On Writing: How To Self-Publish Your Novel

Whether you self-publish your novel or pursue traditional publishing depends on your goals, circumstances, and preferences. There are advantages and disadvantages to whichever one you choose. 

As a writer, you have probably thought about this problem a lot. Should you stick to the conventional path? Or should you brave it on your own and self-publish your novel? It’s a difficult decision to make, but here’s how to do it if you decide to.

Read: How To Write A Story

Why Should You Do It?

There are many reasons to self-publish your novel. Some people decide to do it because they are tired of trying to get their work published by an established publishing company. Other people simply prefer the freedom that comes with not having to rely on anyone else.

This also means that all the money you make will go straight in your pocket. You won’t have a publishing company taking their cut of the profits like you normally would. These advantages are real, and they shouldn’t be dismissed.

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Decide Whether to do it Online or in Print Too

Most self-publishers tend to operate online these days. With the rise in Kindle sales, there are more opportunities than ever before for self-publishing writers. And the overhead costs are low when you are not actually printing copies of your book.

But the print sector of the book publishing world is still alive and active, so you can make money from printing your books. Options such as offset printing by WEBCOM are good for writers who want to publish in relatively small quantities.

Start Writing

Now that you have your method established, you need to actually start writing. This is obviously the most important part of the process. You can get everything else right, but you won’t get very far if you don’t have a strong piece of writing to put out there.

When the book is finished, and just before you actually release it, you should send it to reviewers and bloggers. This can help to generate some hype around the book before it’s actually available to buy. You need all the help you can get when self-publishing.

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Design the Cover

When you’re self-publishing, you notice how important the cover of your book is. Let’s face it; we all have pretty short attention spans. And when people are skimming books, whether it’s on the Kindle Store or in a bookstore, they judge every book by its cover.

A great cover can help to draw people in and persuade them to turn over and see what the blurb has to say about the book. So, you should take the time to design the cover and make sure it looks as good as it possibly can.

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Hire an Editor

You can’t do all the work by yourself when you’re self-publishing, and it’s important to understand that. You might want to hire someone to take care of the cover art for you. But even if you don’t do that part alone, you will need to hire an editor to work for you.

When you try to edit your own work, you will make mistakes and miss things that need to be corrected. That’s why having an external figure who can proofread your work and spot mistakes is so important. Without that, things could go wrong.

So will you consider self-publishing? And why?