When researching how to self-publish, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with things such as where to upload, what to put in the front and back of the book, which keywords to use, cover art, and so much more. This is not to mention the best editing techniques and that God-awful long list of words NOT to use in your book. (Enter eye-rolling emoji here).

I am anxiously awaiting the Sarra Cannon’s Publish And Thrive course that starts on August 9, 2021 (No affiliation here, I’m just an excited fan!). This course has tons of step-by-step videos of everything needed to get your manuscript into the hands of readers. I’m not going to give a review of this course, but rather since it’s a part of my journey of publishing my first book, I’ll share some of it with you.

I am a big fan of Sarra as her videos on YouTube have already helped me in my writing and publishing journey. Seriously, her pep talk videos have kept me going!

In preparation of the course, I am to complete a series of questions titled “Your Ideal Writing Life Workbook.” Several of the questions are prompts that I visualize on a near daily basis in my wishes for my author life, but it was fun to write these out while at one of my favorite camping spots.

One question in the workbook is: What aspects are you most excited about in being a self-published author? I have several answers to this, but one in particular surprised me. I typically don’t struggle with storylines, outlining, and typing or writing until my hand is sore. (This is actually proof that ‘spot reduction’ exercising isn’t real. Otherwise my fingers would be twigs!).

However, when it comes to delving into the depths of the Internet, my mind and body put up all kinds of blocks. In other words, aside from not having a problem using all kinds of software applications for my day job, learning the ins and outs of computers in my personal life is not exactly my forte.

However, learning these skills flowed out of my pen as something that I’m looking forward to. Getting more personal with my computer, the publishing sites, and heck, even learning everything social media is intimidating to this newbie. Since this is a big part of the puzzle of being an indie author, I must break through the walls I’ve created in order to self-publish.

The next question asked if there is anything that I wish I didn’t have to do in regards to self-publishing. This is the same answer as the last question: the technical side of self-publishing. Memories of all the times I haven’t tracked well with computers flooded my mind. Need an example? How about, rather frequently when I push the power button to my new laptop, it won’t turn on. As in, the screen doesn’t even flash! Or, when I sign for something and then try and log back in, my password or username doesn’t work. This happens ALL the time. It’s…extremely…frustrating! (Please tell me I’m not the only one this happens to.).

I’ve always had the mindset that I repel technology, as this pattern repeats itself when trying to set up printers, log onto WiFi, etc, etc. At home my husband usually punches in the magic combination of keys and everything works fine. At work when I am at a dead end, my IT lady bails me out, usually scratching her head about how I got my computer all tangled up (luckily this doesn’t happen as often at work as it does at home).

Listen, I’m no dummy, just someone who should have taken a couple of computer classes in college alongside the business ones. I realize I’m going to have to shift my mindset of thinking I’m inept in this area. After all, it’ll be me who uploads my books, figures out social media, and manages my website.

Hmm, wait a minute…

Managing my website hasn’t been as difficult as I thought it would be. True, I had help from the brilliant Paradux Media folks, but I’ve been able to run with it ever since. I guess it hasn’t all been bad.

This thought does help me realize two things:

1. I’m not a lost cause in this area, and,
2. I’m not alone. There are people out there, like Sarra, who aren’t only experts, but will help willing learners like me become independent users. This mindset coupled with the teachings of Sarra Cannon will surely put me on the right path, both mentally and physically, to self-publish.

I’ll be going through this five week course parallel to when I’m editing my debut novel. This will be an interesting combo that will test how many hours a day I have to dedicate to this craft. Ultimately, I think it will be productive to apply the teachings Sarra has to the publication of my book that is being polished every day.

Being an Indie author means being able to manage the business part of self-publishing. After some self-reflection, I, for one, am excited to tackle this technology fear slash computer repelling nature of mine. By starting from scratch and learning every aspect of this part of the trade, I know I can wave goodbye to the barriers that I’ve had thus far.