Cautions & Recommendations Before You Self Publish
July 6, 2008 by Yvonne Russell
Self Publishing is a great way to promote your home business. You could write a how to book on any aspect of home business, or on your particular niche.
As an ex bookseller, I would also offer a few cautions and recommendations.
Have a professional editor proofread your work. Some of the POD (print on demand) operations print exactly what you send them, unless they also offer editing services.
Do you really want even one copy, let alone hundreds riddled with poor grammar, spelling and incoherent sentences? Yes, it does happen. Remember, each copy has your name prominently on the cover.
Shelf Space & Promotion
In all conscience, a bookseller or librarian cannot promote, let alone give shelf space to books which are below par.
From your own professional point of view, you want the book to reflect well on you. For a bookseller or librarian, their credibility is also on the line.
They are running a business operation. Yes, libraries are bound by budgets, staffing and time constraints too.
Make It Easy For Others To Support You
They will most likely be very supportive of local authors, but to be treated professionally, you need to make sure you conduct yourself professionally and have a professional product. Shelf space, promotion in a newsletter, and author events are a time consuming, and often expensive commitment. Please do not ask the bookseller or librarian to critique or proofread your book.
Hire A Professional Author or Editor
If you are not a professional writer, you can have a book ghostwritten. At least have it proofread. A good editor will not change the essence of your message or story. They may even work with you on suggestions.
My Personal Recommendation
I can recommend Lillie Ammann as an editor who has worked extensively with authors who self publish. She offers a free ebook about self publishing to get you started. It is a compilation of 14 posts from her excellent blog, A Writer’s Words An Editor’s Eye.
Create Your Own Asset
A well written and produced book can be a great asset to your home business. It reinforces your business brand and establishes you as an industry expert in your niche. From there, you can offer talks and courses, and of course, work on other books.
Over To You
Mary Emma Allen has a series of articles on Self Publishing planned for you at Home Biz Notes. What would you like to know? What are your experiences with Self Publishing? How do you think you could use it to promote or extend your home business? Any questions? Ask away!
Self-publishing can be a great venue for business owners to promote themselves and to provide information about their products or their niche of expertise. However, as Yvonne mentions, it isn’t all fun and roses. You should go into self-publishing with your eyes open, looking at the pros and cons. Yvonne has provided some very informative tips to consider.
Yvonne- I’ve self published on http://www.lulu.com/workingtheplan and enjoyed the experience of putting a couple of books and many articles together based on my business experiences. The process really does require excellent organization, writing and editing. If you don’t like details don’t do it. My publishing site has been a factor in obtaining consulting assignments and management positions with software and consulting companies.
Hi Bob
This sounds interesting… Perhaps you’d like to share your experiences of self publishing with our Home Biz Notes readers.
I’ll be in touch.
Yvonne
http://www.homebiznotes.com
Thanks for giving the perspective of booksellers and librarians. Too often writers don’t think about their need for profitability and credibility – writers just want stores to carry their books. Seeing the perspective of booksellers is helpful.
Thanks for recommending my services and my self-publishing primer. Although I do other kinds of editing as well, working with self-publishing authors is my favorite.
Hi Lillie
Sometimes self published writers do not see writing as a business, so don’t understand business and marketing.
I was pleased to recommend you Lillie. I don’t recommend people lightly, so I was also pleased to hear that self published authors are your favorite client group.
I haven’t published a book yet, but if I were to do it, I’d build up a website and a mailing list beforehand. Whether self-published or published through a house, in this day and age, there’s no one out there but you to market and sell your book in most cases. Better to drill the well before you need a drink and all that.
Great advice, Lindsay. Generally it’s advisable for writers to begin pre-promoting, as you say, before they’ve written a book or when they begin…unless it’s a topic that’s highly competitive. Then set yourself as an expert in that field.
I’ll definitely check out the books. I’ve been leaning towards self-publishing for over a year and have written about it on my main blog. Hiring a professional editor is definitely on my list along with a few other things.
Hi Opal
Hope you find the books useful. Well edited work is a must. Even for a skilled writer, an editor will often pick up things you miss.