Why Authors Should Reevaluate the Tools They Use
Unfortunately, authors often use the wrong tools, lengthening their process and making it less efficient
At the beginning of my writing career, I knew next to nothing about publishing a book.
I began by hiring services to do the work for me.
Before Amazon acquired them, CreateSpace was a service that helped you have your work professionally edited, a cover created, and the book placed on Amazon's platform. But as wonderful as this all was, it all came at a cost. $3,000 to be exact.
Looking at this price tag put the future of my career into clear focus — either learn how to do the process on your own or continue paying thousands it would take me a lifetime to recoup.
What I hadn’t realized yet, is that there were authors out there figuring out the publishing process on their own and succeeding.
When I was jumping into the self-publishing realm, it was still in the early stages.
Many readers still weren’t all that sure of Indie Authors because the traditional publishing industry was the trusted partner of many readers for so long. So when Indie Authors were skipping what people considered ‘standard tests’ to reach publication, it was scaring readers away from their work.
What was worse was when some Indie Authors were doing the whole process themselves, they were skipping one of the main elements you should pay money for — editing.
Learning this about the self-publishing world, I was dedicated to ensuring that I was not going to add to the stigma.
With all of this in mind, I consulted with seasoned authors and learned a bunch.
You can create your own covers with Canva.com but be sure to get feedback to make it the best it can be
Using Alpha and Beta readers for developmental feedback will save you money in editing services
Paying for grammar editing and advertisements should be your only expenses
Creating a strong platform (website and social media) was going to help me sell books
I learned so much from other writers and now have applied that to my own process.
How did all of this further my career?
Since my first book was released in 2014, I have managed to learn how to format, market, and publish almost 9 other books.
In addition to this, I have used my experience and knowledge to help other people going on this same journey by:
Writing informational pieces on social media blogging sites
Writing informational tweet threads on Twitter
Teaching courses on outlining books and getting your book ready for self-publishing or traditional publishing
Creating a guide for publishing in the form of a book: Starting Your Publishing Journey: A Beginners Guide
Helping other authors who ask me for help with beta reading, creating covers, editing, or publishing
As much as my career and I have grown over these years, I know that I can try to form a change in the self-publishing industry and help others as well.
For tips: https://ko-fi.com/kaylahicks