Insider Self-Publishing Tips That Often Fall Between the Cracks
There’s plenty said about self-publishing and the right way to do it. Should you choose a small press or use print-on-demand via Amazon CreateSpace? What sites should you advertise through? These are the big questions.
However, there are some insider secrets that fall between the cracks; the lessons that only trial and error can teach you. These eventually add up to a successful and smooth publishing experience – or, without them, a clunky and disappointing one.
Here are some quick tips about cover creation, editing, marketing, and more from self-published author Sidonie Dao Vu, as well as from myself as a professional editor who’s helped countless eBooks to the finish line.
Cover Creation:
Contact a freelancer. You may be talented with Photoshop, but the professionals offer something specific: their experience. You may be biased as the author, with a specific vision for the cover, but a professional knows the trends in the market and has experience in what imagery, colors, font, and placement of both is the most effective when attracting your target audience.
When Picking a Freelancer: Browse their portfolio and check out how successful the books they’ve done covers for have been. Also, be sure to ask for ideas; a talented professional will be a creative one, whereas lesser professionals will be looking to do a fast, cheap job.
How to Get Your Cover. Send them a brief blurb or chapter of the book, so they can gear the cover to fit the story’s tone. Most importantly, tell them your target audience so they can use their marketing skills.
Marketing:
Get Reviews, Reviews, Reviews. Buy reviews, ask friends for reviews, give out free copies in exchange for reviews. However: stress how necessary an honest and unbiased review is, because if you get all raving reviews with five stars, not only will Amazon remove the reviews, believing them false, but readers won’t believe those that stay.
Always Drive Traffic to Your Site: You may think driving people to your Amazon page is enough, but it’s not; you need a website. This will serve as the directory for all readers and, if you get them on a subscription list, keeps them updated about future works or editions. Also, people are more likely to try out an author with a website, because it shows they’re committed to their work. They didn’t key smash and then publish.
Do Promotions. People like free stuff, and readers love free books. Sidonie Dao Vu is holding a giveaway of “The Infamous Infatuation” until May 1st, where three random winners will get a free copy of the book. Readers are willing to give something a try, and later fall in love with it, if there’s no risk and only gain – and that’s the beauty of a giveaway. It gets your name out there, gets your work into the hands of new readers, and hopefully can earn you more reviews.
Editing:
Get a Professional Editor. You can have a fantastic story, but if it’s riddled with typos, not only will it be unpleasing to the eye, it’ll distract from an otherwise good story. Even if you’ve had friends go over it, even if this is your 19th draft – get a professional. It’s the lynch-pin in a successful self-published story.
Get a Copy Editor Specifically. Proofreading is great, and absolutely necessary, but you definitely want to invest in a solid copy editor. Not only will they be more rigorous on your book, pointing out errors and making suggestions they would have overlooked as “not my job” before (because it’s not), but copy editing takes more work and skill. Anyone thinks they can check for grammar and spelling, but a copy editor knows the effort and time their job takes, making it something amateurs rarely sign up for. This weeds out the bad professionals.
When Interviewing Potential Editors, Get Samples. A good editor will expect to be paid for these samples, but it’s worth your while. Give them the first chapter and see how well they do. It’s better than paying full price for something that disappoints you in the end. Also, many editors will do up samples for significantly less than they will the whole book, so it’s a cost-effective tactic to get quality work.
These insider secrets for self-publishing may be simple. So simple that many authors think they can skate past them. However, in all actuality, having these small bases covered is the foundation that supports a successful publishing effort.
Before you get started planning your own self-publishing strategy, if you enjoy celebrity-watching, reality TV, and risqué social behavior, help out a fellow self-published author and treat yourself by checking out “The Infamous Infatuation” giveaway – limited time only, ending May 1st just before midnight.
Happy writing!
