You CAN do it all...
You can be the writer, the editor, the cover designer, the publisher, AND the marketing specialist. We are fortunate enough to live in a day and age where we, the writers, have complete control over every aspect of our work. No more will you have to depend on an agent or a big house publisher to publish and promote your novel! Thanks to self-publishing venues like Amazon and Smashwords we now have the ability to do it all!
First off, do yourself a favor and write an entertaining story rich with vibrant characters and a plot so utterly suspenseful the reader won't be able to put your book down. You can do that by creating a likeable character with a worthy goal that can only be reached by overcoming a set of difficult obstacles. Remember to raise The Question in the reader's mind that will be answered by the end of your story. For more on this read my post How do you begin a story?
Now that you've written a wonderfully suspenseful story it's time to make sure you've dotted all your i's and crossed all your t's. An unedited book sticks out like a sore thumb, so don't put it out there until you're completely satisfied it would survive Miss Crabtree's red pen. It's not a bad idea to pass your manuscript around for second opinions. But, if you're a control freak like me, you'll learn how to edit your own work. Start with the basics: check out Strunk and White's The Elements of Style .
Most word processors have a search function that will allow you to search through your manuscript for words used incorrectly. One of the last checks I do, after exhaustively reading my manuscript over and over, is search for these words: there, their, they're, then, than, your, you're, it's, its, were, we're, sense, since, whose, who's. Without fail, I always find one or two that have been used incorrectly. We are human and therefore we make mistakes! But this final word search will help polish your manuscript and get it ready to show the world!
Now what about your book cover? The cover is the first impression the reader's going to have of your book. It should give the reader an idea of what kind of story lies between those pages. I recommend checking out books in your genre to get an idea of the style you should be aiming for. For example, many Young Adult books use real photos of handsome teens in various poses. Middle Grade books, however, tend to be more colorful and have cartoonish characters in playful poses.
If you don't know any graphic artists or professional photographers don't sweat it. There are plenty of tutorials on the web that will give you pointers on how to design your book cover all by yourself! CreateSpace is a popular one and is in partnership with Amazon.com, so once you design your book cover and format your manuscript it's a cinch to upload them to the site and start selling your book!
Luckily I have a couple of very talented friends who are willing to design my book covers. But at the same time I've been learning the basics of Adobe Photoshop with the goal of one day taking over this aspect of the book creating process. It's a lot of fun and not that difficult to learn. Mastering the many tricks and techniques in Adobe Photoshop will put you that much closer to doing it ALL!
Okay, you've written a suspenseful novel, free of errors, and with a superbly inviting cover that not only entices your readers to snatch it from the shelf but also clues them in on what kind of story they'll be reading. You're ready to publish! But where do you start?
First off, you shouldn't have to fork out any up front money! CreateSpace, the publisher I use, allows you to publish and make your book available for free. The customer pays a price that is decided by you and, once your book is purchased, you earn a royalty--which is equal to PRICE - COST. For example, if your book is priced at $15 and the cost to print one is $5 then you'll earn a $10 royalty!
Also, digital books are the hot item these days and there are several venues to upload and sell the digital version of your book. Among my favorites are Amazon (Kindle), Barnes and Noble (Nook), and Smashwords. In fact, most of my sales have come from the Kindle version! It would be crazy to ignore such a quickly growing market, so jump on the digital bandwagon!
That's it! Your pride and joy is out there in both paperback and digital version. Now all you have to do is kick back and wait for all those sales to come rolling in! Wrong! It's time to put on another hat. You must market and promote your book. But how? It's not like you have a gazillion dollars to buy up ad space in the New York Times or plaster your book title on hundreds of billboards.
The first stop: Social Media. Facebook and Twitter can be very helpful in giving your sales the little nudge it needs at the start. Encourage friends and family to buy your book, and once they do, encourage them to write a review for Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This will help your sales and your book will stand out to potential customers perusing the digital bookshelf.
Get involved with the author communities at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Goodreads.com. Networking is key to selling more books. Everywhere you go you should be talking up your book. Check out the local book store in your town and ask the owners if they'd be willing to take your book on consignment. Organize book signings in your town. Encourage local newspaper columnists to do a story on your new book. The key to selling more books is to talk it up whenever you can and wherever you go.
Till next time, keep reading and writing.
First off, do yourself a favor and write an entertaining story rich with vibrant characters and a plot so utterly suspenseful the reader won't be able to put your book down. You can do that by creating a likeable character with a worthy goal that can only be reached by overcoming a set of difficult obstacles. Remember to raise The Question in the reader's mind that will be answered by the end of your story. For more on this read my post How do you begin a story?
Now that you've written a wonderfully suspenseful story it's time to make sure you've dotted all your i's and crossed all your t's. An unedited book sticks out like a sore thumb, so don't put it out there until you're completely satisfied it would survive Miss Crabtree's red pen. It's not a bad idea to pass your manuscript around for second opinions. But, if you're a control freak like me, you'll learn how to edit your own work. Start with the basics: check out Strunk and White's The Elements of Style .
Most word processors have a search function that will allow you to search through your manuscript for words used incorrectly. One of the last checks I do, after exhaustively reading my manuscript over and over, is search for these words: there, their, they're, then, than, your, you're, it's, its, were, we're, sense, since, whose, who's. Without fail, I always find one or two that have been used incorrectly. We are human and therefore we make mistakes! But this final word search will help polish your manuscript and get it ready to show the world!
Now what about your book cover? The cover is the first impression the reader's going to have of your book. It should give the reader an idea of what kind of story lies between those pages. I recommend checking out books in your genre to get an idea of the style you should be aiming for. For example, many Young Adult books use real photos of handsome teens in various poses. Middle Grade books, however, tend to be more colorful and have cartoonish characters in playful poses.
If you don't know any graphic artists or professional photographers don't sweat it. There are plenty of tutorials on the web that will give you pointers on how to design your book cover all by yourself! CreateSpace is a popular one and is in partnership with Amazon.com, so once you design your book cover and format your manuscript it's a cinch to upload them to the site and start selling your book!
Luckily I have a couple of very talented friends who are willing to design my book covers. But at the same time I've been learning the basics of Adobe Photoshop with the goal of one day taking over this aspect of the book creating process. It's a lot of fun and not that difficult to learn. Mastering the many tricks and techniques in Adobe Photoshop will put you that much closer to doing it ALL!
Okay, you've written a suspenseful novel, free of errors, and with a superbly inviting cover that not only entices your readers to snatch it from the shelf but also clues them in on what kind of story they'll be reading. You're ready to publish! But where do you start?
First off, you shouldn't have to fork out any up front money! CreateSpace, the publisher I use, allows you to publish and make your book available for free. The customer pays a price that is decided by you and, once your book is purchased, you earn a royalty--which is equal to PRICE - COST. For example, if your book is priced at $15 and the cost to print one is $5 then you'll earn a $10 royalty!
Also, digital books are the hot item these days and there are several venues to upload and sell the digital version of your book. Among my favorites are Amazon (Kindle), Barnes and Noble (Nook), and Smashwords. In fact, most of my sales have come from the Kindle version! It would be crazy to ignore such a quickly growing market, so jump on the digital bandwagon!
That's it! Your pride and joy is out there in both paperback and digital version. Now all you have to do is kick back and wait for all those sales to come rolling in! Wrong! It's time to put on another hat. You must market and promote your book. But how? It's not like you have a gazillion dollars to buy up ad space in the New York Times or plaster your book title on hundreds of billboards.
The first stop: Social Media. Facebook and Twitter can be very helpful in giving your sales the little nudge it needs at the start. Encourage friends and family to buy your book, and once they do, encourage them to write a review for Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This will help your sales and your book will stand out to potential customers perusing the digital bookshelf.
Get involved with the author communities at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Goodreads.com. Networking is key to selling more books. Everywhere you go you should be talking up your book. Check out the local book store in your town and ask the owners if they'd be willing to take your book on consignment. Organize book signings in your town. Encourage local newspaper columnists to do a story on your new book. The key to selling more books is to talk it up whenever you can and wherever you go.
Till next time, keep reading and writing.
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