Lessons Learned - Part III

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been writing about self-publishing. I’ve emphasized the idea of trying to find a traditional publisher first, and making sure your manuscript is as clean as possible. Yes, we all end up with a few typos, unwanted indents or missing words. It happens. If it’s a great book, most readers are willing to skip over our little mishaps, but still, don’t just assume the reader will do this.

You may have decided you’d prefer to self-publish for any number of reasons. If that’s the case, you have a whole new laundry list of things to learn.

You might choose a self-publisher that you pay and they do all the work. On the other hand, you might like to have control of your career – you might want to be your own boss. You still have to follow the guidelines set up by your self-publisher. 

Last week I suggested you research the various self-publishers. I hope you do that, and do it soon. There are some authors who have created their own publishing house for their books. It certainly looks nice to show a publisher’s name at the beginning of your book. So far, I’ve just used my own name.

Have you started promoting yet? There’s so much involved in gaining name recognition. Start early and keep the momentum going.

In the beginning I used a paid self-publisher who did everything except promotion and marketing. Well, in all fairness, they did some of those things, but the majority of the work was left up to me. I switched to two traditional publishers (one for each series), decided we had different ideas, and moved on to the newer form of self-publishing.

Here’s the thing. You’ve got to have all of your ducks in a row going in. Your book is done? It’s clean and error free? You’ve used the format the self-publisher wants you to use? You’ve created a Title Page, an Acknowledgement Page, a Dedication Page, a copyright page? If you have multiple books, you might want to include an “Also Available…” Page. Think about an “About the Author” page at the end of the book.

Now you’re ready to publish, right?

Not quite so fast. What about the book cover you need for your book? You can pay to have one created, have a relative do it, or you can create your own cover. There are a number of programs you can use. Personally, I use Photoshop, but there are other programs available to you, too. Some are actually free. I welcome commenters to mention programs they’ve had success with and to include links.

 

There are sites you can use for your graphics or you can use photos. If you’re artistic, you might create your cover using your own graphics. Be sure to use a font and color that can be read easily. I once read that when you create a cover you should picture it as a small, thumbnail sized cover. If it’s too busy, the reader perusing sites will often look for something less involved. Obviously, it can’t hurt if your cover has something to do with your story. I wrote about a ghost town (Old Murders Never Die) and I used a ghost town on the cover.

I discovered when using the Kindle ebook program that there is a book cover creator program you can use if necessary. There are several covers you can choose from, and there's one where you can load your own cover.

Let’s say you’ve done all of the things I mentioned above. There are more decisions to make. Do you want an ebook version, a paperback version, and an audiobook version? Start researching to decide what companies will best provide your choices.

With everything ready, it’s time to start the process.

I use Amazon.com as my self-publisher. That’s not a recommendation, although I’m very happy with them, but it’s a statement of fact. I use Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for my ebooks, CreateSpace for my paperbacks, and I tried Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) for an audiobook. Interesting experience. While I have thirteen ebooks and paperbacks, I only have one audiobook. The three companies are related to each other.

Come back next week and I’ll go into more detail and it will be more in depth, because if everything I’ve talked about is done, then it’s time to upload your book and cover. Keep your sigh to yourself when I tell you paperwork and more decisions lie ahead.

Until next week, remember that every step of this process will make you just a bit more of a techie. For me, it’s been fun.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website.

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com