Dissecting Rude Comments On Wattpad Next Stories

What About Self-Publishing?

This is Part 2 in response to the phrase, "Well get it published then!" comment a lot or readers like to put on Wattpad Next Stories. 

Let it be knownst to all, that publishing, no matter what type of publishing, has a certain process to it, and that can take up lots of time and lot of resources.

Most people are probably familiar with publishing by a publisher and consider that as the "official" publishing.  As stated in the previous chapter though, it takes a long time and you'll have to face multiple rejects, perhaps to the point of even giving up on getting your story published.

But there's alternative to that which I'm going to expand on in this chapter: self-publishing.

Self-publishing is where you, the author, are responsible for publishing your own book.  The idea of self-publishing is that a self-publisher (the authors) can keep all the profits they get from their stories without having to divert part of what they earned to a 3rd party, like a publishing agency.

*Note: Self-publishing may sound very easy at first depending on what platform you try to publish your story. But even though there are programs out there that can allow you to just self-publish by yourself with a click of a button, that doesn't mean your story is going to become widely read and rise to fame.

As writers, don't we want to see our stories actually become successful?

So, as provided by RodneyVSmith's experience, here's what it takes to make a successful self-publishing: (this may not be what everyone experiences, but hoping this helps give at least an idea of what's it like.)

Step 0. This is assuming you already got your story completed now so we can move on to the next steps.

1) Hire an editor. 

You may have come up with a good plot and a good story. But it's always best to have another eye out to watch for grammar errors and any plot holes that arises. Cause when you put your story out, readers (just like some on Wattpad) are going to be put off by the grammar mistakes and the mishaps in your story and your story won't be read.

Timing Process: It really depends on how much work there needs to be done to edit your story. For RodneyVSmith's story, it took about 3 months. 

Also, the hiring editor part was coming from out of pocket for him.

2) Design your Cover, and the book itself. 

You see all those professional covers on those books? Like it or not, even though we say don't judge a book by its cover, the first thing we notice that attracts us is the cover, before we even read the summary. Even if the story isn't so great, if the cover art is really good, it's at least what gets me to pick up that story. So if your cover is a flop, a lot of potential readers might not even pick it up.

And No, you cannot just snag a picture from Google or Pinterest to use as your cover. That's intellectual property and unless you ask the authors of that work (and if they say no, then it's still a no), there is a chance where you will have to deal with copyright laws and possibly getting your ass sued heavily with a hefty fine. (Just wanted to put this out, especially to all those so-called "Wattpad Cover Tips." Even if you use it for a Wattpad cover and think there's a very less chance to get sued for this, just be wary that there is still a possibility you could land yourself in hot water.)

So, you may have to hire a professional designer to design your book. Maybe you'll also have to hire a model/actor/actress so their image can go on your book's exterior. If there needs to be photo shoots of said people, it may take quite a bit before you get the right image down.