Worst Advice for Self-Publishers

For some people, this is going to be an eye-opening experience as they find out that the cherished advice that they've been giving out like water to everyone is either bad or totally worthless; a lot of advice is great until it's put into practice. The problem is that bad advice backed by a lot of confidence can cause a lot of problems, especially if the advice is based more on ignorance than actual experience. With that in mind, here is some common "advice" that you would do well to ignore.

Don't Pay To Publish

This is probably the worst of the lot, so we may as well start here. If you're dealing with a traditional publisher, this is great advice: Traditional publishers should pick up the tab for almost everything, so one that's asking you to pay is a scam. However, for self-publishers, this is really, really bad advice: You need to pay for every step of publishing that you can't do yourself. The worst part is that when you point out that this is problematic, you get a "Well, you know what I meant." Straight up: If someone says you don't need to pay to publish, they're being optimistic (but see below; there are all sorts of exceptions).

Hybrids Are Bad

This is going to get complicated, so put on your seat belts. Hybrid publishers are so-called because they mix the services of a traditional publisher but make you pay for them. Because of this, some see them as scammers even as they encourage you to use freelancers for the same services. Worse, there is the belief that even if they aren't scammers, they cost more than regular freelancers.

First, while a little paranoia is a good thing (you should thoroughly vet anyone you're planning on doing business with), you're going to find that scammers will pose as all sorts of publishers and presses to get your money, and sometimes it can be hard to determine the difference between a bad publisher and a scammer; defaulting to calling one type of publisher a "scammer" by default just shows ignorance.

Second, hybrid prices run the gamut, just like freelancers, from well under $1000 for a basic package to tens of thousands of dollars (yes, the company is well worth it (some self-publishers deal with thousands of books)). This is just the market; they charge whatever they feel they can get away with.

In short, hybrids are just as bad as anyone else, with a lot of variables. Treat them like everyone else (decide on a budget and vet them thoroughly) and you should do fine.

You Can Do It Yourself

Some people will tell you that you can save a lot of money by doing everything yourself. Any reviewer, who has had to deal with all-too-artistic formatting, horrible editing, and book covers put together by someone with zero graphics skill will laugh at this. Yes, there are unicorns out there who can edit their own books, are awesome formatters, and are great designers, but these are rare; unless someone who isn't related to you says you can do it, don't assume you can do it.

Put another way: While formatting is easy enough once you figure everything out, it doesn't mean you can do everything: Book design requires some skill and training to get something more than a generic cover. Just because you can write doesn't mean you can edit, and even the best editors don't usually edit their own material: It's too easy to mentally add in things you forgot and ignore obvious errors because "I did that for a reason." Usually, doing it yourself is a very, very bad idea.

So don't assume you can do it all. Sure, you'll save lots of money, but you're also less likely to sell more than a few books.

AI Is Bad

Should you use AI to write your book? No. However, you need to realize that you use AI for a lot of things. Without getting into the concepts of dumb versus smart AIs, you use AI for any use of a computer, from manipulating images to spellcheck. Worse, you have people who have no idea how the technology works making decisions on whether or not it's evil; there's just something fundamentally wrong with that.

So…should you use it for writing? No. It's just not YOUR writing if something else does it. However, you can use it for prompts if you're really stuck or you want to see how something works if you combine different concepts (like, say, "Moby Dick" and "Mutiny on the Bounty"). Spellchecking is definitely on the table. Interior art should not be AI-based: You need too much precision for it to be effective. Cover art should be debated, but only if you absolutely cannot pay.

[And no: Few people can actually tell unless it's really, really bad. There are just too many stylistic flourishes that would come off as "AI" but aren't; some artists have even been called "frauds" by those who don't understand basic art. So don't use it unless you need to, and even then don't use the first image generated, or even the tenth.]

There's Only Two Options

This shouldn't even need to be discussed: Just do whatever you feel is necessary to get your book out there. If someone says "There's only the right way and your way," or only binary options, then ask them to defend their logic; if they can't, just ignore them.

There's a lot of bad advice that people swear by. With that in mind, ask them why they're saying what they're saying. Usually, you'll get someone who is angry that you challenged them, but it's really cool when they explain why their advice actually works. Just keep in mind that you should be skeptical of everyone and you should do okay.