My Writing, Blogging & Self-Publishing Mistakes I Want You to Avoid

Posted on by Ms. Marcie

Writing Blogging & Self-Publishing Mistakes

I was going through my drafts and found several lists of writing, blogging and self-publishing mistakes that I wanted to share with you all so you can avoid my mistakes. This is a list only.

General Mistakes

  1. Not believing in myself
  2. Listening to everybody’s opinions about what I should be doing
  3. Asking non-writing professionals about the business of writing
  4. Using lack of money and resources as excuses
  5. Lying to myself by thinking I can focus on more than two projects at a time
  6. Not following up on phone calls and people who expressed interest in my services
  7. Not writing articles on LinkedIn, in publications and on websites where my target audience is
  8. Not promoting myself and my services

My Writing Mistakes

  1. Waiting until the last minute to write or type
  2. Not reviewing my work one final time before pressing send or publish
  3. Reviewing my work too many times
  4. Not typing or writing drafts for longer pieces
  5. Not resting between drafts
  6. Questioning myself and the quality of my work

My Freelance Writing Mistakes

  1. Lack of confidence
  2. Undercharging for projects, or not charging at all
  3. Not charging for all services performed in one project
  4. Lack of consistency with pitching publications and companies for projects
  5. Trying to write everything instead of working my strengths (blog posts, newsletters, eBooks and articles)
  6. Allowing others to define me
  7. Treating writing as a hobby, not a business
  8. Allowing rejection to hinder my progress
  9. Not marketing myself or my work

My Blogging Mistakes

  1. No business plan, target audience or monetization strategy
  2. Unfocused topics
  3. Trying to do everything myself – write, design, promote
  4. Not teaching what I know
  5. Writing from the goodness of my heart instead of getting paid to blog
  6. Not repurposing content
  7. Reaching out to the wrong markets
  8. Not embracing video

My Self-Publishing Mistakes

  1. Over-editing my book
  2. Not marketing my book consistently
  3. Having the book designed before editing it
  4. Stopping when I didn’t have a lot of money instead of being creative and finding a way
  5. Not conducting workshops and trainings from the content from my books and blogs

What About You?

What were some of your mistakes on your journey? Share them in the comment box below.

 

Image credit: Pixabay

3 thoughts on “My Writing, Blogging & Self-Publishing Mistakes I Want You to Avoid”

  1. Hi Marcie,

    I believe I got into eBook publishing quite late. I should have entered, at least, one and a half year ago. Nevertheless, I’m glad that I’ve published my first Kindle eBook. The eBook is about freelancing.

    As far as other mistakes are concerned, there are many mistakes that I did in blogging. For example, not finding the right niche for first three years and relying on Google Adsense only, to name a few.

    Anyways, I learned the hard way, but I’m happy that I kept on moving forward.

    Thanks for this blog post.

    1. Thanks for sharing your mistakes, Hassaan. Congratulations on your first eBook. What is the title of your book? Also, how did you finally determine you niche? It took a while for me to solidify my niche for blog and I’m still trying to figure it out for my freelance writing venture.

      1. Thanks for replying. The eBook’s name is “How to Start Freelancing When You Have Zero Experience,” and the links are on my blog.

        I concluded back in 2013 that I can’t live without pursuing blogging tips niche. Probably, working with various clients and writing in diversified niches helped me find out what I want. It came down to doing and getting the hands dirty, rather than pondering while sitting on the couch.

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