Hi! Congrats on your novel! Do you have any advice for a first time self publisher? I’m currently line editing (can’t afford to hire an editor, alas) and I’m hoping to have it ready for publication by September. Any tips or tricks of the trade? :)
Congratulations! It's a scary path to go and it always feels unsupported because you’re on your own, but you’re doing great.
Get a beta. Or a couple of them. Don’t use family (critique from family hurts so much worse than friends). I use a few close writer friends from different backgrounds so that I get a wide scope of reviews and opinions. I always acknowledge my betas in the acknowledgments of my books and they get a signed printed copy at the end. Betaing process takes a couple of months (I use Googledocs so they can see each other's comments, and discuss, but if your beta isn’t comfortable with that, use a separate google doc. Means I can edit at the same time they’re reading.) Don’t rush your betas, they’re doing you a favor and they are amazing.
Use various editing programs just for a boost. I use Grammarly, Edit Minion, Hemmingway in conjunction. It takes a while, but its really helpful. I also use Word cloud to figure out my most used words.
Do a listen read through. Plug it in to Balabolka or any other word-to-text-program and listen. Great for finding missing words or almost right words.
Decide what to publish. Ebook only? Printed version? Both? There’s pros and cons for both, and different genres perform differently with both. I only really offer a printed version because I like having a physical copy myself and sending them to betas, as well as the option of getting it into bookshops (which is difficult).
Decide where to publish. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Again, pros and cons for both. Using KDP Direct will limit your ability to get into bookshops (because you can’t sell it anywhere else), but it is a better option for some genres. I use KDP basic (to get me onto Amazon) and Ingram Spark (bookshops and wider distribution. Now Ingram Spark does send to Amazon, but if your book is already there, they won't. Amazon looks to KDP first and boosts their signal, so it's always a good idea to do both).
Buy your own ISBN. You will need one for each version of your book. IE Print versions need a different ISBN to the Ebook. Since you OWN it, you can use the same ISBN for different publishing sites, instead of having to purchase one through them (some sites offer free ones, but you CAN’T use it elsewhere. This is because ISBN is linked to the publisher, and if you’re the publisher, you can use it whenever you like, but if you buy one from Ingram, for example, they’re listed as the publisher.
Fiddly, time-consuming and annoying, but doable on your own. There are a LOT of help sites out there. And lots of templates.
For me, it's better to start from scratch. Get a template and copy-paste your work into it, then go over formatting with a fine-tooth come. It's amazing the amount of junk that exists in a word doc, you need a clean version cause it will mess with formatting. I eventually set up my own template and write straight into that.
PRINTED AND EBOOK NEED SEPERATE FORMATS. You’ll need templates for both. Don’t start on this until you’re absolutely ready, because otherwise, you’ll be editing two documents.
Printed version: Choose your size and get the correct template for it. KDP offers templates, use them, the same template can be used across the board.
Different sites have different EBOOK requirements for formatting. CHECK.
Basically, centered Chapter names, no indent first paragraph, and indent every other paragraph after that is the usual formatting. Check other books for what they do and try to match. Ebook and Printed have different requirements for a section break
Take it slow. Lots of checks. Publishing sites always have a proof at the end to check. (Don’t do proofs through INGRAM, do them through KDP, because Ingram has a paywall for them).
Covers are expensive and they should be because people often buy based on that. Have a rough idea in your head of what you’re looking for.
I use @pinkuchama because she’s amazing and I love her art. Since she’s a hand-drawn option, it takes a lot of time but the results are wonderful.
There are various sites where you can buy premade covers, or get custom covers. BookCoverZone, BookCoverDesigner, other indie sites like that. They vary in quality, and most of them use stock images. BE CAREFUL, because they use stock, often the same stock is used on other book covers. Sometimes covers can look similar even though different Indie cover designers created them.
Covers have templates for print versions so you get the spine and back. Most cover design sites offer a paperback cover for extra cost. Cover spines are based on how many pages, so you need to have your paperback document ready.
Ebook covers have design specs too.
I fail at this, but I’m trying my best. My main problem is that its an Indie series, and most wait until its done before buying.
Start now. Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads. Writing boards. Giveaways. Talk about your book. Get a following.
vaporwave
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
discoholicmusic
origamiaround
pixelskylines