Fiction writers - Are you ready to self-publish?
Self-publishing can be a success for anyone, but before you start there are some points you should consider.
1. Define your view of success.
If success means making a lot of money from self-publishing your novel, than self-publishing is not for you. You will not make a great deal of money without putting in a great deal of money for promotion. Unless you can interest a distributor to stock your book, you will not have access to libraries. Your book will not be reviewed in well-known reputable magazines or newspapers. Booklist, The Library Journal and Publishers Weekly will not review your novel or include the title in their publications. But if success means getting your name out there and building a loyal following, than you’re on the right track with self-publishing. So what can you do to promote your novel?
2. Use social media to promote your work.
Goodreads, Librarything, Youtube, Gather, Myspace and Facebook are social media networks you can use to attract readers. How do you do that?
3. Give your books away.
Goodreads and Librarything will allow you to participate in giveaway contests. You can also run a contest on your website or on social media networks. Do it often to build awareness. This works but it can get costly because you’d be responsible for the cost of sending your paperbacks out all over the world. So how can you offset the expense?
4. Convert your books into ebooks.
It’s easy to do and there are many excellent sites such as Smashwords or Feedbooks that will guide you through the process. The best thing is - it’s free! Once you have your ebooks, you can send them to people for free using the coupon system. Feedbooks automatically allow their visitors to download your books for free; Smashwords have a coupon system in place allowing you to set the price or to give the ebook away. They also have an affiliate program with many other online retailers such as Barnes and Noble and Diesel Books; this means your ebook will be automatically uploaded to those sites.
5. Sell your ebooks on Amazon.
Get yourself an account on Amazon to upload your ebooks into their catalogue. Someone will eventually buy it. Don’t hold your breath - unless you have a controversial topic/title, you will not get a lot of traffic to your pages but that’s where your social media networks come in. The good thing about Amazon (and Barnes and Noble) is that anyone who has ever bought any product from them can leave a review on any other product’s page. How do you get a review for your book? You have two ways of tackling this issue.
6. a) Seek reviews from your friends.
The general public needs a lot of convincing to buy a novel from an unknown author. Reader reviews are the best and most honest form of advertising. To start the ball rolling, you ask your friends and family to enter a review on the sites selling your book, as well as in their social media pages such as Facebook. It will make you feel good but the likely practical outcome with regards to your sales is that the independent reader who has somehow landed on your book’s page will grasp from the overenthusiastic reviews that these are not genuine reviews and quickly navigate away from your product. So what do you do to attract genuine reader reviews?
6. b) You acquire some degree of patience and let the thing take its course.
Remember, this is not about money for you, the self-published author of fiction; therefore, you have nothing to lose. If you really want to know how your work is perceived, do not ask friends to provide you with a review; they will not tell you the truth. Put up your book (or parts of it) for free and over time you will get a gauge from people’s rating and reviewing your work. It will happen, but it will take time.
And now comes the million dollar question - Are you ready to self-publish?
If you’ve read this far, you probably are. Good luck and let me know how it pans out.
