You’ve written a book. (It’s amazing, we just know it.) So what next?
Assuming you want to get your book out there, you have two main options: traditional or self publishing.
We’ll talk about the process of traditional publication in another post, but today let’s focus on self-pub. Where do you start? How do you learn more? And crucially, how do you make money with it?
Salt & Sage Books certainly has self-publishing aids you can purchase, but let’s give you some free resources, too…
- Join the Facebook group 20Booksto50k and read their all-star docs. It’s a lot of information, and can be a bit overwhelming, but it is SO solid.
- Next join the Facebook group The Writing Gals. They also have a Youtube-based podcast that is chock full of great information about self publishing. They are super involved in their Facebook group and extremely willing to help newbies.
- Start hunting for cover designers right away. You want to find someone who really knows their stuff, since covers are critical to the success of self-published books. You can find several suggestions for cover designers in any self-pub Facebook group.
- Cover artists frequently have their own Facebook groups where they list their premade covers for sale first, and you can sometimes get discounts for being in those groups. If you feel at a complete loss, start with this Facebook group and follow artists you love!
If I could give you only two tips about self-publishing, they would be DO NOT SKIMP ON YOUR COVER and NOW WRITE THE NEXT BOOK.
Once you get to the point that you’re feeling comfortable with self publishing and everything that it entails, that’s where we offer more paid services. Here are two of them that you might find helpful right off the bat…
- Category analysis–$40–You give me a description of your book (a synopsis or blurb will work) and I dig through Amazon, seeing where the best categories would be for you to put your book. That analysis will also give you a good idea whether or not that particular genre is lucrative. (I would suggest nosing around Amazon yourself to get familiar with the categories! It can actually be a lot of fun!)
- Phone calls where we walk through all of the how-to–$50/hour where I can help you with any questions you have, from formatting to uploading to ads to strategies to writing to market.
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