Publishing and Self-publishing: Advice for Writers

Publishing is a business (Act like it)

Another tip for self-publishers: Establish business hours. I suggest Monday to Friday, whenever your free hours are. Mine are 9 AM to 5 PM. I don't work on weekends.

I never experienced this with my own readers, but yours might want updates at odd hours and even weekends. You may be doing this out of love, but you need to establish boundaries also.

Related: Don't give out your personal numbers or information. You might want to get a SIM as a "business number" to handle inquiries. Create an email address for your "author name". When giving out an address, as much as possible wag permanent home address. Pag bank account, sana mag-create ng bago para mismo sa pagtanggap ng payments.

I know a lot of you treat your readers as friends, but this is not professional behavior, which is what you should begin to think about IF YOU START CHARGING FOR YOUR BOOKS. (Iba pag libre ang libro.)

Related: When you work with a publisher naman, demand to be treated professionally also. It's a common mistake for new employees (of any industry) to want to work with a company because they're treated like "friends" or "family." That's fine - but first look for a company that's professional and respectful, instead of chummy and pa-close. Make business decisions that's good for you, and not because you think you have friends there.