Fast Self-Publishing Online

Drawbacks to Self-Publishing

Are there any drawbacks to self-publishing?

When working with mainstream publishers you write the book and the publisher controls everything: the editing, book design and formatting, ISBN, cover design, and publicity.

These days, though, the author has to be very involved with the marketing. The publisher handles the distribution and gets your book into bookshops and libraries. You wait for your royalties.

Benefits of a mainstream publisher

The benefits of producing a book with a mainstream publisher are:

• the prestige you get
• there is nothing upfront to pay
• publisher takes care of everything
• all being well, your book will be successfully distributed

BUT

• you have to get accepted by a publisher
• the publishing process is time consuming
• there are complicated contracts
• low royalty rates, and
• limited creative control

Control

With self-publishing you are the one in control. You are the publisher.

It’s your responsibility to get your book edited, to get an ISBN, prepare the manuscript for publication, the cover design, the formatting, and the marketing.

Costs

The upfront costs of doing your own publishing are higher.

You will pay for services like editing, cover design and formatting. With traditional publishing these services are done by the publisher but when you self-publish the upfront costs rest with you – the author/publisher.

Team of professionals

When self-publishing you may need to create your own team of professionals to handle those aspects of publishing that you find hard, too difficult, or that you don’t want to do.

If your market is bookshops and libraries you will need to choose a platform like IngramSpark to get your book into libraries and bookstores. IngramSpark is set up to provide trade discounts and to work in with bookshops and libraries.  This is not so easy with Amazon.

The choice is yours. If you go with a mainstream publisher – congratulations!

The drawback to self-publishing is that you have to do all the work of publishing yourself. If you don’t want to do it all yourself you will need to pay to get a team of people to help you do it.

On the one hand this could be seen as a drawback or a disadvantage. On the other hand, you may like the challenge of having your own publishing house. The benefits are:

• enjoying the freedom of creative control, 
• staying away from complicated contracts, 
• outsourcing the tasks you cannot do yourself 
• building up your own team of professionals, and 
• having the potential to make more money.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Join Facebook Group: Fast Self-Publishing Online

Book Cover Design Elements

Book cover design is a book’s ultimate marketing tool. It’s like a billboard, its sole purpose being to attract the right readers to your creative masterpiece.

Indie authors are advised over and over again that they should get a professional to design their book covers. And I agree.

Sales tool

Book covers do help readers to make a buying decision because readers do in fact judge a book by its cover.  Readers very often buy a book because of how a cover looks so it’s quite obvious that the cover can make or break your book.

The cover is the first thing a reader sees.

A good cover is a marketing and sales tool because it helps capture a reader’s attention in a crowded marketplace and this can result in getting organic sales.

Attributes of good book cover design

Covers need to:

• tempt the reader
• arouse their curiosity
• capture attention
• be interesting
• engaging
• create an overall ‘feeling’
• set the tone of a book so that your target audience takes notice.

Not only should a book cover design attract readers it needs to make an impact in small thumbnail size, as well.

5 key elements of book cover design

1.  Layout  

Book covers convey two key pieces of information — the book title (including the sub-title) and the author’s name. These core elements – the title and author’s name – together with imagery are organised in various ways on the cover. This is called layout.

The layout could simply involve the topography for the title and author name and can be the main imagery for the cover itself.  A photograph or some other illustrative material can be added to convey the theme or mood of the book.

The way that these core elements are combined, grouped and sized on the page comprises the layout.

2. Genre 

The genre has to be taken into account with book cover design. The design must be appropriate for the style of the genre.

Whatever genre you are in examine the best selling books in that genre and analyse how the covers have been done.

3. Image 

To help a prospective customer get a good idea and feeling for the book go for a strong focused image.

Create a simple, straightforward image. Avoid anything too fancy or complicated and opt for something that is more minimalist in style.

It’s important that the reader understands the message that is being communicated.

If there are too many elements in a book cover design, readers are not going to know what to focus on. And if they don’t know what to focus on, they are just going to skim over that book and move on to the next one.

When choosing an image for the book’s cover be mindful of copyright. You don’t want to fall into the trap of infringing copyright.

There are free images that you can use from sites like Pixabay, Flickr and Canva but still always check the licencing for any image that you use. Do not take images from Pinterest or Google and be aware that you might need to pay for an image.

4. Colour

Do not use too many colours in a book cover design. Just use two or three colours and colours that complement.

The best and most attractive covers usually only use a maximum of three different colours including black, white, or grey.

5. Font

Fonts can be design elements in themselves. The fonts you choose can be powerful elements that make your book stand out and look the best it can.

So key elements in book cover design are the layout of the core elements, genre suitability, image selection, colour, and font (or typography).

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Join Facebook Group: Fast Self-Publishing Online

FREE CONSULTATION

If a free consultation on becoming a self-published author is of interest to you then consider these five signs. You will qualify for a consultation if any of these relate to you.

If any of them do then you need to talk with me.

1. Are you feeling overwhelmed at the thought of becoming an indie author? 
2. Are you feeling lost, and would like help getting started?
3. Perhaps you are worried about your ability to go it alone and you are frightened and scared that you will mess up?
4. Maybe you’d like personal guidance so that you can actually achieve your goal of publishing your own book?
5. Are you worried about the expense of publishing your own book?

Challenges

Challenges in any of these 5 areas can reduce your determination and drive to become a self-published author.

If you want to:

• enjoy the elation of having your first book published
• learn about the possibilities of generating an income from writing books
• be empowered as a result of being a successful indie author
• be intoxicated with excitement when making that first sale
• unlock your true potential as an author and self-publisher and make a dent in the world

If any of this resonates with you then my suggestion is that you book a free consultation with me. I’m offering a free consultation – a discovery call – for just 3 people.

I usually charge for a Zoom consultation. But today I’m making this special offer.

How do you go about booking a session with me?

Make a booking

STEP 1

Go to my booking link

https://marjihill.com/st1

This will take you to the special offer page for a 45-minute Discovery Call.

You will then select a date and time

STEP 2 

You will answer some questions so that I can understand a little bit more about you, what your goals and needs are so that I can then work out how best to help you

How will the consultation be conducted?

The call will be conducted via Zoom.  

I’ll then tell you how I can best help you and what the next steps are.

It’s that simple!

To remind you about the link…

It’s

https://marjihill.com/st1

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Join Facebook Group: Fast Self-Publishing Online

Learn To Self-Publish

If you want to learn to self-publish pay $ZERO for the first month of online lessons and then pay $47 a month for the next six months. This total amount of $282 gives you:

• 28 weekly online lessons that educate, motivate and inspire
• Ongoing monthly Q&A group sessions on Zoom that give you the support and friendship of like-minded people and access to me, your personal self-publishing coach
• 12 months support in a private, members-only Facebook Mastermind group  

Be mentored and get community support as you are taken step-by-step through the self-publishing process.

• If you are feeling lost and have no idea of how to get started with self-publishing 
• If you lack the knowledge, or 
• have a lack of faith in your ability to go it alone, or 
• you feel that you just don’t have the backbone to start the self-publishing process, and
• are fearful, scared and frightened that you will mess up

then jump onto this before it’s too late.

Learn to self-publish

LEARN, APPLY and potentially EARN with these 28 weeks of lessons and when it’s over continue to access the monthly Q&A Zoom sessions.

The small investment of $282 that you make today is leverage for your dreams

1. having your first book published is a dream come true
2. realise the potential gateway to future income opportunities
3. be empowered as a successful self-published author
4. experience the most incredible feeling of euphoria when you make that first sale
5. unlock your true potential as an author and self-publisher and make your dent in the world

• Take joy in the ease of self-publishing, and you (not the traditional publisher) have control of your book and its revenue
• Have the satisfaction of making sales, receiving royalties, and growing another income stream
• Master the fundamentals of self-publishing on Amazon and
• Experiencing the high self-esteem of being a successful author

And then, rinse and repeat – launch more titles on Amazon with even greater opportunities for earning a higher income

Love the excitement of marketing your book throughout the world

But you need to take action today

Who wants to self-publish?

It is for the first-time author who wants to :

• complete the first draft of their book
• self-publish their book
• go it alone but who wants help and guidance along the way
• self-publish cost-effectively
• breakthrough the self-limiting beliefs that hold you back

It’s for the person

• who has the passion to write and self-publish their book
• who is committed to investing in their education so that they can advance their knowledge
• who wants to learn the fundamentals of publishing on Amazon so that readers will discover and buy their book
• who has a positive mindset
• who is prepared to take full responsibility for their outcome

How To Become a Self-Published Author

This home study program helps you to make it happen and gives you step-by-step guidance along the way.

Click the link today and get started.

ACCESS NOW

Remember, by joining today you get that first month for free.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Join Facebook Group: Fast Self-Publishing Online

Strategies For Making Money With Self-Publishing

If writing books is your passion then here are twelve strategies for making money with self-publishing.

A frequent question I get is whether you can generate an income from writing books and self-publishing?

Like any industry there are the winners and the losers. There are those who make millions and then there are those who just make a little pocket money or even no money at all.

Multiple streams of income can be made from self-publishing, marketing, and selling your books. However, if you just publish your book and neglect to promote and market it then you will struggle to generate any income.

12 Strategies

Here are just 12 strategies for earning income streams.

With Amazon, you can earn up to 70 per cent in royalties. This is a really decent return for almost any business venture!

But just because your book is on Amazon or the IngramSpark platform doesn’t mean it will automatically sell.

You have to get the word out about your book. You need to let people know that you have a book for sale, how the book will benefit your market, and where they can get it.

As I talk about my most recent publication I am asked all the time – “Where can I get it?”

Because you have written a book you can earn from making regular book sales, and you can earn selling a related business product or service.

Income streams

1. Market your book on Amazon in Australia and enjoy having the royalties (35-70%)paid directly into your bank account
2. Market you book in other Amazon market places like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico – wherever Amazon has a marketplace
3. Earn an income on Amazon for lending your book
4. To maximise your income satisfy the market by publishing your books in different formats – Kindle eBooks, paperbacks, hardcopies, audiobooks
5. As well as Amazon put your book on the IngramSpark platform and have it distributed  through 40,000 channels throughout the world
6. Australian book stores buy via IngramSpark so watch your sales on your IngramSpark dashboard
7. Australian libraries buy via their library suppliers who in turn buy from IngramSpark
8. Once your books are in public and educational libraries you may be eligible for Public lending Right(PLR) and Educational Lending Right(ELR) so you can get paid once a year by the Australian government. The more books you have in the libraries the more you get paid
9. Publishing a book helps your credibility and reputation so it’s possible to become a speaker and be paid to speak at conferences and conventions
10. Develop and sell an online course that relates to your book
11. Set up an eCommerce website with a shopping cart and sell books directly from your website
12. Keep a stock of books on hand and be ready to sell them directly to people in your network

There you are – 12 strategies for earning income from self-publishing your books.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a rewarding, safe and profitable 2022.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Join Facebook Group: Fast Self-Publishing Online

How To Market Your First Book

Marketing a book is complex and learning to market your first book can be overwhelming. Authors freak out about it.

Many authors just want to write and do not want to bother with being involved in the business side of their writing. But the reality is if you want to be a successful creative, marketing is essential.

Those very first steps

What might be the first few steps for getting started with marketing your book?

You are a first-time author, yes? You are starting out with no track record, yes? Then you need to be inventive to get the word out about your book.

Who is your book for? Does your book have a defined market? Who do you think would want to read or buy your book?

1. Start an email list

Ask yourself – who do you know in your own circle of influence that might be interested in learning about your book and possibly purchasing it?

Brainstorm and come up with a list of names. 

• People you know in your immediate circle of influence
• Friends on Facebook
• People in groups you are part of
• People with whom you share common interests.

Make a list of their names, email addresses, and mobile phone numbers. Double-check with these people that they are happy for you to have their details. Also, check that they are happy for you to contact them either by email or by phone.

You are doing this before you even get into the business of email marketing with an autoresponder and associated legal issues to do with privacy laws.

I’m simply suggesting that when you want to market your first book take baby steps to get the word out.

Once you’ve started with a list send a personal email to these people telling them about your book. Don’t forget to provide a link as to where they can buy your book.

Do not at this stage send out a bunch of emails in a group; they might just end up in the recipient’s junk mail and you don’t want this to happen.

Keep these first emails very friendly and personal.

Once you’ve started a names list you can then graduate to setting up an email marketing platform with a website or landing page, an autoresponder and a lead magnet to capture more leads.

2. Have a book launch

When starting in self-publishing authors are usually interested in one thing – sales. By taking those first few baby steps offline it is possible to get immediate sales.

Organise a book launch. This could be as simple as inviting a few people to your home to tell them about your book or you might even meet at a coffee shop or club.

A book launch can range from a simple, low key gathering in the home to a more formal event held at a public venue.

Book launches, book signings, author talks, author interviews on community radio, promotional flyers, and personal networking are proven and tested methods for marketing your book which can be leveraged to your advantage once you focus on your target audience.

Other methods of marketing

After you’ve taken these first baby steps in the offline space you can start exploring other methods of marketing. Build your author platform but this will take time. It’s not something that happens overnight.

Building a website

Your website is your hub from where you communicate with your readership. You’ll set up a lead magnet, have an autoresponder, write blog posts, and send out broadcasts to your email list on a regular basis. You’ll include an author bio, a sales page, social media links, blog posts, and contact details.

Get reviews

You’ll be wanting to get reviews both editorial reviews and customer reviews for social proof.

Social media

A social media presence is important with a Facebook page, a possible Facebook group, being part of other Facebook groups, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest.

You may be interested in setting up a YouTube channel or starting a podcast.

Pre-publication marketing

An area commonly neglected by first-time authors and which starts prior to writing the book is Market Research. Make sure you are writing a book that has a potential market. You don’t want to go to all the effort of producing a book only to discover that no one is interested in your book. It has no market.

Other prepublication marketing tips include designing a stunning cover, deciding on a keyworded title, and paying attention to an attractive interior. There is the business of selecting appropriate metadata like the title, categories, keywords and book description.

If you brainstorm all the various ways you can go about marketing your book it is possible to come up with at least 40 if not more methods. It is too overwhelming to cope with all of them at once.

When starting out keep it simple by taking baby steps. The best place to start is with your immediate circle of influence.

Master one marketing method at a time. Then move on to the next. Over time as you learn you will grow your repertoire of marketing methods and find out what works best for you.

To learn more about writing, self-publishing, and marketing your book ACCESS HERE the How To Become A Self-Published Author subscription program which consists of weekly online lessons that educate, motivate and inspire.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP

Fast Self-Publishing Online

13 Book Editing Tips For Insiders Only

The first draft of your manuscript is finished so probably you’ll be in need of some book editing tips. You now need to focus on editing and wonder if the manuscript should be given to a professional editor?

Along the way you’ve tried to reduce the mistakes in your text but it has been a daunting experience. You’ve not realised that there are methods for editing your own work.

You could have done with some editing tips early in the piece.

Go through the process of self-editing before handing your book over to a professional editor. Get your manuscript to an advanced level and then you’ll be able to reduce your editing costs.

In addition the exercise of self-editing will make you more sensitive to editorial issues and this in turn will help you to improve your writing next time round.

Here are 13 tips for self-editing your manuscript.

Tip 1 – Print the manuscript

Once you have completed the first draft of your manuscript print it out. This way it looks more like a physical copy of your book.

Tip 2 – Take a rest from your manuscript

Put your manuscript away. Lock it in a drawer or filing cabinet and leave it there for a week or two. Do not look at it. Give yourself a rest from the project.  

Tip 3 – Structure

After taking the break look at the manuscript with fresh eyes. First of all, examine its structure. Check the order of the chapters. Ensure there is a logical sequence.

Sections of text may need to be rewritten to make the writing more clear. The text must flow taking the reader logically from one place to the next so that they have a transformational experience.

Watch out for repetition. Keep sentences simple and straight forward. You want your message to be easily understood and precise.

Tip 4 – Check facts

Your facts might need to be substantiated by referring to the source of your information. Document your sources immediately and put these references into a section at the end of the chapter or at the end of the book.

It is important to document your sources as you write. Avoid neglecting this otherwise you could have insurmountable challenges later on like not being able to remember the source of the information.

Tip 5 – Editing grammar

Become acquainted with the most frequently used rules of grammar and writing style before you start writing. Minimise bad grammar and correct grammatical errors

Be on the look out for errors in syntax, punctuation,  capitalisation, hyphenation and eliminate unnecessary adjectives and adverbs.

Tip 6 –  Sentences

Rewrite sentences if they are long and ungainly. You want them to be short, straight forward, and to the point.

Tip 7  – Remove repetitive words

Writers tend to overuse certain words. Remove the ones that you overuse and consult Roget’s Thesaurus to help you to find fresh and alternative words.

Tip 8 – Hold reader attention

To hold the attention of the reader format your text to make it reader friendly. Use sub-headings to break up the chapters.

Tip 9 – Editing software

Run your manuscript through some editing software like Grammarly to identify passive voice, repetitive words, incorrect comma usage, typos, and bad sentence structure. There is even a plagiarism checker.

Tip 10 – Read book aloud

You will identify more errors by taking the time to read your book aloud.

Tip 11 – Rework manuscript

Once you’ve done a second draft give yourself another break from your manuscript.  Put it away and come back to it sometime later. Then start reworking the third draft and fix all the errors.

Tip 12 – Beta readers

Give your manuscript to a few trusted beta readers. Get their feedback because they will enviably see mistakes that you have missed.

Tip 13 – Proofread

Once you have fixed more errors proofread your manuscript.

Learning how to self-edit your manuscript is not an easy task. However, it is worthwhile doing the hard yards even if it is laborious.

By going the extra mile working on your manuscript you will publish something for which you will be proud.

The final stage in editing is to give your manuscript to a professional editor who will fine tune it and make your manuscript the best it can be.

To learn more about writing, self-publishing, and marketing your book ACCESS HERE the How To Become A Self-Published Author subscription program which consists of weekly online lessons that educate, motivate and inspire.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP

Fast Self-Publishing Online