Navigating the Self-Publishing Landscape
Learn how to build momentum, find your audience, create a cover, and choose a publishing platform
Reaching the point of exploring publication for your book is a huge milestone.
Mainly because it shows you are confident enough in your writing, your story, and your characters to share them with the world.
However, when it comes to the process of publication, it can feel overwhelming because there are so many pieces of the process and options to consider.
So, here is a comprehensive guide to the self-publishing landscape to help you dip your toes in the water.
Build up and momentum
Primarily, before embarking on the journey of publishing your book, it’s essential to cultivate anticipation and interest among potential readers.
This step is crucial because, without awareness of your book’s existence, it becomes challenging for your target audience to discover and engage with it.
So, you may be asking, how do I bring them to my work before it’s published?
Post on social media details about your book, such as the book description, characters, locations, and cover
Share comparable books to yours
Share what your early readers have said about the book
Talk about your writing process, what you love about your book, and what was hard to write in your book
Talk about gearing up to publish
When you implement all of these into the content you post on social media, you begin to draw your target audience’s attention.
And this helps you figure out who your target audience is.
What do we consider when looking for our target audience?
How old are they?
What social media platforms do they use and what times are they active to see your posts?
How often do they read?
What format do they read? (eBook, paperback, audiobook?)
What types of details about your book will perk their interest?
Investing time in thorough research of your target audience enhances the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, ultimately elevating the likelihood of converting leads into sales.
How do we conduct this research?
A simple search of the profiles of people who respond to your posts about your book or people who leave reviews on books similar to yours are great places to start.
Interests: What are they showing interest in and sharing on their social media? If they share other authors’ posts, this can show you what catches their eye. Knowing what interests your audience can help you create more targeted marketing for them.
Intent to Purchase: Is your audience looking for books on a certain price scale? Are they looking to consume their books in a particular way? Knowing how and what they want to spend their money on is key.
Subculture: The readers in your target audience will share something that draws their attention to your particular topic and genre. For example, if your book is about people who deal with drama in a small town, your searching may bring you to people who live in areas like this or are interested in areas like this.
Build a model for your target audience: Once all of this research is conducted, you can build a model for what the ideal target audience will be looking for. This model will give you an age range, an interest category, social media platforms to use, and ways they consume their books.
For more, see Finding Your Target Audience
Create a Cover
The cover of a book is the key to catching a reader’s interest. The key selling point if you will.
Parts of a cover
There are four parts for a hardcover, three parts for a paperback, and just one for an eBook format.
Why am I bringing this up?
Because you need to consider what is going to be placed on each part.
For hardbacks, you design the front and back cover, the spine, and the inside flaps of the jacket. For the paperback, you design the front and back cover as well as the spine. For the eBook, you simply need to focus on the cover.
Market Research
It’s crucial that you take a look at the market your genre is in.
This means looking at other book covers in your genre. Taking in the themes, color schemes, fonts, and more. Doing this is what is going to tell you what is working in the genre and what isn’t.
A book that has 300 reviews compared to a book that has 20 reviews, and has been out for the same amount of time has to have some difference in appearance. Between these two books, what grabs you more between the covers, and what don’t you like about them?
Decisions
Now we need to focus on the order in which the reader’s eyes will follow.
What should be the focus of your cover? Is it a visual clue for the reader (meaning, the largest picture or artwork on the cover)? Or is it the title? Does it weave through the cover? Does it combine itself with the images, for example, on someone’s shirt or a sign?
During your market research, look at each cover and determine what draws your eye first to the cover. Testing out numerous text fonts and narrowing them down is going to make a difference.
Bringing it all together
Not only should you be thinking about everything previously mentioned but stepping back and assessing what you have completed as a whole is important.
Is the cover too busy? Is it too plain?
If these are questions that you find difficult to answer, consider sharing them with people who read in your genre and ask for their feedback. Oftentimes another impartial person can afford new ideas and help you with something you couldn’t see yourself.
Once you have decided on what you envision for your book, it’s time to decide whether you hire someone to make it or if you make the cover.
Hiring
When considering outsourcing the creation of your book cover, conducting comprehensive research and exploring various options is paramount. This includes determining your budget allocation for cover design.
You can find some cover creators on:
Fiverr.com
Upwork.com
Reedsy.com
And online companies that focus on cover designs (may cost more)
As you look at the options for cover designers, keep in mind:
Their prices
Their timeline for completion
The number of edits they provide to the completed piece
Look over the other sample covers they display on their profile
The color scheme and style you are looking for
Have some comparison covers ready to show them your ideas
Having all of this ready will only help you get the cover you want.
Designing it yourself
Believe it or not, cover design doesn’t have to be as hard as we think it is.
When you design a cover, why not try with the eBook cover first? This allows you to see what readers will see on platforms such as Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play Books, Barnes and Noble, and so much more.
Be sure to consider:
Text and font
Image placement on the cover
Color scheme
What draws the eye
Canva.com- This is my typical choice for cover design and marketing/ promotional items. You can create a ton of stuff with the free option as they have a huge selection for free. You can also step up your game and expand your options by paying for Canva Pro for just 9.99 a month.
Adobe Spark- This is a tool designed for people with a design background, someone willing to work from the ground up. With the same price of 9.99 per month, you will have access to stock items that will help you to make videos and promotional things, including covers.
Design bold- If you have used Canva before, this is almost exactly the same except with more stock photos and templates. Everything is labeled and easy to navigate and the pro subscription price is just 7.99 per month.
When you move to the full book cover of a paperback book, your cover may slightly change but will still look the same as the eBook, with just a larger canvas.
Why?
Because you will be adding a title on the spine, a book description on the back, and a barcode box.
If you want more information on design and placement, a great resource is the concept of Rule of Thirds.
What do we put in that book description to help us make it enticing?
How do we condense a 60k plot book into a measly 100–200 word description?
Try a Quote: This is a technique that I have only started using myself. I’ve seen this used by other authors and can be a powerful way to instill trust from another reader right off the bat.
Review Quote: Placing a few grabbing lines of a good review for your book in bold at the top of your description can help assure readers they are in for a good buy. You want to avoid overloading the potential reader with too long of a quote or the poor person may never find out what the book is actually about.
Book Quote: Don’t have any reviews yet? Why not choose a good quote from your book and let your work speak for itself? Who knows, this could be the hook a reader needs to make them click the buy now button.
Keywords: If you take anything away from this post, I hope that it is the emphasis on keywords. Most people nowadays use social media, like Twitter(X). Let’s use X as an example of this. To find something you are interested in on X, you would search in tags (hashtags) in the search bar and it connects you with things related to your search. (Typically things on-trend come to the forefront.) This is exactly how keywords work.
I want you to remember these three things about Keywords.
Research: Before you start the description blurb for your book, I want to you research at least forty other books in your genre and similar categories. As you do this, I want you to pay attention to all of the keywords you come across. For Romance books, you may find the keywords Love, betrayal, relationships, marriage…you get the point. Create a list with at least 100 keywords so you have some variety. (Not only will this research help your description but it will come in handy later with advertisements!)
Put Together the Puzzle: Now that you have your handy list of Keywords, see how you can fit them into your description. This can sometimes be difficult, but it’s workable. And, if done right, someone searches for those keywords and uppops your book!
Ask a Buddy: Ask someone who reads in the genre of your book to read your description and ask for their feedback. This person is going to be able to tell you if it grabs them or if it needs some tweaks.
Compare: Last but not least, compare your description to others in your genre. This may seem repetitive as you have already researched so many keywords from these same books, however, now it is time to test what you have completed. Do you see someone from another author’s reader base ready to jump into one of your books with the description you created?
Choosing a Publishing Platform
There are so many great publishing platforms out there to choose from.
Amazon paved the way for self-publishing back in 2007 and since has been the top choice for many self-publishing authors. It is easy to see the advantages as an author of the additional options such as Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Vella.
Perks:
Royalty rates range from 70% on eBooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99 OR 35% if priced below $2.99
Use of Kindle Unlimited which offers free deals and countdown sales plus the potential for new readers to find you
Huge visibility to readers if your marketing is done right
Allows you to create an author central page that lists all your books, website, profile, and blog link
Free to upload
Can provide audiobooks, eBooks, paperbacks, and now hardcovers
Cons:
Enrolling in Kindle Unlimited allows your book to Amazon exclusively
Despite huge visibility to readers on the platform, the rank of your book can quickly drop due to the volume of books published per day or deals happening
Having formed in 2010, and showing a library of 400 million books uploaded, Apple Books is a huge contender. Having your book uploaded to Apple Books allows you to access tons of readers who tend to stay loyal to the Apple brand.
Perks:
Royalty rates range from 70% on most books
Gain access to loyal Apple brand users
No exclusive distribution contract for the platform and you can schedule deals at anytime
Cons:
Monetizing books can be a challenge
Amazon has a larger audience
Formerly known as NOOK Press, the big box store created the platform to change with the tides of the evolving publishing industry. They also worked to create a portal in 2021 to allow self-published authors to use marketing tools and deals for the platform.
Perks:
Royalty rates range from 70% on all books above $0.99
Easy to use
Comes from a big box bookstore which allows some of their stores to carry indie authors in the local author section
Free to upload
Cons:
Based on an existing business that was fading because of Amazon and Apple Books
4. Rakuten Kobo
A Canadian company, it is based on a successful Japanese company which therefore allows them great reach over international sales. Their self-publishing platform is called Kobo Writing Life.
Perks:
Royalty rates range from 70% on eBooks priced more than $2.99 in the U.S. OR 45% for books priced below $2.99
Free to upload
Helpful in terms of international sales
Cons:
Not as big in the US just yet
This company recently acquired Smashwords this past year but is already proving to be quite the tool for authors hoping to self-publish across platforms. One upload for an eBook file can allow you to publish to 8 different platforms including Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, and more. They don’t offer much in royalties as they do calculate what you should be getting across platforms.
Perks:
Uploads to multiple platforms
Allows you to track reports
Provides UBL links to share
Cons:
10% of the book’s retail price per copy sold
Don’t offer paperbacks for distribution through them
Sticking to a Publication Date
The beauty of self-publishing is that you can choose any date you want to publish your book.
It may take a day or two to show up on the platform itself, but ideally, you can choose to publish it whenever you want. As wonderful as that is, be sure to choose a publication date that allows you room to breathe.
What I mean is, allow yourself time to:
Market your book to your target audience
Ensure your book is of the best quality it can be
Allowing time to order a proof of your paperback or hardcover copy
Gather ARC readers to gain early reviews
Research and reach out to book bloggers/reviewers
Decrease the chance of rushing any steps of the publishing process
When you provide a little cushion space for yourself and stick to marketing your book before it comes out, you increase the chances of the success of your book.
And if this is your first time publishing, remember that the path to gathering a readership is a marathon, not a sprint.
Tons of first-time authors give up after self-publishing their first book.
It’s sad but true.
This is for a few reasons. They either didn’t see the progression or sales they wanted to see after publishing their first book. Or they became frustrated with learning the ropes of publishing or lost too much money paying services to publish for them.
Unfortunately, this almost happened to me.
I had spent three thousand dollars on a service called CreateSpace (now owned by Amazon) to publish my first book, only to make roughly $300. At first, I was bummed at my stats and it dried my well of creativity. But more than that, when I was ready to write another book, I wasn’t aware of how easy publishing could be, as I had paid so much money to do so before.
It wasn’t until I networked and connected with other seasoned writers that I found out I wasn’t the only one.
What you don’t know about self-publishing, thankfully another seasoned author somewhere is willing to show you the ropes.
Once I found some great writers, I learned so much.
I learned how to:
Make my own book covers
Do keyword research
Navigate advertisements
Price my books reasonably
Build my audience
Write better book descriptions
Publish my books for nearly free
If not for having found someone with experience who was willing to guide me, I’m not sure I would have gone on to publish 13 other books.
What no one tells you about self-publishing for the first time is that it’s tough.
We all are going to make mistakes, but make sure that you learn from them. And once you go through the publishing process, it gets easier every time.
Self-publishing can feel scary, but if you take these steps, you can make great things happen.