It’s come to my attention that I can actually offer advice just by talking about my publishing experience. I was like, “me? You want to talk to me about this? Well, okay, it’s your book.” But really, don’t we all have advice to give based off our individual experiences? So here’s my attempt at a beginners guide to publishing. Congratulations! Getting a book written is no small feat and having it published is an even more amazing endeavor. Now that it’s all set up and ready to go, the real work begins. If you’re going the traditional way, then an editor is already included, well, should be at least. If you’re going it on your own, then for the love of all that’s pure and decent hire an editor. Have you read social media posts? I’m hoping that you’ll want to sound more intelligent and make sense to your readers. That’s where the editor comes in, and no I’m not talking about your mom or best friend the business major. Unless your best friend is an A+ English major with a clear understanding of grammar rules, hire a decent editor. The problem here is that editors can be expensive and even then still make mistakes, so do your research and make sure to check their work. While your editor is doing their thing, do a little marketing for your book on all your social media accounts. I said a little. You don’t want to come across like an MLM hunbot.
So, you have a finished, polished book with a great cover. With publication date in hand, let’s market that book. Up the days you market but keep your media interesting. Look for places that offer reviews at a decent price you can afford. You can find one such list here. Write a press release and send it out to your local media friends. See if your local bookstores will be willing to sell it. What’s that? You thought your publisher did that? Guess again. It's just a fact of life. All authors have to market their own books. There are plenty of online resources written by other more experienced authors with better information on that like here and my favorite place here. Find writing opportunities and other helpful resources here.
I’m not saying one way is better than the other, not yet anyway. I believe there are pros and cons to both. The setup for any book can be an expensive endeavor. If you’re publishing on your own, then that price falls on you, but you get a much bigger percentage back in sales than you might if you had a publisher. If you do have a publisher, that cost falls on them and then they make it back by taking a large percentage of your sales. Depends on how much work you want to do on how the book comes out. Your publisher will do some, they don't want you to fail and they know the best places to start you out. If you're on your own, that marketing is 100% on you. Marketing is big part of book sales and either way you go, you're going to be doing a lot of it.
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AuthorYA Fantasy author and amateur photographer living in New Mexico. A reflection of herself, her characters are timid at first but tend to stand up and push through when times get tough. Archives
April 2020
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