With Olympic Fever sweeping this Land of Hope and Glory (i.e., England), I figured it was a fitting time for a little Olympic comparison! So, to kick things off . . .
- Getting to the Olympics can seem like a Herculean feat to any athlete at times. Likewise, for authors contemplating self-publishing, the myriad of details and things to learn can appear a steep mountain to climb. Both take a lot of perseverance and determination!
- Both the Olympics and self-publishing require self-belief – for writer, it’s confidence that what you’ve written will appeal to readers and that you don’t need the support of a publishing house to reach out to them.
- It’s easier with a team. Any Olympic athlete will tell you there are many people behind their success, helping to buoy them up and keep them afloat. Although self-publishing is fundamentally an exercise in independence, it’s wonderful to have fellow writers onside and making your writing easier, whether it’s the WG2E team or beta-readers.
- Not everything goes according to plan, despite best efforts. Sometimes, an Olympian can put in all the training in the world, feel great on the day, and their results fall short of the expected outcome. Likewise, a self-publisher can do everything right and their sales may falter, formatting issues occur, or Amazon glitches happen. Sigh!
- When you do get it right, the sense of accomplishment is tremendous. Although we don’t have medals to hang around our necks, the feeling of finally publishing a book all on your own is amazing and so worth all the hardship.
Over to you! How would you compare self-publishing to the Olympics?
(PS – Go #TeamGB!) 
My goodness this is apposite, Talli. Agree with all of it: especially the team bit. Where it isn’t like the Olympics is the lack of opening ceremony!! ! I want to rent a crowd, hire a band and sashay down my own parade…..OK.fantasy over. Back to the next book.
I’d love an opening ceremony, Carol! Wouldn’t that be cool? Do you think we could get Danny Boyle on-board?
Run with your eyes wide open.
Olympians have to master extreme focus on their own efforts while also keeping track of what their competitors are doing. That’s an awesome feat.
For (self-publishing, especially) writers, it’s important to focus on doing their work while also keeping track of the publishing and reading world (not competitors) at the same time . Also an awesome accomplishment.
And sometimes you’re gonna fall flat on your butt! Jump back up quickly and keep on running (or jumping or vaulting or tumbling lol)!
Well said. Yes, we definitely need to run with our eyes open!And we could learn a lot from gymnasts who take terrible tumbles and jump right back up again.
I think hurdles are my sport of choice in Olympics and self-publishing. Falling at the first one would definitely happen if it wasn’t for the brilliant support I have. They lift my legs (ego), and push me onto the end. When I burst through the tape they are there cheering me on. No gold medal could ever feel as sweet.
Aw, what a lovely comment, Glynis! We often need support to get over those hurdles, I couldn’t agree more.
i’ve always felt the greatest challenge in any sports or arts was basically the same, finding and working the edge within oneself that lets one excel to whatever ability one has, and persisting in that
and because we’re also such individual social creatures
we often respond to some kindred competition to help us find that edge in ourselves 
best wishes for all of us
Very well put, Adan. It’s a fine line – too much competitiveness could push us over that edge! But in the company of the right people, it can spur us on.
**Just getting to go is a once in a life time experience** Even if you don’t have a million sales, just going to cocktail parties and being able to say, “Why yes, I do have a novel published, it’s sold 500 copies in its first year.” is incredible. No, I’m not a best seller. But I’m part of that 1% who actually FINISHES the novel they began because they wanted to write one.
**The Village is SWEEEET** They sequester the athletes at the Olympics, and in some ways, we are sequestered as indie/self-published authors outside of golden gates of NYC. Not as much anymore (I’ve seen HUGE strides just this year with the bestseller list now including self-published books)…. but the communities of supportive authors can’t be beat. We party. We get down. And oh yeah, we’re huge geeks who can have days’ worth of conversation on the merits of $.99 pricing LOL.
**Money, managed well.** With the recent “exclusivity” clauses, where it comes to money, some authors are going with the single sponsorship mode of going KDP Select. Either way, we self-published authors are people who watch the pennies and work another job. Olympic athletes usually work part time or full time job IN ADDITION to their training. They get up at 4 AM to swim; I get up at 4 AM to write.
I love your comparisons, Elizabeth! Especially the village! You’re right – it’s a very sweet place indeed, and the people there are awesome (yes, even with the 99p conversations, haha!).
Luuuvvv this, Talli!
For me, it’s my “You Can’t Do That! Oh Yeah? Watch Me!”…it’s that Olympian spirit of pushing through the pain and beating the odds (and people) stacked against you that keeps me chargin’ to each and every Indie Epublishing Finish Line.
Oh yes, DD! Pushing through the negativity and the people telling you no is so important in self-publishing. And it’s a great feeling when you prove them wrong.
The dream of being a writer is an Olympic size goal. We strive for years, we battle the odds, have successes and failures, and never give up. Each rejection is like falling off the bars, and we have to get up, wipe ourselves off, and go after it again. I was so happy this year that I had a nice backlist to put up on Amazon, and thanked everyone for rejecting me, because the readers didn’t. I earned my own Gold, or Silver, or Bronze, and nothing in the world could make me prouder. So yes, we are all Olympians, brave enough to put ourselves out there and whether we flounder or surpass our expectations, we are willing to try. We have dreams, and I’m so glad for them.
Amen to this one, Patrice:
“…thanked everyone for rejecting me, because the readers didn’t.”
Well said!!!
I love the way you answered this, Patrice – thank you! Very inspirational. Thank goodness for dreams and for the fact that we’re not afraid to do it ourselves!
I see the writing as the sprint, then getting it all prepared for publication brings in the team (editor etc), then it’s the hurdles of getting it out there. Once it is out there, you are on the podium. Starting out, you have the bronze, over time you will get silver, and if you are v successful like DD, you get a gold.
Oh yes, the writing is like a sprint – I agree! The editing phase for me is the hurdle, argh. And I like comparing hitting ‘publish’ to standing on the podium!
I like the team one a lot – I love how supportive indie writers are to one another!
Very true, Deniz – they really are!
Great post, Talli! Every point is spot on. And the comments here are inspiring. Seems like every day I have to pick myself up and whisper those Going for the Gold mantras. And I don’t see how any of us could do it without our supportive team.
Thanks, Alicia. I totally agree – the team behind us all is invaluable.
Lots of training and definitely listen to your coaches. They are the experts who can help you get to the starting line:)
Yes, great point! Listening to those in the know definitely helps!
Talli, your comparisons and those of the other commenters are great. I never thought of self-publishing being like the Olympics, but it really is. Congratulations to all of us for participating and winning
Thanks, Kristine! I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s comparisons.
Definitely right, Talli, maybe we should start a WG2E Olympic Comp?