Trying to Self-Publish

Trying to Self-Publish This post is also available in a podcast:  https://soundcloud.com/hopeclark/trying-to-self-publish (or click on image at bottom of page). Saw this phrase twice recently, on two different blogs. Trying to self publish. Those words irritate me like fingernails on a chalk board, fork tines on china, grinding teeth.  You get the point. But probably not in the manner I mean . . . the manner I want to hammer home. And I love to hammer home points.People are entitled to self-publish. Of course they are. Ive self-published. Im a hybrid with my nonfiction being self-published (The Shy Writer Reborn) and my fiction traditionally published (The Carolina Slade Mystery Series), and if Carolina Slade ever gets dropped But Ill tell you one thing . . . I wont TRY to self-publish her. Ill go out there, jump in with both feet and damn well DO it. Whats with this trying business? I grasp TRYING to traditionally publish, because there are so many gatekeepers who have to give you that magical nod for it to happen. You TRY because someone else opens the door for you. If they dont open the door, you dont publish, at least with them. Okay, makes sense. But you dont TRY to self publish. I didnt TRY squat when I self-published. I made up my mind to self-pub and did it. Its like being pregnant. You are or you arent. You self-pub or you dont. I think because we have options with self-publishing, you know, without all the gatekeepers telling us what we can do, we call it trying. But when I looked up TRYING in the dictionary, the  crankier I got at those who say they TRY to self-publish. TRY: 1) to make an effort to do something : to attempt to accomplish or complete something. 2) to do or use (something) in order to see if it works or will be successful. 3) to do or use (something) in order to find out if you like it. Thats straight out of Merriam-Webster, honey. In The Shy Writer Reborn, I harp on removing words like BUT, ONLY, NOT, NEVER and JUST from your vocabulary when speaking of your writing abilities and efforts. Its self-deprecating. From The Shy Writer Reborn, page 41: Ever catch yourself studying someone successful, not necessarily rich and powerful, but someone maybe only a few notches above your common quest. In seconds, you allow a sense of discouragement to drape over your shoulders, oppressing you with the idea you cant be that good. You see a familys portrait, love their captured laughter, then hate the fact you are no longer close to your sister. You bite into a cake made in heaven and kick yourself for stopping at the bakery instead of making your pie from scratch. You read a published book in your genre, in a setting youve used, possibly centered around a character not too far distant from your own, and you curse about being too inept a writer to do as well as that author. We hobble ourselves so that others cant point fingers first. If we know we are less than stellar, nobody can surprise us with accusations. Its a way of protecting ourselves from rejection. Id like to add the word TRY to that list of words that hold us back. Avoid disclaimer words. People gravitate to confident people. They dont want to be around people who are TRYING to be good. They want to be around good people. They dont want to read books from people who TRIED self-publishing. They want to be around those who confidently published their book. A favorite saying of mine is simply this: OWN WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO DO. Pick your path then strike out without looking back. Stomp that trail. March to your drummer. Sling  your writing  into the bright sunshine using all the power and talent you have. Sling it hard. You want the world to read every word. This work is your legacy. You dont try to publishyou publish. You dont try to write wellyou write well. You dont try to promote your workyou promote your work. If you think youve written and edited something worth publishing . . . If you think youre ready to see your work in print . . . If you think youre ready to sell your work with confidence, then do it. Do it loud, hard, with passion. Be not afraid to let the human race know what youve done. The minute you say you are TRYING to do something, I hear hesitation and self-doubt as do agents, readers, publishers, editors, and more. Im telling you, owning who you are and what you do is powerful, and more than a few people will look twice at you, wanting a taste of that youre drinking, because whatever it is, it makes you appear more alive than they are. You can TRY or you can DO. Readers can tell the difference.