4 independent publishing errors to avoid
Independent publishing is an increasingly popular option for writers, and it can be a great way to go if you’re keen to develop yourself as a writer while having as much control as possible over the process. However, like any other activity, there are common mistakes that could hinder your chances of success. Here are four independent publishing errors to avoid.
Publishing too early
There are several ways you could end up publishing your work too early:
The plot still has holes in it
The characters are two-dimensional or otherwise unbelievable
You’re not confident enough yet, or not quite as good as you could be with a bit more practice
The work is full of editing/proofreading errors
It hasn’t been formatted properly or some other aspect of the independent publishing process has gone awry (for instance, you’re not quite ready with your marketing)
It’s easy to see why writers are eager to get their work out there, but sometimes it does pay to hold off a little bit to make sure everything is perfect before publishing. After all, none of us want to publish a below par book, and readers don’t want to read them either, so if you’re not yet convinced you’re entirely ready, it might well be better to wait.
Waiting for readers to find you
It would be lovely if readers automatically discovered your book and made it a bestseller, but in reality this happens very rarely. No matter how good your book is, don’t make the error of failing to market it, because it’s extremely unlikely it will be a success (and certainly not as successful as it could be) if you don’t.
It’s worth taking the time to build up your author platform, such as by developing your social media presence, setting up a blog and website and so on. It takes time to build up a readership, and finding readers can be very hard work.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with publishing your book and then stepping back if that’s what you want to do, but if you’re hoping for success and as many readers as possible, you’ll definitely need to be proactive.
Not dealing with the ‘business’ properly
The business side of independent publishing is important, and it requires us to have more skills than just being able to write a good story. We also need to know about important things like formatting ebooks, the process of publishing, and managing pricing and royalties and other money issues.
You might decide that you want to learn how to do everything yourself, or you might choose to hire people to undertake certain business functions for you. Either is fine, but what matters is that you have systems in place for dealing with the business side of publishing – without it, you could well end up running into difficulty.
Forgetting what’s next
Putting energy into your current book is naturally hugely important, but a mistake that some independent publishers make is to forget about the next book. Lots of readers look for writers with multiple books out, and it can also be harder to build up momentum if you’ve only got one book to your name.
Multiple books give you more potential for sales. It will also give you more options in terms of marketing and building up your reputation. You’ll also be able to apply what you’ve learned from Book One to future books – and hopefully have more success as a result.
What do you think are the independent publishing mistakes we need to avoid?
