Many of us at Hera Hub are businesswomen as well as writers. Some of us write every day as part of our jobs, while others blog, or perhaps dabble in projects like novels, memoirs, or business books. I’ve been to enough Writers’ Lounges to realize that many of our multi-talented members are either in the process of writing books or are contemplating doing so. If you’ve written a book and are thinking of self-publishing it, this post is for you!
Self-publishing has many advantages: creative control, flexibility, and, in most cases, higher royalties than you’d see with traditional publishing. With that said, indie authors must be very self-motivated, and they must also be well versed in social media so they can create robust author platforms to promote their books and ultimately make profits.
Here are 5 tried-and-true tips for success in indie publishing. I hope they help you, and perhaps inspire you to self-publish your own book!
- Polish Your Masterpiece – Your book is a one-of-a-kind work of art, and you owe it to yourself to make sure that you’re putting the best possible product out there. During the writing process, hone your craft by investing in workshops and conferences, or reading industry publications like Writer’s Digest. Once you’ve completed your manuscript, invest in a good editor to give you truthful feedback and ensure that your masterpiece will shine brightly come publication time.
- Get a High-Quality Cover – People really do judge a book by its cover, and an amateurish book cover can sabotage your success. If you have a graphic design background or know someone who does, awesome! For the rest of us, check out these websites for reasonably priced and professional-looking covers: Fiverr – Basic eBook cover design for $5, Premade Covers 4 U – Quality premade cover designs for around $35, Tugboat Designs – Affordable premade and custom-designed covers.
- Learn Formatting – Crazy margins, weird indents, wacko tables of contents… These are just a few of the joys of poorly-formatted eBooks. Don’t let your baby fall into this category. Before you publish, you must format your book correctly, and guidelines are different based on the platform you’re using (i.e. Kindle, Kobo, Barnes and Noble). I publish my books on Kindle, and formatting in Microsoft Word is super easy. Here’s an article that goes over exactly how to format your Kindle eBook. Follow it and your readers’ eyes will thank you.
- Use KDP Select Free Days – Authors who publish exclusively to Amazon Kindle receive 5 days in which they can offer their books for free per rolling 90-day period. These free days are a gold mine for new authors looking to get their books into readers’ hands. Check out this blog post about how I received 4800 downloads in 48 hours on KDP Select Free Days. If you self-publish, I highly recommend enrolling your book in KDP Select for at least 90 days.
- Recruit Book Reviewers – Book reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are crucial to expand your readership and increase sales. Did you know that Amazon’s algorithm actually favors books that have 12 or more reviews, and recommends them to more potential readers? Check out this blog post about how to get more reviews.
There you have it! Hubettes, if you’re interested in learning more about self-publishing, feel free to contact me at kristinaludwig07@gmail.com. I will be happy to set up a free 30-minute consultation appointment with you and teach you more about this exciting field. For now, happy writing!
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Kristina Ludwig earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and practiced pharmacy for six years before retiring to become a full-time YA fiction author, blogger, and writing coach. She has published 12 eBooks on Amazon, including the best selling Amish Hearts and Amish in College Series. She is an avid reader of YA fiction, but will read basically anything in sight!
Kristina lives in California with her husband Antonio, with whom she’s just launched a new YouTube show, “Business, Publishing, and Life.” When she’s not dreaming up new stories, you can find Kristina hanging out at the beach, cooking exotic recipes, playing classical piano, journaling, swimming, doing yoga, drawing, shopping, and traveling.
