1. What can you tell me about your experience as a writer?

I published my first book, A Personal Mission Statement: Your Road Map to Happiness in May 2013. Since then, I published 19 books on Amazon. One of them is just a public domain work, two others are co-authored, the rest of them are short personal development books written from my experience.

English is not my first language, but I write mostly in English. Apart from writing books, I also write answers on Quora.com (I have about 1,700 answers there, viewed over 11 million times), and on my own blog.

I translated my books into Spanish, German, and Chinese, and produced six audiobooks so far.

2. What made you decide to write a book?

When, in September 2012, I decided to transform my life, I quickly rediscovered my childhood dream of being a writer. I stumbled for several months trying to write fiction in Polish, or a personal development blog in English.

Then, one of my friends remarked that one of my blog posts would have made a nice eBook. Her encouragement motivated me enough to write the first book.

3. What circumstances brought you to the decision to self-publish your book?

It was a no-brainer: no publisher would have published my book. I had no experience, no brand, no following, and English wasn’t my first language!

And even if anyone would have accepted my submission, traditional publishing would have taken a year or longer. Self-publishing speed is unrivaled. It took me exactly 49 days from writing the first word to publishing my book on Amazon.

4. What has your experience as a self-publisher been like?

A mixed bag. A steep learning curve, not only about the publishing process, but even more about the marketing process. It was overwhelming! I got close to the burnout point a few times.

On the other hand, the freedom to do whatever I wish with the creative, publishing, and marketing processes was incredible. I don’t think I could now fit in the shoes of a traditionally published author anymore.

5. How do you respond to the negative stigma attached to self-publishing and self-published books?

I ignore it. So I guess, I don’t respond to it at all.

My own books were derided as botches by ‘wise’ heads. So what? Those derided books sold thousands of copies and got hundreds of positive reviews.

6. What is one very important lesson you have learned as a self-publisher?

I’m responsible for my own success. And the lack of it. I made only $8,500 on Amazon in 2022. Why? Because I did almost nothing to promote and market my books.

I know highly successful self-published authors, I know success in this realm is possible. But I’m not willing to pour the hours they are pouring to sell so many copies.

7. What do you know now about self-publishing that you wish you knew at the beginning?

Collaboration is the shortcut to success. And it doesn’t even have to be an active cooperation. I upped my game significantly by just being among successful authors in Facebook groups.

8. A lot of authors of self-published books have reservations about promoting and marketing their book. Some even feel that it is a form of vanity or self-importance. What is your opinion about this?

Those authors are shooting themselves in the foot. Who else is going to promote and market their books? The most probable answer is: nobody. Then, how would their books land in the hands of readers? They won’t.

9. How do you promote your books and what form of book promotion has worked the best for you?

My friend, Denis Caron, the author of Catch the Unicorn, says that only two things work in the book promotion realm: your email list and Amazon ads.

I would add two more promotional vehicles: email lists of other authors and a selected narrow group of book promotion websites. Denis’ objection about the book promo sites is that it takes a lot of trial and error. I firmly agree. But I paid that price and I use three websites worth their salt for nonfiction.

Recently, I experimented with podcast interviews as a way to create a steady evergreen trickle of sales. It’s too early to tell if it’s working.

10. What are some other important things you have learned as a self-publisher?

Spending money on the pre-production phase is an investment. I published the first four of my books by spending only about $100. I saved on everything – from editing to covers. I perceived every dime spent as a cost.

But it was an investment! If you will make $2,000 from your book royalties, it is a no-brainer to spend $1,000 on producing the book.

11. Do you feel that self-publishing is a viable choice for other authors?

I feel it’s the only choice for new authors. Instead of knocking on the gatekeepers’ doors, which may take literally forever, you immediately start writing and publishing.

Even if you traditionally published before, it’s a better economic choice. If my books were traditionally-published, I’d have been lucky to make $850 this year!

12. How do you feel that self-publishing their books has helped many unknown authors finally get the recognition their books deserve?

Hey, it is about recognition only for the very top authors and books who are getting it.

For me, self-publishing is about equal opportunity and connection with readers. I don’t care about the recognition. But I care about my readers. I sold over 83,000 copies of my books; they got over 1,000 reviews on Amazon, meaning that thousands of people got enough from them to care about writing a positive review.

If I’d have tried the traditional path, probably I would’ve been still knocking at the doors of publishers. And thousands of my readers wouldn’t have had the chance to improve their lives.