Road to Publishing: self-publishing, the writer, and the start up

Meeting Kelsye Nelson via Google Hangout had to be one of the funnest experiences I’ve had doing this blog so far. During our recent conversation, I learned so much from her and about the publishing world.  At the time she was eagerly waiting for her book, Smart Girl, Dumb Love,  to go live on Amazon and running her business, Writer.ly, which she co-owns.

What is Writer.ly? Think of it as a one stop shop for writers interested in self-publishing — articles, editors, marketers, etc.

Here’s some of the things I learned:

• The stigma of self-publishing is lessening. Writers want to give good quality products to readers and readers want it. Now that technology is easier and writers are getting more savvy (as are editors) it’s only a matter of putting the right resources at the right places to make your book close to or as polished as the traditional books.
• When thinking about what avenue you want to use to publish, think about what do you want out of it? Just publishing to grow readers? Go for it.  Self-publish while writing that masterpiece. Go for it. Want to play in a different genre. Go for it. This opens up a world for the writer that wasn’t there before.
•  Think of this as a business: platform, launch team, marketing plan, etc.  Get use to the idea that it goes beyond the words on the page.  “A lot of the rules for writers are the same for a start up,” Kelsye said.
• Don’t wait until it’s perfect, just start. You’ll learn along the way. This was when my mind was blown!

I loved, loved this interview and I’m super interested in learning and using Kelsye’s spreadsheet system.  What were some of the lessons you learned from the video?