The Self-Publishing Jack-of-all-trades

The greatest problem for any self published author is having responsibility for every part of the process.  Everything from generating the basic idea of the book to delivery to the reader/customer is your job!  Sure, you can “farm it out” to others, but the result is still your responsibility.  As self-published author must deal with book production, writing, editing, formatting, book cover design, promotion and marketing.  

In addition, you must overcome the natural prejudices many people have.  They may believe that all self-published authors are just rejects from the traditional publishers.  That means you are often seen as a second-rate author who just didn’t measure up to the “real authors.”  You will need to change their minds by providing quality content and merchandising in every dimension.

The first tip is to set expectations that are achievable.  There is a fine line separating wishful thinking and realistic goal-setting. Do not expect to get rich because of your book sales.  That requires doing some great research before you write your first word.  Your book should be written with the future readers in mind.  What are their needs?  What are the things that bring them the greatest pleasure and satisfaction?  What are the greatest obstacles that they face?  Knowing your audience is crucial to choosing your topic, but also for shaping your content most effectively.

Readers lose interest if your book is disorganized and impractical. Organization is the key. That’s why every book should begin with an organization system.  For some authors, that is a mindmap.  For others, it would be a traditional outline.  For many, especially self-help writers, a simple list of chapters may serve you well.  

When writing the chapters, be sureyou give then good titles, titles that will grab the reader’s attention easily and hold it till the end.

To keep your book organized, you can use sub-headings and bulleted points.  If you would like to use pictures or illustrations in your book, make sure that they fit the style and subject of the book. Photographs and illustrations should increase the reader’s understanding and supplement the text, not to distract from it.

Avoid editing while writing.  They are very different skill sets that do not efficiently work well together. This can be called premature editing.  Save editing for the end, and usually for someone else.  Another set of eyes will see your manuscript differently.

Pay attention to the format of your writing.  Make sure your words are not compressed. Do not put too many words on a line. Normally it would contain about 50 to 60 characters, spaces included. About 250 words per page would be more than enough.  The details of this part of the publishing task are too complex for the novice author.

Since the tasks are so varied, it will usually be necessary to outsource some of the work.  Cover design and editing are the two most common tasks that are hired out to others.  Formatting the book is another.  Since these are part of the process, it is important to adequately plan a budget from the very beginning.  We will discuss some of the costs and sources of additional help in future articles.