—it raises red flags. A book that appeals to a wide audience will naturally have varied feedback, and that’s a sign of real readership. So don’t fear the bad reviews. They prove people are actually reading your book.

Is Self-Publishing Your Book Worth It?

So, is self-publishing your book worth it? From a purely monetary perspective at this stage (bear in mind I’m only four months post-publication), the objective answer is no. That, however, is short-sighted because it’s completely unreasonable to expect this to be a profitable venture already. I knew going in I’d have to speculate to accumulate and wouldn’t make my money back quickly. I knew there was a risk—a real risk—that I wouldn’t make it back at all.

I have ongoing costs each month for advertising and promotion. I keep them small and manageable, but they’re still there, and I can’t stop them—if I do, I’ll never get anywhere. I’m sure if you’re far better at social media than I am, you could grow your audience organically without spending a penny, and that would probably make reaching profitability happen sooner. But the time investment would be much greater. And honestly? I like my faceless brand—I like that I don’t have to put myself out there personally, just my work.

It’s A Mindset Thing

From a personal goals perspective, though, it’s been 100000000% worth it. I’m so happy I’ve done it. Yes, it’s cost me money and time, but it was enjoyable time. I love my stories. Even if I’d never published them, it would have been worth it just to have them exist in the world rather than remaining characters screaming to be heard in my head.

So, is self-publishing your book worth it? For me, absolutely. If I never make my money back, it will be a bummer, but I will still have gained an immense amount of satisfaction and joy from the process—and you can’t really put a price on that. In some ways, I think of it as a hobby. Plenty of hobbies are expensive—whether it’s buying equipment, materials, or travelling for competitions—and most people don’t make money from them. They do it purely for the love of it.

Obviously, I hope enough people find and love my books that I do make my money back. But if you’re thinking of embarking on this adventure yourself, I’d suggest going in with the mindset of doing it for the love of writing, the joy of your stories, and the hope of finding readers who connect with your world and characters. If financial success follows, that’s amazing—but it shouldn’t be the only measure of success.

The Bottom Line

All that being said, be realistic about what’s involved in doing it well. There are plenty of people who half-arse it—who self-publish cheaply, poorly, or both—and some of them even make a lot of money from it. But I wouldn’t personally want to do it that way. I’d be embarrassed to have my name on a poorly edited, badly produced, ill-conceived story.

Self-publishing your book is rewarding, but it’s a long game. Be prepared for the time, effort, and investment required—but also know that if you stick with it, the results will come.