Audible, self-publishing, confidence, criticism


I had a good chat with a dear friend this morning (thanks, Dion!) about recording the Audible version of my books. I want to read them out loud, at least to myself, as part of the editing process, but it would also be great to be the narrator, at least in the first instance, of the Audible version.

“Hmmm… people usually hire actors for that job…” said Dion, with some wariness.

“I know, and if it’s rubbish, I won’t use it, except to help me with the editing. But John Green did it.”

John Green used to be my self-publishing hero, until I found out from this article that he has never self-published and never would. (Hmm 🤔 I thought he had!) So now, I guess it’s going to have to be one of these people. Margaret Atwood, of Handmaid’s Tale fame, would be a good start. Stephen King. Hmmm.

I’m self-publishing because of money and commitment-phobia, in the first instance. This excellent article explains really well why it’s better to do so. But it’s lonely! And one is alone with one’s confidence issues, however bad they may be.

Mine can be bad.

In fact, it will be a small miracle if any of my books ever see the light of day.

But Dion and I, in our chat of this morning, worked out that our interminable inner critics are actually trying to help us to do a better job. They’re not really trying to sabotage us, as I previously often thought. They’re on our side.

The voice that says, “Ah, this is rubbish. Nobody is going to want to read it…” … Yeah. No. That’s from my childhood. I should be ignoring that one, it’s not even trying to be helpful.

But the voice that says, “Maybe that’s too wordy, there…” and, “Come on, surely we can simplify this sentence…” and “What the heck are you trying to say with that bit?” is actually really useful and is going to turn an okay product into a possibly good one.

I don’t want to be too confident, because if I am, I won’t listen to my useful inner critic.

But I do need to be confindent enough, to keep working and get it out there.

Eventually.


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