There are two main ways to go about publishing a book as a writer. You can hire an agent and go through all the red tape of a publishing house, or you can self-publish. Each has its pros and cons. When you self-publish a book, you don’t get many of the benefits that a publishing house can provide you, such as marketing. However, as a self-published author, you get to keep all the royalties and have more creative control.
But how exactly do you go about self-publishing your own book? Walt Chantry is an avid reader, historian, and published author. Today he shares his 5 tips for self-publishing a book.
- Successfully self-publishing a book starts with good writing. Do some market research about what people in your target audience want to read.
- Edit, edit, edit. When self-publishing, you can’t rely on a publisher to edit your book to perfection. Send copies to friends or people in your target audience to edit your book. Then, you can hire a professional editor to go through it as well.
- If you aren’t the visual-creative type, hire an illustrator to design your cover. Having an attention-grabbing cover goes a long way toward marketing your book.
- Be prepared to spend some money up-front. Traditional publishers cover the up-front costs but take more in royalties. When you self-publish, you will need to spend possibly a couple of thousand dollars on hiring an editor, paying for the cover design, and marketing the book.
- Do some research about where you will be self-publishing. There are tons of options out there, and it has never been easier to self-publish a book online.