I’ve been self-publishing for a little over a year now. I don’t pretend to be an expert, but at this point in my career, I’m comfortable sharing what I think are a few pieces of bad self-publishing advice– though I think the fact that they’re bad self-publishing advice is common sense in some cases!
1. Publish your first draft.
The faster you publish, the better you do in self-publishing, right? I’ve heard the same things, but realistically, your career is hardly going to take off if you publish a book before you’ve smoothed out the plot inconsistencies. Readers won’t want to pick up your next one.
2. Post your book on KDP and other platforms ~stealthily.~
Let the algorithms do the work for you!
Not so much. At a certain point, with reviews posted, a backlist, also-boughts kicking in, and the right keywords, new readers will stumble onto your books, but make sure you let potential readers know about it.
3. Talk about your book too much online.
It’s really easy to fall into this. You spend a lot of time working on your book, so of course you want to talk about it. Trust me, I know, and there are times that I fall into the trap of never shutting up about my work, but no one ever gained friends by crying “me, me, me.”
Have a personality beyond your writing. Talk about books, TV, other interests and things going on in your life. Fangirl (or fanboy)! Interact!
4. Don’t invest a cent.
Look, I’m not going to pretend there is a magic number that you should spend when publishing a book, but chances are that you cannot be the author and also the professional cover designer/ formatter/ marketer/ blog tour coordinator/ editor that your book needs.
There are ways to do these things in a cost-effective way, of course, and maybe you are one of the lucky few with most of these skills at your disposal– or with generous friends who will do it for free. But this makes you the exception, not the rule.
5. Don’t believe in your book.
Publish a book purely for the money. Write it because the genre sells, not because you love it.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t write in a hot genre, but do it because you have a story you’re dying to write, not because of which genre it’s in.
This also isn’t to say you shouldn’t take risks or chances and experiment with your work… but make sure that it’s work that you stand behind.
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