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Am I Too Late To the Party?
Is it a party or is it something else entirely?
Have you ever gotten on board with a thing that’s been blossoming and growing, only to not experience that for yourself? Was there a group, a project, an idea you ascribed to that was gaining momentum that you seemed unable to also benefit from?
This leads to the ultimate question of am I too late to the party?
Allow me to elaborate. I joined Medium to share my many blogs back in November of 2018. Since then, I’ve shared 2-6 blogs a week.
Many users of Medium, especially before the pandemic, made a decent amount of money from publishing on Medium. Their blogs were getting hundreds, sometimes thousands of views and tons of applause.
While I have read some super impressive stuff, I also think I do decent work. Yet, my blog has never caught fire. Before last year, I made back my annual membership fee and a little more. This year, after they again changed how they pay, I’m earning a fraction of what I used to, and I plan to end my paid membership when it’s up.
This, unfortunately, leads me to question my skill as a writer and my ability to connect with readers. But there’s another, equally unanswerable and probably rhetorical question. Did I just get on this bandwagon too late to benefit from it like others did?
Unfortunately, I also find myself asking this question about the world of self-publishing.
Why do I feel like I got to this party late?
I frequently listen to thriller author Joanna Penn’s The Create Penn podcast. She’s a very successful self-published authorpreneur of both fiction and nonfiction. On her show, she talks with other experts about all sorts of self-publishing topics. Her website also features a ton of useful resources for authors regarding writing, editing, publishing, and marketing.
She started her journey in 2008. While I dipped a toe into the waters of self-publishing in 2013, I only put out a couple of works of both nonfiction and fiction. Then, in 2020, I started publishing more frequently. Three books in 2020, 6 in 2021, 2 books in 2023, 3 books in 2024, and currently looking to total 3 books each in 2025, 2026, and 2027.
I have had the privilege of meeting several other authorpreneurs over the past 5 years or so. This has been great on many levels, save one. A lot of them have far better numbers when it comes to their sales, and more loyal followers and readers overall.
Arguably, the party was more than 10 years old when I joined it. Even since I joined, the rules have changed on many levels in the world of books and publishing. Along the way, I’ve worked hard to improve my craft, do a better job of layout and formatting, and learn new and better ways to market and advertise.
Despite gaining experience and knowledge, to be perfectly honest, I’m still struggling to make my ROI. I know my work isn’t comparable to the greats, but it’s decent and always improving. Hence, I get the feeling sometimes that I got to this party too late to partake of it.
Maybe I have. But that doesn’t mean I’m not where I’m supposed to be. Maybe I just need to find or create a new party. Or perhaps, more realistically, I must adjust my thinking to take a different approach.
Shifting the business and mental model
One important point that I need to address is that parties are never sustainable. From birthdays to weddings to all-night ravers to politics, parties always end.
Ultimately, what a party was created to celebrate is a moment in time. Hence why birthdays and related parties are annual, and other celebrations have specific times and places associated with them.
Being a writer is one thing. Being an authorpreneur is another. The former just requires that I write. Easy. The latter requires me to be a business.
Over this past year, I’ve taken several steps to change how I approach the business element of authorpreneurship. I formed a legal entity for my self-publishing business, Argent Hedgehog Press, complete with recognition as a legit business in my home state and a bank account.
Now I’m exploring how to better leverage the business for the non-writing part of being an authorpreneur. That’s a matter of how I approach hiring my cover artist, editor, and creating and paying for marketing and advertising.
Along that line, I’m striving to shift my mental model. Rather than approach this as a party I might be more than fashionably late to, I’m putting the effort into learning more, optimizing what I already have, and getting better at the various elements of self-publishing.
Let’s get this party started
My next book is picking up a series where I left off with it. Two years later, I’m adding 4 more novelettes and expanding the characters and their experiences. The first two books will be out before the end of 2025, the next two before the Spring of 2026. (All are done and edited, I’m just taking my time on the finishing touches.)
In addition to my work as an authorpreneur, I’m starting to explore sharing what I know as a paid consultant to other aspiring authorpreneurs. Between finding resources for editing and covers, making connections to other authors, audiobook production, and the formatting that goes into eBooks and paperbacks for multiple distributors, I have a wealth of experience that might be worth applying to build another income stream doing something I love.
It’s not a party, it’s a job, but a job that feels like a party. That’s because I’m not slogging through life doing work that makes me miserable. I’m taking advantage of my unique position to make the most of this opportunity while also finding ways to help others live their dreams, too.
Let’s get this party started, shall we?
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you every week, please consider this: How are you inspired and empowered to be your own creator, whatever form that takes?
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