When I started writing a book two years ago, it had not even occurred to me that I could publish it. Then I discovered the wonderful world of self-published books. I wanted to be one of those authors. My new goal was in place, I was going to write and then publish and become a great author. Well, I published and no one read my book.
I thought something must be wrong with the book. Maybe the story was not good enough. Maybe my writing was dull and lacked vivid descriptions. Or, worst of all, maybe I still had mistakes in my novel! Perish the thought that I could be imperfect!
It was all three and that I was very inexperienced. I was silly and thought that having a blog and putting a book on Amazon was suddenly going to get me readers. Looking back, I realize how absurd my thinking was. As I have been preparing to launch my second book, my thoughts have been directed towards these mistakes. You faithful readers now get to watch as I air my dirty laundry and tell you exactly where I messed up.
Topic One: Thinking I could do everything on my own
As great and cheap as this option is, it is so beyond false. I do not know about anyone else, but for me, I spend at least a year on one book. Seriously, I work on every book I publish for at least a year. I spend all this time on something and I want it to be good and at least somewhat appreciated. However, someone who knows what they are doing really should do a few things for you.
Editing:
Now I do not mean that you cannot possibly edit your book, what I am saying is that someone needs to go over your work. Why don't we all take a trip back to third grade when we started writing paragraphs? Those were seriously scary. Anyway, you finally get your paragraph about your favorite dog finished.
Then the teacher says, "Take out your red pencils."
You spend the next little bit going over your work and fixing then you are done, right? Wrong, your teacher's next instruction is to pass your paper to a friend. Every time, that friend would find something else. Wait, but you went over it; you checked and checked. Why did your friend find something? They saw what you could not.
Now back to the present. We all develop blinders for our mistakes. Yes, there are things you can do to help, but the best is to have someone else go over it. Look, I get it you are a grammar fanatic and so you think you are fine. Guess what, you're not, because no one is perfect. Even if your grammar seems spot on, there are other mistakes that you may need an editor to tell you.
In the next few weeks, a review of a book will be coming up, and it is not a very good review. This particular author has decent grammar, what she was lacking was self-control. The first paragraph is one giant run-on sentence. Moreover, she over-described everything. Her tediously long book could have been so much better if she had cut out all her fillers. Now, I do not know if she hired an editor, but if she did not then she should have. If she did then she needs a new one or to listen to the editors advice.
You do not need to use an expensive one, but you should at least have someone go through it.
Front Cover:
This is so important. Even though we are told not to judge a book by its cover, we all do. Thus far, I have made all my covers, but I do regret Recovering is an Art's cover. I used Creatspace's cover creator and I kid you not in the first week I was able to find six other covers like it. This is not technically a bad thing, so much as an annoying thing. You want your cover to stand out.
There are two other options:
1. Hire someone to make you a cover. Again, this does not need to be someone who charges a ton. Hunt around and do not be afraid to ask for prices and samples of the work they do.
2. Learn how to use Photoshop and create your own. If you read my blog, then you know this is what I did. I know that makes this technically not fit under this category, but I am putting it here anyway.
However, this is not always a cheap option either. You still need to get a Photoshop program. The one I use is Adobe Photoshop CS6. Also, if you are not a photographer then you need to subscribe to a place that has stock photos that can be used for *commercial use. The legit free one I have found with decent photos is Pixabay.
I suggest doing more of your own research in this if you would like to try this option.
I know I am repeating myself, but seriously just get one. There are several who do not cost very much. Click this
link. It will take you to a Goodreads search for proofreaders/editors. Now email everyone you find and ask for a quote. If you are lucky, you will find someone who will do it for free. What will it hurt if someone does it for free? Nothing and no one. In fact, it could only make your writing better. Some of you are thinking, yeah I have heard all of this before and I do a great job at catching my mistakes. Good for you for being positive, but I doubt that you catch everything. Get off your high horse and just do it.
Okay, rant over.
Topic Three: Giveaways do not always get you readers
Now, I am not saying you should never do them, because they can be helpful. What I am saying is that you should not expect to get a hundred or even ten readers just because you did a giveaway. On Goodreads I went from one person having
Recovering is an Art on their ‘to-read’ list to 265 people in the span of a month. This is excellent and I swear I am not trying to be negative. I am just being realistic.
As of right this second, I have four ratings for
Recovering is an Art. One is someone who read my book a long time ago and one is someone who offered to review it (she did not get a free copy, but read it through Kindle Unlimited). I am not sure whom the other ratings are from.
Basically, 265 people added it and three people read it. Giveaways are great at getting your title out there, but not necessarily getting people to read it. Not only that, just because you give someone your book does not mean you get a review. It is possible that the two ratings are from someone who received my book. It may be more likely that they are from someone who used Kindle Unlimited to read it.
So if you do a giveaway (at least in my experience through Goodreads) it is not always likely that you will get readers.
Topic Four: Getting reviews is key
The more reviews you get the more people will see it. Let us say that someone named Jessica read your book and wrote a review. Now if she had twenty of her friends following her, and they see her review for a book they may click on it. Then Jessica’s friend Kelly reads your description and decides to read it. After she writes a review, two of Kelly’s friends see that she and Jessica both read and liked this book. So they decide to read it, and so on and so forth. See how great reviews can be.
Since I have been in my cave lately, I have slacked off in the getting reviews area. Now that I am back it is one of the things I will be working on.
Topic Five: A regular internet presence
This one is a difficult one to accomplish. We all have lives outside of the internet, but if you are not doing your own advertising than who is? As I just stated in the previous topic, because I have had a rough year so far, I have not been on top of my game. The potential reviews I could have gotten if I had been more actively involved online have most likely forgotten about my book now. You need to be consistent in your marketing when you are self-published.
Topic Six: Make Mistakes and Realize it Takes Time
It is good and okay to make mistakes. The key is learning from them. Everything in this blog post are things I learned because I messed up. Just do your best and see where it takes you. Realize that you are not going to be number one right away. It is going to take some time and a ton of effort. You may never get to the number one spot, but keep on fighting, because it is worth it. Writing gives you a voice. It is a way to speak out. So do it.
Topic Seven: Have fun
Equals
Recently I have been in work mode. I hate when my brain does this because it crushes my creativity. This should be something you enjoy doing. Do not let the pressure get to you. Have fun. Love your work. Most of all, Keep Writing.
Rock on, my readers.
Ta, ta.
*I am not a professional in this topic this is just how I have interpreted information I have gathered from the internet.
