Today the tour bus is busy again. First, we’re off to Saph’s Book Blog for a spotlight post and then we’re off to Melinda Brasher’s blog for a guest post.
Originally published on Melinda Brasher’s Blog
Self-publishing can be a daunting task for any author, but even more so when you are first starting out. There is a lot of advice out there on what you should and shouldn’t do which can make even more confusing.
Here are my top 5 tips for first-time authors.
- Write a great book. Make sure your book is as good as it can be. Have it critiqued and get feedback on it. Have it professionally edited and proofread.
- Decide on your personal goals. Do you want to sell thousands of books or just a few that you hand out friends and family? For that, you need to have a good plan in place about how you will promote and distribute that book.
- Have a professional cover design. They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but believe me everyone does. It’s important to have professional cover design. Having a horrible cover will put your readers off and affect your sales. But there are plenty of affordable cover designers out there without having to break the bank.
- Have a budget and stick to it. When you’re first starting out it’s easy to spend too much money on editing, cover design and things you don’t need like lots of swag items. Have a budget to cover the cost of cover design, editing and marketing and stick to it. Don’t spend money on things you don’t need.
- Have a plan in place before you publish. Have a marketing plan set up before you publish and start getting to know your audience and building your author platform before you even think of publishing your book.
Thank’s to Amber and Melinda for hosting me!