You’ve made your decision. You’re publishing this book yourself. That takes real confidence, and you should feel good about knowing what you want.

Now comes the part where a lot of indie authors get overwhelmed. There are a lot of moving parts to indie publishing, and it can feel impossible to know what to tackle first and what can wait. The good news is you don’t have to figure it all out at once. You just need one clear first step.

Your one action step this week:

You’re going to be tempted to start with the cover (and maybe you already have). I get it, it’s tangible, inspiring, exciting. It feels concrete and “real” and like something so vital it can’t wait.

You’re not wrong that it matters. But before you commit to cover art (or pricing, or keywords, or any of the other “making it real” decisions), there’s some groundwork that makes all of those decisions better.

Has your book been edited by a professional editor? Have you gotten beta reader or critique partner feedback? Those steps aren’t just about fixing the manuscript. They help you understand how your book is actually landing, which shapes how it should be positioned in the market. And positioning is what determines who will read your book, what kind of cover they expect, what to price it at, which keywords and categories to use, and where’s the best place to sell it, as well as what your visual branding might look like.

So for this week: brain dump every decision you still need to make. Look at distribution platforms like Amazon KDP and Kobo, and build yourself a list of every piece of information they ask for before you can upload a book.

That list becomes your cheat sheet. It shows you what still needs answers (and what’s actually shaping those answers), and even better (or maybe “better” is the wrong word but still necessary) is that your list will grow as you encounter more decisions and information. But having that tangible list will keep you on track, as well as be something you can use for the next book! (Too soon? lol!)