At this point in the writing/publishing game, I am not new. I released three books last year and (if all goes well), I’m planning to release another one this year. I’ve learned quite a lot since I decided to dive into the self-pub world, and I thought I’d share some of what I learned today.
Research, Research, Research
I’ll start with the most obvious tip first: research self-publishing! There are so many different websites out there that can and want to help anyone and everyone get their work out into the world. Some of them are good, some of them are meh, and some are just plain bad. The only way to figure out which is which is by doing research. I knew very little about self-publishing before I decided to give up on traditional publishing, and I learned a lot from videos and blogs. There’s not one correct way to launch your book and by reading about how other people do it, you’ll be able to figure out what will work best for you.
Have a Great Author Website
This is a really important one for an indie author. You need to have a great author website because a lot of people will be visiting it, if not when you first self-publish, then definitely as you release more books and more and more readers discover you. I know a teeny tiny bit about building a website, so years ago I bought this domain and built one myself. But it wasn’t very impressive, so I took the plunge and hired a web designer last year to give my site an overhaul. I LOVE what she did and I could never have done it in a million years. If you have a talent in web design and can make your own website look amazing, I envy you. But if you don’t have much expertise in that area, please hire a professional.
Make Author Friends
Making friends in the industry is so important. It’s even better if you can make friends who are starting out and veterans, so you have a good mixture of people to go to when you need advice and encouragement. I’ll be honest, it’s not easy finding other writer people. Join online communities and try to find some local writing groups if you can.
Get on Social Media
As someone who’s not a huge fan of social media, I sympathize with anyone who eschews it. Yes, it can be a pain and tedious and annoying to deal with. But it can be a game-changer in this day and age. So many readers are on social media and it’s an easy way for new readers to find your books.
Keep Writing
Here’s one that’s obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: don’t stop writing! It’s easy to get caught up in the self-promotion whirlwind of being an indie author, but the last thing you want to do is put a pause on your writing. Yes, marketing can be time-consuming, but you can’t let your productivity slide. The more books you put out in the world, the more your odds increase of finding new readers.