Why I DIY self-publish + My cover art dilemma

When I was in grade 2, my teacher had our class put on a play in our school’s basement – it was the classic fable, The Little Red Hen.

If you’re not familiar, The Little Red Hen is the story of a hen who sets out to make some bread – from scratch. And at each stage in the process, she calls on the other farm animals to help her out. But, being lazy or otherwise occupied (or perhaps suffering from celiac?), they always refuse.

So, once she finally finishes baking the bread, she refuses to share.

I believe the intended moral of the fable is that if you do nothing, you get nothing.

But my young brain framed things differently. My interpretation was, if you do everything, you get everything.

So I became the kind of person who likes to do everything.

In my day job, I gravitated to a position where I could be solely responsible for my own little corner of my company’s product (the documentation).

And as a romance writer, I became very committed to DIY. I’m proud to say I produced my first book with zero help (well, except from beta readers) and zero cost. I edited it, I laid it out, and I designed the cover. I’m even thinking of recording my own audiobook.

The real reason I love DIY

But my love for DIY goes beyond “getting everything”.

A few years ago, when I was first thinking about publishing, I kept hearing that one benefit of traditional publishing is that the publisher takes care of all the details, so the author can just focus on their speciality, the writing.

But instead of enticing me, that idea turned me off.

I looove a project. And I love a challenge. And the idea of working on every aspect of a ‘thing’ – like a book – excites me.

Especially when it’s MY book. I’m not sure I’d feel this way about someone else’s project.

I also have a fairly strong rebellious streak. I want to do something different. And I want to be authentic. I don’t want to do something just because it will increase sales or draw in readers. Boring. I want to do what I want to do because I love it!!

And sometimes, I can be a little bit delusional about my capabilities. 

It’s like… Have you seen The Matrix? Do you remember that scene where Trinity is flying the helicopter, but it’s about to crash, so Neo grabs this cable the helicopter is attached to, and starts to reel it in like it’s a marlin on a fishing line.

Sometimes I feel like that.

Maybe all writers have to feel a bit like that, in order to embark on something as crazy as writing a novel.

I designed the cover for my first book. And it looks…. Okay. But it maybe doesn’t look quite… professional? It certainly doesn’t look like most of the other romance covers I see out there.

I think I have a good eye for layout. And I know what I Iike. Plus I’m persistent. I’m willing to work on a project for hours and days until it gets where I want it to be.

And I have very specific ideas about my next cover. At least, I want my hero to be hot! And not just hot, but I want him to look how I imagine he should look.

And I’m actually really excited to work on my next cover.

But, I’m not an artist. I’ve only ever taken a handful of art classes in my life, and I don’t draw or paint in my spare time. So, I’m worried I won’t be able to pull it off.

And did you know, cover art matters to sales?!

And after not marketing my first book, and realizing how crummy it feels to not sell very many copies… I’ve realized I want to sell more books! I want people to give my books a chance.

And I know a very common reason people dismiss books is if their covers don’t look quite as expected.

I know this is silly. I do.

I guess this isn’t just about my cover, it’s about whether I’m doing this for myself – if I’m doing it to enjoy the process. Or, if it’s all about sales.

I think I’m hoping I can somehow sell books while doing everything exactly my own way!

But, I guess you either have to choose to do your own thing, or choose to do what you think will sell books. Or, you have to compromise.

Writing will never be all about sales for me — I decided pretty early on, this enterprise isn’t worth it if I don’t enjoy it. There are easier ways to make money!

But, as I’ve said, I do want my books to be found — by some chunk of readers. So, I might have to compromise a bit on some things.

What I’ll probably do is create my own cover, and do some inquiring about having a cover made for me, and then see how things turn out. I could do a limited ‘author’s cut’ cover, and then broadly release a professional cover. The best of both worlds.

I’m interested to see what I end up with.