The Unknowns of Self Publishing

Years in technology. Built systems. Solved problems. Managed migrations that would make your head spin. I understood the terrain.

Self-publishing? Different beast entirely.

You think you know what you’re getting into. You’ve read the success stories. Followed the advice threads. Watched the YouTube gurus. You’ve got your manuscript polished. Your cover designed. Your Amazon account ready to go.

Then reality hits.

The first unknown: you don’t know what you don’t know. And there’s a lot.

ISBN strategies. Kindle Unlimited versus wide distribution. Pre-orders and their metadata quirks. The arcane rituals of Amazon’s KDP platform where simultaneous ebook and paperback launches become technical puzzles. Print specifications that seem simple until you’re three hours deep in margin calculations.

Every decision branches into ten more decisions.

Do you go exclusive with KU and hope for page reads? Or distribute wide and bet on discoverability across platforms? Both paths make sense. Both paths feel like walking blind.

Marketing is its own labyrinth. Facebook ads. Amazon ads. Newsletter swaps. BookBub features. TikTok trends. Each channel promises results. Each requires investment—time, money, or both. You’re building a brand from nothing while simultaneously trying to write the next book.

Because here’s the thing: one book isn’t enough. The algorithms favor series. Readers favor series. You need volume. But quality volume. Fast but not rushed.

Consistent but not formulaic.

The technical side? That I can handle. I can figure out KDP’s quirks.

The unknowns that keep me up? Those are different.

Will readers connect with my characters? Does my pacing work? Is the story worth telling?

You publish anyway. You learn as you go. You adapt.

Turns out self-publishing isn’t that different from technology after all. Complex systems. Incomplete information. Risk mitigation. Strategic planning with tactical execution.

The difference? In technology, I had teams. Infrastructure. Established frameworks.

Here, it’s just you me and the work.

And somehow, that makes it matter more.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​