I self published SEER in December of 2018.

No agent. No traditional publisher. No industry connections pulling strings or opening doors. Just a manuscript I had written, a cover I had designed or commissioned, and a button on a self publishing platform that said publish.

I pushed it.

The decision to self publish came from the same place the decision to write came from. I did not want to wait. I did not want to spend years in a submission process hoping someone in New York would decide my story was worth their investment. I had written something. I wanted it in the world. Self publishing made that possible without asking anyone’s permission.

What I did not fully understand at the time was how much work happens after you push that button. Marketing. Visibility. Reviews. All of the machinery that gets a book in front of readers who do not already know your name. I had written the book. I had not built the platform. I had made the thing but I had not figured out how to get it to the people who needed to find it.

That gap between making something and getting it found is where a lot of self published authors quietly disappear.

I did not disappear. But I also did not land the way I hoped.

December 2018 taught me that publishing is only the beginning. The book is the product. Everything else is the business. And if you are going to take the self publishing route you need to understand both sides of that equation before you hit the button.

I understand it better now. That understanding cost me a first book. It was worth the tuition.

Stephon Rudd