People think writing a book is the hard part. Writing takes discipline, time, and of course, a little bit of effort to find a publisher. But once a publisher is found, the hard part for writers is over, right?
Unfortunately, no. There is a lot more to learn as a new writer than just good prose. So rather than learning about the publishing process through trial and error, we’re sharing with you the top 5 book publishing mistakes writers make.
So that you can avoid them all.
1. Have a Plan
When you sat down to write your book, you probably created a plan beforehand. You knew what you wanted to write about in the beginning, middle, and end. Even before you started writing your book.
So why wouldn’t you create an actionable plan for finding the right publisher?
Here are the steps to take:
Marketing
Before you can successfully market your book, you need to know and understand your target audience.
Design
Your book needs to look great inside and out. Consider hiring someone to do cover design and illustration.
Budget
Publishing your book is an investment in both time and money. Contact and spend time with authors who have already become successful and learn the process from them.
2. Common DIY Mistakes
This is your book that you’re hoping to sell. Which means you have to admit you can’t do it all on your own.
Here’s what you shouldn’t do yourself:
Editing
Do NOT allow yourself, your friends or family, or a teacher to edit your book. Spend some money and hire a professional editor.
Reviews
Do NOT ask friends and family to give you reviews. You want real reviews from actual readers. If you do a giveaway, have a link to your Amazon site and ask for a review.
3. Get an ISBN
You want an ISBN because it’s as important to your book as your social security number is to you.
You’re going to probably obtain more than 1 ISBN for the same book because you’ll want one for each version. Such as:
- Soft-cover
- Paper-cover
- Hard-cover
- Audio
- Spin-offs
Having an ISBN number will also help your Google ranking. and you’ll also want to register them.
You’ll also want to register the numbers.
4. It’s Important for Writers to do Online Marketing
Everyone is online now. So should you.
Here’s how to use market your book online:
- Have a website promoting your book(s)
- Write a blog and promote it on social media & on your website
- Have a social media presence on at least Facebook and Twitter
- Promote and sell your book on Amazon
- Use a social media management tool so you don’t spend countless hours on social media
5. Understand Publishing Terms
There is a difference between a royalty (traditional) publisher and self-publishing.
A royalty publisher puts up the money for your book and then pays you royalties based on how many books you’ve sold.
When you self-publish, it means you’re establishing your own publishing company. You hire the printing company and you’re responsible for distribution and shipping.
The systems differ greatly. Each offer a set of pros and cons. A royalty publisher will help get your book to market (extremely valuable indeed) while self-publishing translates to much more work on the writer’s part (but also provides higher percentage of profits).
Lucid Books is a hybrid publisher, which means we handle the production, distribution, shipping, proofreading, layout, cover creation, and much of the publishing process for you, while you still maintain creative direction and high royalties.
Publish with Us
We understand how confusing and difficult it can be to publish a book on your own. That’s why we started this business back in 2006.
We’re here to help guide you and support you every step of the way. Learn more about our process here.
