Whether you are an established author or are new to the self-publishing business, you may experience the fear of failure when releasing a new book. You may wonder if your book is good enough, will people like it, will you make a lot of sales, or will it become a best seller?
With all these thoughts running through your mind, you may delay publishing your book because you may think there are more things you can do to improve it before it is published. But this way of thinking only leads to procrastination.
Some may be so worried about their book failing that they may never publish it. Many people may not even start writing a book because of the fear of failure. If you’ve been putting off publishing your book, here are five ways to overcome the fear of failure in self-publishing.
Educate Yourself
Before you start your self-publishing business, you need to educate yourself. Learn everything you need to know about self-publishing. Discover how to write, publish and promote your book. Find out how you can make your book a bestseller. Educating yourself about the self-publishing business will ensure that you achieve success.
For instance, you can take an online course, read books, subscribe to self-publishing blogs, and listen to podcasts. You can acquire a wealth of knowledge from successful authors and learn about the mistakes they made in self-publishing their books and how to avoid them.
Do Your Research
Acquire knowledge about the self-publishing business. For example, you need to find out what kind of people will buy your books. Research the price that other authors charge for books similar to yours. Make sure that the price is competitive enough to encourage people to purchase your book.
Also, make sure that your book cover has a high-quality design that will grab the attention of your readers. In this case, people do judge a book by its cover so you want to make sure that your book cover looks professional.
Create a book launch and marketing plan and make sure you know who your target audience is. Creating a plan will help you to fill any gaps in your knowledge of the self-publishing business and will provide you with the steps you need to follow to get started. Having a solid plan will help you to reduce risks, avoid costly mistakes, and increase your success.
Change Your Attitude
Your attitude plays an important role in determining how much you succeed in life. It can either motivate you to pursue your goal of becoming a successful bestselling author or it can allow your fear of failure to stop you from taking the first step to publishing your book.
To change your attitude from negative to positive thoughts, you need to identify what scares you about becoming a self-published author. Many people are afraid of publishing their own books because they are afraid of what people might say about their writing and that they may fail as an author.
You need to stop worrying about what other people will say about you or your book. You can’t control their actions or the way they think. Not everyone is going to like your book and that’s okay. It wasn’t written for everyone. Therefore, there is no need to lose sleep worrying about what other people will say or do because it is out of your control.
Some people fail to get started because they think they are too old, not educated enough, or not qualified enough to write a book. I think that’s nonsense. Anybody can become a self-published author if they put their mind to it. It’s never too late to increase your income with a self-published business. The web makes it possible.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
There are many self-published authors who are very successful in what they do. You should get into the habit of learning their methods of self-publishing and then follow their example. You should study the successes and failures of other authors so that you don’t make the same mistakes they did and run a successful self-publishing business.
While you are learning about the success of other authors, be careful not to compare yourself to them. Remember that you are new to the self-publishing business and it is your mission to become a successful author.
So find what makes you different from other authors and stick to your uniqueness. You may want to achieve the same success that other authors have, but you should not envy them. Don’t waste your time trying to be exactly like them or try to copy their writing style because it won’t work. Write your books your way and you will be successful.
Keep Moving Forward
You may find it hard to step out of your comfort zone. The fear of failure can keep you from publishing your book. But you should not let the fear of failure keep you from achieving your goals. When doubts and negative thoughts fill your mind, focus your attention on something positive. Remind yourself how much you enjoy writing, creating stories, and sharing your knowledge with others.
It’s normal to experience fear when you are doing something new. This is because when you pursue something new, you are stepping out of your comfort zone into the unknown. It is tempting to retreat into your comfort zone, but if you really want to have a successful self-publishing business, you need to acknowledge your fear and keep moving forward.
When you start your self-publishing business, you should use fear to motivate yourself. Having a fear of failure can help you to ensure that you produce top-quality work. Also, continue to do your research. Discover what other self-published authors did to overcome their fear and follow their methods.
Conclusion
Don’t let the fear of failure prevent you from becoming a self-published author. You can overcome the fear of failure through education and research, and by changing your attitude. You should also learn from other successful self-published authors, but don’t compare yourself to them. Embrace your uniqueness. And lastly, don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Keep moving forward and you will be successful.
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