Most people rush to publish books without taking the route and necessary steps required to prepare their content and make it ready for publishing. Issa Asad Florida entrepreneur, social media expert, and author of 4 e-books on Amazon says that “it is very hard to assess your own progress objectively, and most of the time, you will tell yourself that you are ready which is merely to satisfy your ego.” Mr. Asad is the CEO of 2 companies located across South Florida: Q Link Wireless and Quadrant Holdings.
Read on to learn how to identify the 4 signs you should self-publish your e-book.
1. Have You Had Enough Practice?
According to Malcolm Gladwell, it takes an individual 10,000 hours to fully master an activity. This is also the amount of time that you should spend practicing how to write before you can even think of publishing a book. If writing is a part time job to you, and you dedicate 20 hours per week to it, then it will take you approximately 10 years to fully master the art. There are no shortcuts. There are some people who publish their work before practicing for 10,000 hours but they hide their initial work later on when their career has blossomed.
2. Have You Read Widely in Your Genre?
Genres simply refer to writing traditions. You can work your way up the field of writing through a certain genre, be it literary fiction or epic fantasy. You cannot become a blues musician if you do not listen to blues. Also, for someone to become great in whatever they are doing, they have to be totally immersed in it. You become a great writer when you learn about different genres and then learn how to combine them perfectly. If you want to become a good writer, then you should develop a reading interest. There is no shortcut about that.
3. Have You Had Your Work Criticized?
You should take writing like any other business out there if you are to make a career out of it. You need to test a commercial product before launching it. The same thing applies to writing. You should look for a place where you can get constructive criticism for your work. Some of the best people to provide such criticism are writers who are in your level. Of course your ego will not be massaged but you will be able to know your strong and weak points. If you are a serious writer, you will take this criticism seriously, learn from it and create better content.
4. Are You Ready to Invest in Your Book?
As indicated earlier, if your want writing to be a great career, then you must be ready to invest in it. The question is how much you are willing to invest. Do you have enough time on your side that you can spend editing and proofreading your work? Are you willing to hire professionals to edit and market the book for you? There are very slim chances that your book will appear professional without investing in professional services to make it look so.
You have invested a lot of time in your book. Therefore, taking your time to invest in quality editors, rewriting the book, and putting extra hours in training are all steps in the right direction. Most investments that have no return tend to be the most expensive. Unless you are sure that your book is ready for publishing, take your time to develop it and you will realize in the end that you made the right decision.
