The Book Life

 

I didn't choose the book life. The book life chose me!

Being a self-published author is harder now than it's ever been before.

Not only do we, as Self-Publishers, have to deal with the derision for being self-published.

Not only do we have to fight tooth and claw to get noticed by potential customers through maintaining a social media presence, blogs, websites, and newsletters.

Not only do we have to pay more and more for ads in order to make sales.

We now have to deal with extreme scrutiny at the back end of our process. And by the back end of the process, I mean editing, formatting, and cover design.

My editing, formatting, and cover creation stance has been the same for a few decades. To be fair, my stance might piss off a few people I like, so I'm going to say this upfront and loud enough for all of the people in the cheap seats to hear.

IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO HIRE OUT EDITING, FORMATTING, AND COVER DESIGN, THEN DO IT. YOUR BOOK AND YOUR READERS WILL THANK YOU.

Now, in a calm er voice. Yes, if you can afford to outsource those tasks, then by all means, do it. But if funds are super tight, there are ways to handle them on your own.

When it comes to formatting, admittedly, the easiest task you can tackle on your own, there are about ten bazillion tutorial guides and YouTube videos you can consult to learn the art. There are also templates offered by Amazon (KDP) where you can plug your work in and tweak it as needed. While a professional formatter is worth their money, it really is the easiest task Self-Publisher can handle on their own.

Let's spend a minute on cover creation. A lot of self-published authors run screaming at the idea of creating their own covers, which terrifies them. Trust me, I get it. If you already have a working knowledge of Photoshop, this should be easy for you. Just invest in a membership to a stock image site. I use iStock and then create away. But if you don't know Photoshop, don't worry. There are options. I use a photo editing program called Canva to create my covers (there are several other good programs available). It's not as good as Photoshop, but it does a pretty damn good job.

Now for the bone in the soup. If you can pay for only one service, make it a professional editor. An outside editor can make a decent book great. But if you can't afford a good editor, there's no shame in this. No matter what a bunch of online blowholes say, you can try to go it alone. When you've finished your first draft, I edit as I go, so it's really draft 1.5. When I'm done, set the manuscript aside for a month. Six weeks would be better, and work on something else. When you return to your work, run it through at least two grammar and spellchecking programs. I use the built-in MS Word program and Grammarly Pro. After you've torn the book apart and rebuilt it several times, I make at least three and often five passes, have it read to you, and take notes. I don't mean chain someone to the wall and force them to read you a story at knifepoint. Use a program designed to sound natural to read the book aloud. I use Natural Reader, but MS Word's program is pretty damn good too. Make any final changes and type, the end.

Be careful. Over-editing is a real thing.

And after all of that, your book is, more or less, ready to publish.

Will they be as good as one done professionally?

Probably not.

Will they pass reasonable muster?

Quite possibly, yes.

Regardless, I guarantee significantly more self-publishers handle their own editing and cover creation than they are willing to admit. And don't forget, as a Self-Publisher, you can always make changes and re-upload the book.

- Josh (08/13/2024)