3 Self-Publishing Mistakes to Avoid
Self-publishing is a fast-growing part of the publishing world. It no longer carries the same stigma it once held. Many authors choose self-publishing for control that’s missing in the traditional publishing process. I’ve even heard of authors switching from traditional publishers to self-publishing. The reason: to gain control over their product.
While I’m not a self-published author, I’m involved in my local and state writing community. Several of the authors are self-published. I’ve read many of the books published by local and regional authors. I’ve picked up on three of the most common mistakes made by authors who self-publish. And I’m sharing these mistakes here so you can avoid them.
1. Cover/Title
A book’s cover is the reader’s first introduction to the author and their work. Self-publishing allows creative control over things like the cover art. Yet, for many new authors, this is the part that fails them.
Cover art relays a lot of information to the reader. It tells the reader the genre and a little about what the reader can expect from the book. The cover in combination with the title is the first hook you have for your novel. Don’t underestimate the value of a good title. Run a Google search to see if there are any other books with the same title. You don’t want your book to get buried in search results because there are other books with the same title. Also, search top-selling books in your genre to help focus your cover design. Readers have a certain expectation of what a book cover should look like. You want to meet those expectations. Making your cover both interesting and in line with your genre is key.
2. Editing
Traditional publishing involves a team of professionals who make decisions about every part of a book. As a self-published author, you’re your team. But this also gives you the freedom to hire someone of your choosing to take on parts of the book, such as editing. Grammar, punctuation, and formatting errors will pull a reader out of your story. Traditionally published books with good editors contain a mere handful of errors. By comparison, I’ve read self-published books where I’ve encounter three errors per page. The stories are great, but the errors are distracting. You don’t want to give a reader any reason to put your book down. Every time they’re pulled out of the story, it’s an opportunity for them to set it down and they may not pick it back up.
I get excited when I read a self-published book with hardly any errors. It’s clear the author took the time and invested the money in getting their work edited. This step leads to higher reviews and more referrals to new readers.
3. Pricing
It’s tricky to gauge where to set the price of your book. Here are some things to keep in mind as a new author. You’re an unknown voice entering the market. Don’t price your books at the rate of best-selling authors. Give people a reason to take a chance on your novel. I know a local author who priced their first book at over $50. I think there were extenuating circumstances with colored photos in the book, but $50 is a lot even for a well-known author. Recently, I encountered a poet’s collection that is half the length of a normal collection. Yet, they priced it at twice the price.
People are not inclined to pay extra for an unknown author.
Self-published authors front the costs of publishing, including cover art, ISBN, editing, etc. I can understand they want to recoup the money they’ve invested.
Let me give you a reason to keep the price on your first couple of self-published books low. I read a while ago that first-time authors only sell 25-30 copies of their first book. This number was shocking to me. But, if you think about it, 25-30 covers the number of friends and family who will buy your book. Even if you have supportive friends and family, they may not be readers or they may not read the genre you write. This leaves marketing to boost sales. Having the ability to run promotions and giving your e-book to readers for free is a great incentive for readers to try your book. This is an advantage that traditionally published authors don’t have since their publisher sets the price. Some of those who pick up your book may even leave you reviews. More reviews lead to more readers.
