Save money when self-publishing
Although self-publishing could technically be free, it will cost money to put a quality product out there. So, this list isn't going to tell you to forego an editor or anything like that. Instead, here are some tips for saving money while still publishing a high quality book.
Unless you are a graphic designer with experience in book covers, you shouldn't design your book cover yourself.
But, it can be VERY expensive to have a custom cover designed.
So, look through pre-made covers and purchase one that makes sense for your book. This won't always be possible, but it's worth trying.
Most covers are available for e-book, and designers are often open to creating a full spread for print for a small added fee.
thebookcoverdesigner.com is my favorite site for pre-made covers.
You can pay someone to do the interior formatting for your novel, but that's really expensive.
So, learn to do the formatting yourself.
For Mac users, Vellum is a great and easy tool.
For those of you with PCs, like me, you'll have to learn some more skills.
For epub and mobi, I love Reedsy. The free online software is easy to use. However, you can't use different fonts, which is a bit of a bummer.
For print books, you can actually do high-quality formatting on MS Word. It can take long and be frustrating, but I find it quite fun.
3. Use beta readers and critique partners
Okay, so I may be telling you to forego one type of edit: developmental.
This won't work for everyone. If your book has major plot problems or character development issues, you will need a developmental edit before publication.
But, it's always worth getting beta readers and critique partners first. They read your book and give feedback FOR FREE. And they focus on the story in the same way a developmental editor does.
This can be a great way to assess your plot and characters without paying for an editor.
If, during the process, you receive a lot of negative feedback and you're struggling to fix it on your own, you'll probably need a developmental editor.
But if you use multiple rounds of beta readers and critique partners and the feedback improves, and you fix the problems yourself, you don't, in my opinion, also have to pay for a developmental edit.
4. Don't create an audiobook (at first)
Many self-published authors want to debut with a bang. They want their first book to be available in every possible format.
I agree with this in most respects, but not when it comes to audiobooks.
I think the ROI is actually quite low, especially with Audible screwing over authors with their royalty system.
And it's very expensive to produce a high-quality audiobook - you can't just narrate it yourself.
So, if you publish the book and it does really well and you make enough profit, maybe consider releasing the audiobook a few years later.
Each version of your book (ebook, paperback, hardback, audiobook etc.) needs its own unique ISBN.
Depending on the country you live in, you might need to buy ISBNs. Luckily, in South Africa, my country, the National Library issues free ISBNs.
However, Amazon KDP offers free ISBNs for you to use. The only snag is that Amazon will then be listed as the publisher, not you or your publishing company.
If that's something you don't mind, I would recommend using the free ones.
So, those are 5 ways to save money when self-publishing. I hope that this can be useful to you guys.
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