When people consider self-publishing their novel, one of the first questions they ask is how much is it going to cost? After all, one of the reasons we publish our work is in hopes that we’ll make money off of it, right?
One thing I’ve learned about self-publishing over the years is that to make money off your books, you first have to invest into your books. So with today’s video, I’m talking about what I spent to self-publish my third novel, She’s Not Here.
We are two days until the release of She’s Not Here!
I’ve been dying to share this video with all of you! One of my favorite beghind-the-scenes things is seeing how a book cover was designed step-by-step, so that’s exactly what I’m showing you for my own novel!
It’s always so exciting when you finish writing your book, but the next step after writing the book is deciding how you want to publish it. Should you try tradition publishing, or dive into the world of self-publishing? Both have their pros and cons, and today’s I’m going to be talk specifically what I think are the pros and cons to self-publishing.
Formatting books is always some of the most frustrating parts of the self-publishing process. To help ease the headache, I created this video to walk you through how to easily format your novel for any ebook format. Also in this video, I’m showing you how you can take the formatted MOBI files you’ve created for Kindle and send them to anyone for free. This includes testing the file yourself, sending out advanced reader copies, or sending the book to reviewers.
Joining me for this video is Bethany Atazedah and Evie Driver as we talk about everything you should know about editing your book when you want to self-publish. This was filmed during the Wander Writer’s Retreat, which is why we’re in a hotel room, but we’re ready to deliver as much info to you as possible.
I’ve been putting off making this video for awhile, because, well, I’m not good at talking about legal stuff. I wanted to try my best at walking you through how I went about creating my own publishing house. This means choosing a name, filling paperwork through your secretary of state, getting an EIN, starting your publishing house website and all these other fun legal and business things!
Every book needs a great cover to attract a reader and make a sale. In past videos I’ve talked about how I designed the covers for Essence and I am Mercy. Self-publishing on a budget? In today’s video I want to take you a little more behind-the-scenes to show you how you can create a book cover from concept to, to design in photoshop, to the final PDF that can be uploaded to Createspace. All without hiring a graphic designer! Watch how I created the cover for Essence and I am Mercy.
Today I’m teaming up with Mari Suggs, fellow author and YouTuber, to talk about some things we regret about our debut novels. Mari is the author of two novels and one non-fiction novel, so once you read my blog post or watch my video, be sure to check out her video as well! Our goal today is to be completely raw and open with you to know what we feel we could have done better so you can learn from our mistakes. Debut novels are tough. It’s our first novel! We didn’t know what we were doing! I think it’s safe to say almost all authors see things they could have fixed about their debut novel, so today we’re going to sit down and talk about it.
Regret #1: Writing So Young
This first regret isn’t so much a regret as something I question a lot. For those who didn’t know, my debut novel, Essence, was published when I was seventeen. For a novel I wrote when I was so young, I think it’s really good. Essence is a novel that’s full of a lot of emotion and sometimes that can be something that’s hard to write when you’re young. While I think I did a good job, there are times I question if maybe I should have waited. I question if maybe I had spent another year editing that maybe some things could have been better. But then again, every writer is their own worst critique and it’s hard to say if our novel is good or not.
Regret #2: Publishing So Young
I also question that even was Essence is amazing, if I should have waited to publish until I was better prepared for the publishing process. There were a lot of things I could have done better to publish my book to help boost sales, but I wasn’t in that mindset when I published Essence. I just wanted to publish it. I didn’t have long terms goals in mind. I work in marketing, so looking back on how I published Essence, part of me is really proud of how much I accomplished at such a young age and the other part of me cringes because I know I could have done so much more.
At the same time, while these are things I think about, I still don’t think I would change publishing Essence when I did, because I fear I may have missed some lessons that I needed to learn if I hadn’t published so young.
Regret #3: Not Cutting Some “Stuff”
This last regret is really my biggest regret. While the first two were things that just pop into my mind, this last one really bothers me. It shouldn’t bother me because it’s just something that someone wrote in one of the reviews of Essence, but it stuck with me. There is one scene in my book where I say “this box is labeled” this and “this box is label” that. It’s a stupid scene and it’s a short scene, but it’s a scene that someone pointed out in a review and ever since I’ve read that review it’s a scene that I really wish I didn’t include in the book. So yes, authors do take your criticism when they read reviews.
And those are my three biggest regrets. If you’ve published a novel, let me know in the comments below what your biggest regret is.
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Today I’m super excited because I’m teaming up with fellow author and YouTuber, Natalia Leigh, to talk to you guys about the different things you should plan for when publishing a book. In my video, I’ll be talking about using advanced reader copies, finding readers, finding your author platform, creating a book trailer, launching your book and marketing your book. Be sure to also check out Natalia’s video because she’ll be talking about formatting your novel, cover design, finding an editor and beta readers!
Today I wanted to do something a little different. A few weeks ago a fellow YouTuber/author, Kristen Martin, launched a webinar series called Hustle Smarter, Not Harder. The aim of the webinar is to help you accomplish your goals and learn what steps you need to make your dream into a reality. The webinar is split into three parts that in total add up to about an hour. When you purchase the first webinar, you get the other two for free. You also get a great little workbook!
A Little About Webinars…
Webinars are used a lot in businesses and are usually recorded live so the audience can ask questions along the way. Usually, they’re just a boring slideshow with the presenter talking. Kristen decided to pre-record the webinar, which was a great decision on her part because instead of having to watch a boring slideshow, you get to see her speaking, and sometimes a slide or two. You can watch Kristen’s webinar whenever you want because it is pre-recorded, so there’s no excuse of not being able to fit it into your schedule.
Why Did I Buy?
I love webinars! My job offers them all the time and I try my best to attend/watch as many as I can. I was a little hesitant to buy Kristen’s webinar because 1). I’ve never had to buy a webinar before, my job always paid for them. 2). I’ve done a lot of my own research into life-balancing, career launching, business building, ect. I didn’t think I’d be able to learn anything new from the webinar. In the end, I decided you can never learn enough so I decided to invest in my career and purchase the webinar!
You Will:
The Pros!
The Cons?
Would I recommend?
Yes! My cons are not so much cons, but technical difficulties. If you’re ready to take your dream seriously, let Kristen’s webinar inspire you.
If you’d like to sign up, visit thatsmarthustle.com, but make sure to do it before August 10th when the sale ends.
