Amanda Meuwissen's Blog - Posts Tagged "self-publishing"

I thought there was no greater feeling than having a publisher interested in my stories, than getting that response of acceptance and knowing that finally, finally someone was taking notice of all my hard work and the struggle was about to pay off. But I’ve since learned that the true bliss of publishing comes later.

Actually, for me, I get bliss at several stages. The writing itself, especially after finishing a certain scene or moment. When I complete the full manuscript for the first time. When I finish final editing. When I see the cover art. When I hold the proof copy in my hands. When I receive my first positive review. When I meet a fan.

Having a publisher give you that initial acceptance letter is great, but so many other things trump that and often have nothing to do with having a publisher.

I’ve worked with BigWorldNetwork since 2011, and they published all 4 of my books, which include The Incubus Saga trilogy that I am most known for. It’s bitter sweet that BWN is now closing its doors, but even though BWN may be ending, that doesn’t mean my work as a published author has to suffer.

I could attempt to pitch my work to other publishers, but after the hands-on personal touch of BWN, I think any other even well-respected indie publisher would just disappoint me. But thankfully, one of the things BWN has left me with is the knowledge to do it myself (and the friends to help me where I’m not as talented).

So, next month, September 2016 (final date TBD), I will be publishing my first novel as just me. I have the luxury of a great typesetter and cover designer in Mario Hernandez (and a really fantastic artist for this new book), and I know the process for everything else based on my dealings with BWN. Very little for my part is going to change, except for having full control and getting all of the revenue when I make a sale. It leaves me extremely excited to embark on this new (but not so different) journey, and I can’t wait to see what comes of it.

So stay tuned for more on the new book, Life as a Teenage Vampire, upcoming events I’ll be attending this year, and my next blog post which will share step by step how I went from text in a Word doc to self-published book.

Now, there are tons of sites out there that can help you with self-publishing and distribution. Createspace just happens to be the print on demand service I find most helpful for my work, and I’m familiar with it, as it was also what indie publisher BigWorldNetwork used for my previous titles.

Step 1: Write your book

I think we can all agree this is the hardest and yet most obvious part.

Step 2: Edit your book

And I don’t just mean yourself. Everyone needs an outside editor, preferably more than one set of eyes before you’re ready to publish.

Step 3: Typeset

Now we get onto the real advice here, and often this is where people will flounder. I don’t personally typeset my own books, because I have an awesome Creative Director thanks to my time with BigWorldNetwork (and my husband helps as well, since he’s learned his fair share of the process).

If you are not so lucky as to have someone knowledgeable with the world of widows and orphans to typeset for you, there are many resources out there to help you learn how to properly format a professional looking book, but let me recommend the following title from my fellow BWN author, Heather Justesen, POD Like a Pro.

Step 4: Cover art

This isn’t as simple as just having an awesome front cover image and title text (unless you’re planning to only publish as an eBook) but the entire book jacket, which is its own monster. Createspace has a handy template people can use, or once again, you might have an outside resource building your cover. Even so, you’ll likely need to give them dimensions to work off of, so starting with a recognized template is often best.

Of course there is so much to be said about finding the right artwork, the right font, the right look and feel, but that’s for another blog post.

Step 5: Prepare your proof

And now the real meat of this post. Createspace makes this process rather easy, though there are several options you’ll need to consider as you go through the process. Here’s what I did.

If you don’t care that Createspace is listed as the publisher, you can use their free ISBN number, or pay $10 for a custom one, but with those options you can never take it to another printer without getting a new ISBN later. The third option is to get a more official ISBN at someplace like this that can be used universally and is usually around $100.

Now for sizing. The default tends to be 6 x 9, though my books are 5.5 x 8.5. This is something for you and your designer to decide, and can sometimes be affected by page number to get the best look and bang for your buck, as size of the book can affect pricing.

Interior pages are usually white, but there is the option for cream interiors that sometimes works better for some styles, usually depending on your cover art and genre.

You’ll of course need a copyright page in your interior, which you can find examples of many places online, but the important thing is to list your ISBN numbers and the copyright date.

Bleed for the interior refers to how far the pages go to the edge. You’d think you’d always want the second option, which keeps a consistent border, but there are times when you might want to have pages go all the way to the end, like if you include an image of the cover inside for a fun black and white effect.

Upload your print ready cover as a pdf of the entire book jacket, and your pdf interior. You’ll next need to add Tax information to get paid when you make a sale, but you don’t need any special business requirements for this, just your personal information is fine.

Once your book is reviewed by Createspace and approved, be sure to order a proof copy before you make it live, to ensure everything prints the way you want. Holding it in your hands is important, as well as giving everything a final once over to be sure nothing is out of place.

Step 6: Make it live

From here follow the distribution options as you please and make your book live. You’ll have to decide on your category and key words to improve search options, so consider this carefully, and look at other books like yours to gauge what makes sense. Different distribution options will give you more to fill out, and with Createspace you have the option to automatically be up on every international Amazon site, which to be honest, is often where most people will find your book.

Depending on what you choose will affect your options for pricing, so consider what other paperbacks go for in your market and genre, and choose wisely. It can be disheartening to see how much you actually make off of a paperback compared to what people pay, but that’s part of the reality of publishing. eBook sales are entirely different.

Createspace allows you to directly publish to Amazon as an eBook, but consider creating an epub or mobi format and upload that version directly to Amazon instead, as those file types are specific to eBooks and create a much more readable experience. You might think the paperback is where it’s at, but you’ll find over time that you make the most sales and therefore the most money from eBooks, so make sure the experience is worthwhile for readers.

Once your book is live, the real fun begins (and actually should start before it’s live to prepare you for launching your title) but that’s another blog post as well. In the meantime, happy writing, and get pumped for the upcoming release of my next book, Life as a Teenage Vampire, coming in October!

You can see it on Goodreads early here.

With the successful launch of my new book, Life as a Teenage Vampire, the start of my first blog tour is now underway with Bewitching Blog Tours.

Today starts with an interview at Ramblings of a Coffee Addictive Writer. And what fun questions! When you do a lot of interviews for a book release, sometimes the questions can get repetitive, because generally people want to know similar things, so I always appreciate when they ask some questions I haven't seen before.

Here's as example:

Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?

I do. It can be tough sometimes when you encounter something negative, but I think it’s important to take the risk of encountering trolls to see 1) the really positive comments that can make your day, and 2) the constructive criticisms that help improve your writing for the next book.

You can also sign up for the blog tour raffle, giving you a chance to win one of three free eBook copies.

I've also already had a slew of reviews for this new title, some from early access eBook copies I sent out, some early reviewers from blog tour stops coming up, but one in particular really touched me when it went up this weekend on Goodreads. Here's an excerpt:

As someone with a disability, one of the main characters being differently abled is a very welcome addition, as is how the character is crafted - his disability is not the most interesting or important thing about him. It doesn't somehow drive the plot, it just is a simple part of him, and it affects his life in an extremely realistic manner, in a story with fantastical elements. This was a personal highlight for me. Connor is just Connor who happens to require a prosthesis, and is in no way defined by it. he's just another kid, whose life is just a little different to someone without that disability.

I can't say enough how much it means to me to read a response like that.

So starting out strong and feeling pretty amazing with the reception the book has had so far, even from people I met at my events this past weekend, Gaylaxicon and Fall Con in Minneapolis, with people who bought the book one day, stopping by the next day to say they are already loving it.

Read all of the reviews so far right here on Goodreads.

1. You can’t please everyone

This is something we all struggle to learn, not because we don’t already know, but because it affects us anyway and it is such a tough thing to slough off.

You’re a published author, you’ve had the book professionally edited, typeset, with a cover you love, promoting it as best you can…and you still get negative reviews. It’s not that you don’t know to expect this, it’s that it feels like a blow every time and you have to remind yourself of this fact – you can’t please everyone.

There’s a fine line between constructive criticism that you can internalize to improve for your next book, and people who just don’t like your work and never will. Separating those and moving on to the next positive review is so important. As an author, you have to grow a tougher skin, especially at the start.



2. You are your own marketer

I think people who have yet to be published have this idea in their heads that as long as they get accepted by a publisher, at that point their hard work has paid off and they can sit back and let the publisher do the work to make them successful.

NOT TRUE.

Some people might think that, well, maybe not for smaller publishers, but surely with the Big 5—NOPE. Still not true.

Unless you magically become the next JK Rowling and are already famous, books do not sell themselves, and publishers do not market for you. You are your own marketer and you need to do the work to get your name and your titles out there.

Have a website, have social media, engage, write things other than your books, look for where your audience hangs out, do signings and conventions, do everything, and don’t expect for one second that anyone else will do it for you.



3. You have to spend money to make money

This sort of ties into being your own marketer, but successful marketing costs money. It doesn’t have to cost a lot, but you need to be aware that some budget should be spent on blog tours, conventions, purchasing books you might want on hand not provided by the publishers (as most don’t give you more than a single copy).

You will spend money on a release and you need to plan for that, but if done right, you should make that money back on the first month of sales. There are exceptions, like buying the URL for your website adds additional cost, certain conventions cost more and might not pan out, buying boxes of books might not always sell initially, but it’s a learning curve. You just need to be ready to spend a little no matter who you publish with.



4. Be ready with your next book immediately.

Maybe most of you are like me, where as soon as you get one idea out of you, you likely already had the next one percolating, and the one after THAT. So moving from one book release to already being in the midst of writing your next one should be easy.

If you want to be a successful writer, this is important because it keeps you top of mind with your readers. It means they’ll constantly be looking forward to your next book. If you’re forgotten, it’s easy for people to miss that next release, and you want to gain momentum over time, not lose it.

If you just have one or two books in you and that’s all you plan to produce, fair enough, but if you want to write and write and write, DO IT, and always be ready with that next idea. One book a year is entirely doable.



5. Participate in NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month saved me as a writer. As someone who has regularly written stories for close to two decades, it may surprise you that I hadn’t heard of or participated in NaNo until very recently (I’ve done it twice now).

If you don’t know, it’s the month of November each year where writers dedicate themselves to writing 50k words. It might be the entirety of a novel, or maybe just the start if you write lengthier pieces, but it is still a grand undertaking, because it translates to over 1600 words a day. That’s easy when you think of one day, but doing it every day for 30 days straight is a challenge.

When I first participated in 2015, it rejuvenated my passion to write every day, because for that month I had to, and when it was over, I didn’t want to stop. You don’t have to write 1600 words every day forever, but write something, and NaNo is a great way to get started. It’s also how I’ve kickstarted my last two novels and the one I’m currently editing.

If you worry about being able to get a novel written a year, try NaNo next November. It is a lifesaver.