#literarytips

Do you want to become a published author? Do you have a manuscript on your desk just begging to be sent in to a publishing house? In this post—part one of a three part series describing the different routes to publishing, we are going to talk about Self-Publishing. What it is—what it’s NOT—and what it costs.

First off, let’s start with what self-publishing is not. Self-publishing is not something you do when you can’t find anyone to traditionally publish your story. If you are having problems finding someone to publish your story, first consider why this is? Is you story ready to be published? Does it need further editing? Input from other authors? Because the self-publishing market it tough—perhaps even tougher than the traditional publishing route. Every falls on the self-publishing author and their often small pockets. Marketing, cover design, copy edits—so if your product is not ready to be published or could see some more revisions, don’t try to rush the process. Take the time to really sit and look at your Manuscript to make sure it is all that it could be.

So if self-publishing is not really a second alternative to traditional publishing, then why do people do it? Easy answer: Money. With traditional publishing, an author will see most of the revenue of their sales going to other places. Often traditional publishers will not even look at a manuscript unless it is submitted by a literary agent. A literary agent works on commission—usually around 15% of the author’s product goes to them. Then there is the publishing house’s cut. Since the publisher is paying the overhead fee of actually publishing the book, the bigger houses often take upwards of 90% of the total book sales. Now this might not be true for all publishing houses—some indie publishing houses have higher percentages going to the author, but often the do not have advances paid to the author upon signing—so basically no money upfront but the potential for money later. I’ll talk more about traditional publisher in a later post, so if you like this blog, be sure to follow me. Also be sure to like and comment about more content you’d like to see.  

So if a self-publishing author is able to take home almost 100% of their sales after publication, why doesn’t everyone go this route? Once again, the answer is money. All of those costs mentioned before that the traditional publishing house was paying for—well that now falls onto the author. So that’s things like cover design, editing, formatting, distribution, marketing—all of those things cost money and now it’s the author footing the entire bill.

So how much does it actually cost to self-publish a book? Unfortunately like most things in life, that depends. Does the author hire a publicity company to promote the book? Do they hire the best illustrator in the business to create the cover for their novel? How long is this stinking book? The more pages, the more it’s going to cost to print the book. Really, a person could pay as little or as much as they wanted on self-publishing a novel. In the end, however, the book may or may not sell.

There are so many options to go with in self-publishing—so many things to spend that hard earned cash on, but what are the most important things to actually fork over the cash on?

First off: Cover. Every heard the phrase: Never judge a book by it’s cover? Well, in the real world, that is the FIRST thing every reader does. If you can’t get your reader to pick up that first copy, then it doesn’t matter how fantastic the inside is. So don’t skimp on that cover. That being said—don’t always go for the most expensive either. Even if you get a world-renowned cover artist, that generally won’t matter to your readers unless they’re looking at the acknowledgement pages of all their favorite books. Instead, go for good quality rather than high price tags.

Another thing you don’t need to skimp on is the editing fees. The last thing you want your readers to find is a typo on the first page! Some reader will literally chuck the book across the room. There is nothing more unprofessional than this. And don’t think this is something you can do yourself. There would be nothing worse than to spend hours formatting your book so the pages line up perfectly on Microsoft Word to then find them helter-skelter in the margins of your book. You’re an author—a creator of worlds and lives. Let someone who’s a professional in margins handle the other part.

So those are the two major things to spend your money on when self-publishing. I hope this has helped—wait, what? What about advertising you say?

While it is true you can spend money on advertisements, I would not recommend putting all of your money in this. Think about how you view ads. Do you scroll past them or hit skip? If you have that intriguing copy, that’s great, but most of the best marketing tactics can be completed for free. And that’s through social media. Having a pinterest, a Twitter, a blog, these are things you can do for free. Now one marketing thing you can do—and I hope that you will do this—is get an actual website and a newsletter up. Keep in mind that any website or blog on another site like Tumblr or Reddit is not yours. It is owned by another company and you can be dumped at any time. So it’s important to have your own website and newsletter to keep in touch with your fans.

1. Using All Caps This is considered shouting at your reader and is frowned upon by agents. Use stronger verbs to show urgency in your writing rather than this. Once someone points out how annoying all caps is, it will bug you too. 

2. Using Multiple Punctuation For example, don’t use ?!?!!?!?!?!?! Save it for texting. 

3. Overusing Exclamation Points Unless a character is actually shouting, don’t use these. No matter how dramatic it is. Use strong verbs or body language descriptors. It’s annoying! See! How obnoxious is this?!?!

4. Using bizarre fonts, formats, or text sizes Stick to a standard font such as Ariel or Times New Roman, 12pt, and double spaced. Even if you hate it. It’s much easier to read. 

5. Using Filler Words (too much) Words such as just, that, only, really, seemed, almost, slightly, are examples of words that might be removed from your MS. Do not go to the extreme of this and remove every that in your MS, because that has multiple uses. If you can read your sentence without it, and it still makes sense, cut it. Example: Katie said that Jared was mad. Remove that: Katie said Jared was mad. Makes sense still.  When not to use this rule: When the sentence feel like it has a better flow with that that in place.  If that post about that that word wasn’t that confusing, you are on your way to become a good writer! 

6. Using too many adverbs Truly, eloquently using illustriously contrived adverbs is overrated. Which is more impactful? “Look out!” Katie said loudly. or “Look out!” Katie shouted. This is an easy example, but you get the point. Strong verbs for another win

Those of you who have been following me for a while know I took a break for some mental health reasons. I’m back. Still not entirely whole, but here. 

During my absence, I spent quite a bit of time focusing on my writing and working to make it all that it could be. One issue I was having with querying my MS, I believe, was that it was not where it could be. I thought it was perfect, but several beta readers and critique partners showed me what could be improved on. 

Early winter, I participated in a Pitch War on Twitter and received a request from a small publication for my materials. To my delight (and utter shock if we’re being honest), they have requested permission to publish my works. 

So, after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I did what any should upon receiving such an honor. I said thank you. And I need to think about it. 

What????? Why would I dare say that?  Shouldn’t I have leapt at the opportunity? Don’t get me wrong. I am excited, but it’s not my first offer of publication. 

My first offer of publication came five years ago by a vanity press--at the time I didn’t even know the difference between vanity presses and traditional publishing. Basically, a vanity press will publishing almost anything--if the author is willing to pay. They promise to help market, which in this case meant they would set up a social media account on my behalf and have me do one interview without input or advice on how to best sell my novel. Needless to say, it made a lasting impression. 

Do I think this publisher is the same as the last one? Absolutely not. I have done my research this time, and this publisher is offering real money with real royalties. But it’s never good to let one’s guard down entirely. More than anything, the previous experience taught me that it’s the stuff you don’t know you don’t know that will get you. 

So what’s my next step? I already had outstanding queries with multiple agents, so I sent out messages saying ‘if you’re interested, you’ve got a month to kick it into gear and let me know.’ I know what you’re thinking--you already have a publisher, why do you need an agent? Frankly, because I still don’t know what the hell I’m doing. You hire a realtor to help sell your house, you hire a lawyer to sue your boss, you hire a literary agent to help negotiate your publishing contracts. The publisher is looking out for numero uno, and you should too.