Another thing people don’t really see behind indie publishing
Is what it’s like doing it while dyslexic.
People think dyslexia is just spelling mistakes.
It’s not.
It affects editing, formatting, organisation, focus, memory, and confidence too.
I can write a poem in minutes,
But spend hours trying to fix spacing issues, page numbers, margins, or formatting problems that keep shifting around for no reason.
Sometimes I reread the same sentence over and over
And still miss something obvious.
Sometimes I fix one issue
And accidentally create another one somewhere else in the manuscript.
That’s the exhausting side of self-publishing people rarely talk about.
Especially when you’re doing everything yourself.
Because indie writers are not just writers anymore.
We become editors, designers, proofreaders, marketers, uploaders, and tech support all at once.
And when you’re dyslexic, that learning curve can feel overwhelming at times.
But I’ve also learned something important through all of this:
Being dyslexic never stopped me from being creative.
If anything, it made my voice more honest.
My poems were never meant to sound perfect or polished.
They were meant to feel real.
That’s part of being #DislexicPoet.
I don’t write like everybody else.
I don’t always think in straight lines.
Sometimes my work breaks rules without meaning to.
But maybe that’s where its humanity lives.
And honestly?
There’s something powerful about refusing to let dyslexia silence you.
Especially in publishing.
Because holding your own finished book in your hands after fighting through all of that —
The confusion, the edits, the stress, the self-doubt —
Hits differently.
It becomes proof that your voice deserved space in the world too.
Not perfect.
Not traditional.
But real.
Read more about how dyslexia shapes my work
Thank you for reading
Your DislexicPoet 🖤