Things to consider when self-publishing

So you’ve finished your masterpiece and want to show it off? You feel like you don’t have the clout to take it to publishers, or maybe even have been rejected by some. However, you still have some faith left in your work and that there potentially is a market for it. Self-publishing is definitely a way you can go, giving you much more freedom and creative control over your own work. However, there is a lot more work involved than simply putting it out there.

Realistically, it is hard to make dough from this, but not impossible, and the more work that you crank out and sell together – the better. Choosing to go down this route is difficult when you think about all the different channels from formatting to marketing that you are personally responsible for and unless you have a large enough budget behind you, you honestly have to do most of the work yourself, but the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that you get when you finish is hard to compete with.

I am still learning as I go, and after completing two self-published books, of varying success, I would like to impart on you some of the main steps involved that you may not have even considered in the process. Because believe you me this is a not only a process – but a journey (and in this case a three part journey).

Formatting and proofreading

Before you even begin looking for a self-publishing partner, or company to work with, you need to look at your work itself. Scrutinise it. Proofread like your life depended on it and then proofread some more. Get a friend or pay someone to give it a look over and incorporate all those changes. Do not do what I did and my very first shot skim it and send it off, only to realise that on some pages I seemed like I was having some kind of fit where up words jumbled, blank spaces and pages appeared randomly

and there was a sudden font change that made it seem as if I was shouting at the reader (see what I did there?!). It can be tiresome proofing your own work – particularly if it is something that you have been looking at for ages – sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees – so it is very important to get the input of at least one other trusted source.

The formatting is also really important. We all know Word has a mind of its own and one ‘enter’ in the wrong place can set your whole book on fire. Study the page numbers (table of contents, chapter headings, font, borders, etc.) and make sure they line up. If you have images make sure they are centred correctly and that all formatting throughout the book is uniform. Then think of your target audience and word count when trying to decide on what size your font will be and what size pages your book will have. The bigger the font, the easier it will be for people to read who may have issues seeing, but this will also increase your page count. Small books with big font (usually over 11 points on a regular-sized novel) look weird so consider increasing the page size of the book as opposed to the page numbers (both of which also affect the cost of your book and profit margins). Mess around with page sizing (the trim) and borders, gutters and font sizes to see how this would work out for you, remembering that one margin side will always have to slightly bigger to take into account the book being bound when it is physically made. Do not worry too much about that as many publishing companies will give you there specific guidelines as to what way to submit or upload your work, but it is definitely important to bear these factors in mind. Also, always keep a clean and tidy copy clearly labelled on your hard drive – in case you mess any of these up and need to start over.

The standard sizing (in inches, because, well, I think in inches) for books, when considering the genre, are:

Fiction: 4.25 x 6.87, 5 x 8, 5.25 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9

Novella: 5 x 8

Textbooks: 6 x 9, 7 x 10, 8.5 x 11

Non-fiction: 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 7 x 10

Most companies or ‘partners’ that you work with will require specific sized format files such as .doc, .docx. Personally I love PDFs because nothing will move around in your document. That sneaky spacebar or enter key cannot mess anything up when it’s all locked down, but unfortunately not every company you will work with will them, so keep several versions of well labelled work to hand. More than likely, you will need different versions of your book for download, print on demand and physical copies.

Artwork and covers

The first thing that many readers see is the cover of your book. Regardless of whether this book will simply be available to download or a physical copy this is amazingly important. You need something eye-catching but that will also have the potential for text on the cover, the spine and a blurb on the back. You will need a few versions of the same piece, as a wrap-around (sounds exactly like what it is) and as single pages without the spine.

Unless you are super multitalented (and I’m not doubting you are) or are actually making a very visual book, like say on photography, this is probably the one of the tasks that you will need another person for. Look online as well, at books that you like the cover of, to get an idea of what you’re going for in terms of personality of the text, as well as what is actually feasible. You will need a several versions of your cover, with and without text and these will need to be high resolution.

Fair play if you’ve read this far – I know it sounds incredibly dull. When you’re doing all the above, it is actually quite an easy job to get lost in – listening to music – and before you know it hours have passed and the job is nearly done! Now that is a lot to chew on and digest (that’s why there are 2 more parts). In the next instalment I’ll discuss the companies that offer print on demand and what you will need to set up your online accounts, as well as digital downloads, physical copies and using an external source.