by L. Diane Wolfe, @SpunkonaStick
Self-publishing has become a very attractive venture for writers these days. It’s now much easier to send a book out into the world without the help of a publisher.
When you self-publish a book, you take on a whole new role – business owner. All of the duties and responsibilities of a publishing house now fall on your shoulders. Some of these things an author can do with the proper skills and training. Often time is a big factor, and when you are a one person band, there’s only so much you can do.
It’s important to know when to hire a professional. It can make the difference between a shoddy book and a great book. Because it doesn’t matter how great you are as a writer – if everything else is second rate, no one will buy your book.
There are a few areas where you need to weigh the pros and cons – do you do it yourself or hire a professional:
1 – Editing
The one area where self-published authors need to seek outside assistance is editing. No matter how good a writer, you are too close to your work to properly edit it. Critique partners can find most of the major mistakes, especially when it comes to the storyline, pacing, and continuity. But a professional editor is a must if you want your work polished and shined. There are several levels of editing, from basic line edits to full revisions, and each writer will need to decide the extent of the edit needed.
2 – Formatting
This one comes down to time, money, and the willingness to learn. Basic ebook formatting for sites such as Amazon is not difficult to learn, especially with so many tutorials online. Smashwords also has a great style guide for their site, although it’s easy to mess up their strict formatting requirements. With ebooks, you have to decide if you have the time to learn to do it right or if it would be simpler to hire someone to format for you so you can focus on writing and promotions.
Formatting for print is trickier, and it’s easy for a self-published author to just do it in Word. But if you want to add a lot of flair to your book, including images, and you want the text properly justified, etc., you’ll need a program like InDesign. Again, there is a sharp learning curve, and the program isn’t cheap. If you’re looking for more than just a basic style print book, you may want to hire a formatter.
3 – Cover Art & Design
Most writers realize that while they are great writers, they are not great graphic designers. If you have training in this area and are really good with Photoshop, you can design your own cover art. What you have to remember is that your cover will be competing with millions of covers – it has to look professional and catch reader’s eyes. And if you want print books, will you be able to create the entire wrap-around design? Professional illustrators and book cover designers aren’t cheap, but they can create a cover that will sell books and compete with the big publishers.
4 – Book Trailers
There are some great tutorials online. Making a book trailer can be very low cost. It can also look low budget if you cut too many corners. As with the book cover, if you are comfortable using the program and are willing to put some effort into it and purchase the images and music from reputable places, then it’s definitely something you can do on your own. But if you couldn’t splice together two scenes to save your life, you might want to hire out. A cheap trailer is not better than none at all.
5 – Promotional Materials
This includes bookmarks, flyers, postcards, brochures, etc. All authors should have bookmarks, even if their book is ebook only. And the nicer the bookmark, the more likely people will be to save it. If you can properly lay one out in PhotoShop, front and back, and with all the information, then do it. Otherwise, find a graphics designer. That bookmark represents you and your book. And it’s even more important that a business card looks professional. You want to make a good impression.
6 – Book Tours
Book tours can be set up through a tour company or you can set up your own. If you are connected online and willing to search even farther to find the best sites, then setting up your own makes sense. Online, it always works best if you have a relationship with someone. If you aren’t connected and are pressed for time, you may want to hire someone to set up a tour for you.
Always ask for references or to see samples of someone’s work before hiring. Make sure you understand the terms, the cost, the timeframe, and that you are both on the same page.
And if you’re doing it yourself, make sure you have the time and tools to do it right!
L. Diane Wolfe
Professional Speaker & Author
Known as “Spunk On A Stick,” Wolfe is a member of the National Speakers Association. She conducts seminars on book publishing, promoting, leadership, and goal-setting. Print and ebook formatting, along with author consultation, are services she offers on her website. She is the author of seven books, including How to Publish and Promote Your Book Now and a NA/YA series, The Circle of Friends. Wolfe travels extensively for media interviews and speaking engagements, maintains numerous websites & blogs, and contributes to several other sites and newsletters.
www.spunkonastick.net – website
http://www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com – blog
https://twitter.com/SpunkOnAStick – Twitter
https://www.facebook.com/l.diane.wolfe – Facebook
Excellent advice! I hired out editing and cover design but did the formatting myself. I’m actually glad I took the time to format the book. Now if I want to make changes, it’s easy to do myself.
Great advice! I especially liked your statement: “A cheap trailer is not better than none at all.” I used Joel Friedlander’s book templates to format my print books and I was really pleased with the results. You can check them out here: http://www.bookdesigntemplates.com/ He has a lot of useful posts on his site for self-publishers, too.
Hi, Diane & Elizabeth,
Plenty of good and useful advice here. All of the things mentioned are a lot of ground to cover for one person, so it’s best to get help where we can and as our budget permits.
Thanks so much for posting today, Diane! You bring up some great points here. I think one of the most important thing a self-published author can do is to pull together a team to help create a professional product.
Thanks for this info. I am in the process of putting some of the finishing touches on a story that has been begging me to tell for fifteen years. I have chosen to take the self publishing route. It is only a short story and will fit into an e-read. I had to start somewhere, even if only an e-read. After finding some readers to help make some adjustments to it, I hired someone to give it a spit shine with good proofing and editing for me. I am waiting to get it back.
Julie, if you can do it yourself, that’s best, because then you can make changes and corrections.
Heather, thank you for the link to his site.
Elizabeth, it does take a team to produce a book. Thank you for hosting me today.
I like the blog post title, especially for crime writers.
That would be a lot of work to do by yourself. I still like setting up blog tours though.
Those are areas I would hire a professional. I have helped several people do book trailers and you’re right, it’s not too very difficult if you do some serious thought and are willing to purchase some quality music and pictures.
One of the most important areas, imo, is professional editing and cover art. You want to be able to compete with published and good indie published authors. Can’t do that with shoddy or obviously low budget cover. No shortcuts when it comes to good editing, because if your work is not tip-top, you may not get a second chance with that reader. Don’t forget word of mouth works both ways. I know several best selling authors with years of writing experience that still send their work off to a professional editor for their indie books.
If I go indie I have a very good friend that does formatting, editing, and cover work and she does excellent work. I know several professional editors and they’re worth their weight in gold, in my opinion.
Excellent advice Diane!
Sia McKye Over Coffee
This is wonderful advice. Thanks, Diane. Thanks to you too Elizabeth, for hosting. Bookmarking this for future reference, for I will probably self publish again in the next several years.
Although they are all important, #3 strikes a chord with me. Many self published books just look unprofessional with sub par covers, and I think this adds to the perceived stigma of self publishing.
I’m all for hiring professional help for things I don’t have the skills for or that I simply don’t want to do. Sometimes, even if you have the skills, it is much harder to do for oneself than for others. This is great advice. Thanks to both of you.
Good recommendations for any writer on their own to consider. Some may say they can’t afford to do it this way, but for the sake of highest quality maybe they can’t afford not too.
Lee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
Sia, poor cover art and bad editing stand out. It doesn’t matter how good the story, those two things will kill a book.
Karen, I have seen some bad ones.
Karen, that is true.
Lee, you’re right – they can’t afford not to.
I know having help in some of those areas worked for me!
Great advice! I think of hiring an editor as non-negotiable. Cover design would be my 2nd top pick! :)
Excellent tutorial! I’m going to tweet this.
Great post, Diane! Tweeted!
Jemi, it should always be a given!
Another great post from Diane being saved for the day I finish my draft and edits. I always planned on professional editing, but there are other great tips here too. Thanks.
I’m so glad I have graphic design training. It means I can do my own covers and trailers if I chose to self publish… and if I had the time too.
Rhonda, glad it was helpful.
Lynda, that’s a definite plus. Time does become an issue when you’re a one woman army.
I agree with the editing. It can wreck a book that has potential. The biggest drawback it the cost. I think that’s why so many people don’t get a pro.
With book covers, if you have a blog you can get help options and suggestions from your blogging buddies. And it is a must to look at it in “e-book size”. Text and details that look great on a full print book get lost in a smaller size.
Wonderful advice. And It’s amazing how much I’ve learned from the professionals I’ve hired.
Holly, that is a major consideration. A tiny thumbnail will lose all the detail.
An editor is a must. I have a graphic artist for my covers and promo materials. My team is great. It took me awhile to find them, but I couldn’t be happier. I learned to format myself and Jutoh helps me do it like a pro.
[…] When to Hire a Professional […]
Mary, your graphic artist does a wonderful job with your covers.