With much of the world heeding the call for working from home and remaining physically distant, I am encouraging clients to use this space for GROWING through these challenging times. Since resiliency is about energy management, what are some creative outlets that light a spark and become sources of learning as well as joy? The answer for many: writing! In fact, it’s not just journal writing but writing to also publish!
I asked my wonderful assistant to put together some things to consider if writing and publishing are on your stay-at-home list:
Top Five Things You Need To Know About Self-Publishing
Authors often cringe when I ask them if they want to self-publish. Many still think this type of publishing is for vanity projects and they worry that self-publishing will make them look unprofessional. Not to worry, the self-publishing world has changed for the better thanks to Amazon.com.
Self-published books can become best sellers but it takes the right combination of hard work and luck.
Let’s get to the top five things you need to know about self-publishing:
Self-publishing is not for the feint of heart. You need to be organized, decisive and open to constructive criticism. If you lack any of these qualities you can hire someone to manage the project for you but you need to listen to them.
You have more control. Working with a traditional publisher means a loss of control. You will have rigid deadlines, little input into layout or cover art and you most certainly will still have to handle the marketing yourself.
You must have the time and the energy to work on your book project even if you hire someone to help. The final decisions will always come down to you so you need the time to research, reflect and make the final choices.
Self-publishing is not cheap. If you want your book to sell you need to invest in it. It’s really easy to go with the less expensive options but you must have an excellent editor, a talented layout artist and a real, experienced book cover designer. If you don’t have the cash don’t self-publish.
Start your project early. Don’t wait until the last minute to publish a book with a deadline you can’t possibly meet. You need to build your author platform on social media and grow your e-mail list. All of this should be done at least six months in advance.
Some of the ingredients in successful self-publishing is knowing your audience, writing a book they want to buy, having a suitable budget, assembling the right team and enough time to start marketing the book before you have finished writing it!
About the author:
Bonnie Jo Davis is a Virtual Assistant who loves to work with authors. She has worked with authors, speakers, book agents and publishers in the past twenty-five years. She offers everything from proofreading manuscripts to creating e-books to content management and marketing and public relations. You can find her at bonnie@davisvirtualassistance.com or http://www.DavisVirtualAssistance.com.
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