Five Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Self-Published

If you’ve read my post about why I self-published, then you probably know that despite my lack of monumental success, I have no regrets. Having control over my books and not having to depend on the preferences of a literary agent was everything to me.

I follow so many authors who talk about querying for 10 years before getting their first book deal. The idea of waiting that long, having that much disappointment, probably would have just made me throw in the towel. I’m glad I chose to self-publish.

I do, however, wish I’d done a tad bit more research before hand. So, here are five things I wish I’d known before I self-published.

An Professional Editor is Important.

When I published my first book, I decided to let my mom do the editing. My mom has an English degree, and she had always dreamed of being an editor at a major publishing house. I thought I could help us both reach our dreams in one fell swoop.

But, as it turned out, my mom was super busy. And, while she put forth an amazing effort, there were a lot of things she didn’t know about editing books. I love her for trying, but I wish I’d just let her be my number one fan.

You Need High Quality Photos For Your Cover

When it comes to publishing, you should try your best to make everything as professional as possible. Just because your book is self-published doesn’t mean it has to look self-published.

That being said, when I published my book, I used a photo of a friend that I took with a cheap camera in a coffee shop. I didn’t have quality editing software, and I knew basically nothing about editing book covers.

Not even my author photo on the back was professional!

I wish I’d taken the time to get a stock photo. Or asked a friend with a better camera to take the photo for me. In the end, I had to redo the entire cover to match the quality that I wanted for book two.

Formatting Takes Forever

I’m not exaggerating. It took me a solid month when formatting my first novel to get everything just right. And, I’m still pretty sure my eBooks are a little rough.

While hiring someone to format can seem like a big cost, it’s totally worth it if you don’t know what you’re doing. And hiring someone else gives you more time to focus on marketing.

Marketing is Almost More Important Than Editing

Almost.

I totally agree with most authors. You can’t sell a poor product. That just leads to equally poor reviews.

But, you also can’t sell a product that no one knows about. So, market market market.

And then market some more.

Ask for reviews, do a blog tour, promote, ask for editorial reviews, submit to contests if you can afford it. Because, all of those things get your book out there in front of readers.

When I first published, I thought people would just find my book because it was there. And, I truly believe my lack of marketing skills killed the launch.

You Need Reviews

When I first published, I had no idea how much reviews meant. And I didn’t make any effort to get them until long after I’d published. I was young, and while I did a lot of research on self-publishing, I must have skipped the part where people talked about how important reviews are.

It’s not a want or a hope. You need reviews. Good, bad, ugly (hopefully not ugly). Without reviews, your book won’t show up in ranking. You can’t hope to be seen among all the other books with the same title, which happens a lot.

There are plenty of ways to get more reviews. I have a post about it here. Of the books I have published, the books with the most reviews have sold the best.

I wish you happy self-publishing,
xoxo
Ellie,