Using My Degree in Self-Publishing

Self-publishing is a strange animal. With so many different facets to the whole process, I know there are several people who are afraid to take on self-publishing. The big reason I see most of all is the marketing.

Marketing is hard, marketing yourself is even harder. It can feel awkward, but if you want to be successful in self-publishing, you need to be able to talk about yourself.

That’s the cool thing about my degree. I’m a month away from having a degree in mass communications, with an emphasis in public relations and advertising. No, neither are marketing, but all three are closely related.

The funny thing is, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago, when I was talking to my roommate that I realized just how much my degree had influenced my life as an indie author. So now, time for some backstory.

Junior year of high school: I was a top pick on inkpop, a writing website by HarperCollins. Through a complex system of voting and influencer points, every month, the top five most popular projects would receive a review from a HarperCollins. That was my first experience of marketing – building an audience, building a fan base.

Freshman year of college: I landed a job as a publicist for a new small press, Entranced. Here, I was responsible for creating blog tours for authors. After this for about half a year, I realized, I could do this myself. Hence my decision to self-publish. 

Now: I’m in four classes about marketing and public relations. My book comes out in less than a week. For a long time, I was frustrated that my book wasn’t already out, but now that I’m in all these classes, learning so much, I’m glad it took up until now. I’ve learned a lot this semester that I know will help me with this book.

Before I even knew it, my degree gave me the confidence to go ahead and take that plunge to become an indie author. Isn’t it crazy how life comes full circle sometimes?

Crazy, yes, but also a wonderful blessing.