How to self Publish
Over the last two years or so I have done extensive research, mostly through trial and error, into the minefield that is the self publishing arena. This post is intended to provide you with a guide to how I went about it in a neat step by step process. I hope that it proves useful for you if you are giving it some thought.
So here we go.
Step 1: Write the book.
I did not think about the publishing process at all until I had finished my novel completely. Delve into your book like it was a warm ocean and stay there until you have swum through its depths and explored every cave and crevice. Separate the creative mind from the business one until you have your story on paper. No matter how long this takes just do it. This is your baby. Your story, that only you can tell. So forget about publishers and agents and marketing and social media until you have the damn thing written to the absolute best of your ability. Then, and only then should you follow the next steps.
Step 2: Put it away
Print the manuscript and walk away from it for at least a month. I know it’s tough to do but believe me it will be worth it. Your brain has worked hard over the last several months and needs a break before it can go back and look at it with a fresh perspective. Trust me when I say that you would not believe the amount of things you will need to change even before it goes off to be proof read.
Step 3: PROOF READ
PROOF PROOF PROOF! I made the unforgivable mistake of sending my first draft out to agents without it being proof read professionally. The first thing an agent or publisher looks at is how polished the manuscript it. I am glad I made this mistake before I self published because as it turns out, I cannot spell. Having a professional proof read and edit, while expensive, will pay off dividends in the long run as there is nothing as disconcerting or frustrating to a reader than spelling and grammatical errors. I have no doubt that even this blog is full of nasty little errors but HEY that’s blogging. There are fantastic services out there for proof reading and editing.
If you are from Ireland, and I am:), you can look at www.inkwellwriters.ie for information on these services. They provide great advice and tips for writers as well as scouting and courses.
Step 4: Book Cover
Invest in a professional book cover. I used www.99designs.ie. Here’s how it works. You submit your book idea and any artwork that inspires you and set a budget. The more you have the more designs will be submitted from designers from all around the world. The cover for The Agathon and The Agathon book 2 were both designed by the same person.
Step 5: Decide on your distribution
So here’s the tricky part. Where do you sell your book. I decided to sell it exclusively on Amazon using two platforms.Createspace and Kindle Direct Publishing or KDP.
Createspace:
Kindle Direct Publishing:
Createspace lets you sell paperback copies of your novel all over the world which is amazing. I ordered a copy from a Barnes and Noble store in the US while I was on holidays which was a great feeling. Choose your price on the paperback carefully as the minimum price is $12.99 for a paperback. Needless to say you have a better chance of distribution over kindle.
Step 5: Format the interior
Createspace has a wonderful service on offer that lets you hand over your manuscript and let them format the interior for you. Yes, it costs a couple of hundred bucks but you know the saying, in for a penny in for a pound. You can also use their format downloads to do it yourself if you are so inclined.
Step 6: Price
This is the tricky one. My research indicated that the best selling ebooks were all priced at the $2.99 -$3.99 area for new authors. Kindle Unlimited pays you per page turned and I have found this to be working well with the type of book The Agathon is. I wrote to be a real “page turner” and so signing up for Kindle Unlimited worked really well for me. KDP also allows you to run discounted price promotions over a period of time so you can discount your book to $0.99 and promote it to reach more readers. You can also have FREE giveaway promotions if you really want to penetrate your target market.
Step 7: GO SOCIAL OR GO HOME!
It’s just a fact, whether you get a book deal with one of the big publishing houses or not you will have to promote yourself online.
Get a Facebook account dedicated to your author page
Get an Instagram account
Absolutely set up a web site. I host my website on Dreamhost.com through a wordpress account and used Themeforest.netto upload a user friendly and pretty theme. Both of these are relitivly inexpensive but it provides you an opportunity to connect with people through blogs and also gives you your own window into the world.
Get ON TWITTER ! besides the fact that it’s fun it lets you communicated and send links to your book in real time. Use hashtags like #IARTG #ASMSG with your book tweets to gain retweets and exposure
Get on Pinterest
START BLOGGING ABOUT STUFF
Step 8: Reviews
One of the things I also got was a Kirkus Review: The Agathon
This is a service provided by a third party review site that you send your book to to have independently critiqued by an anonymous reviewer. I found this to be an excellent resource to use in both blogs on my website and also for social media interaction. It helped my sales significantly.
Step 9: Sell Sell Sell
Blog, Tweet, Share your stories, link to your book, be bright, be approachable and tell your story. Target blogs that focus on your target market and start writing to the world.
Step 10: Have fun with it
You’ve worked your ass off so enjoy it.
If you would like to have a read of my debut novel click the image below
Welcome to the adventure
-Colin
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