10 Tips and Tricks I Wish I Knew Before I Self-Published

I have to apologize to you all- I fully intended to give you 4 posts chalk full of writing tips and (possibly) brilliant advice on self-publishing in September.  But I seem to have hit a writer’s slump?  Writer’s amnesia? Writer’s b….bl…. man, it’s right on the tip of my tongue… oh well.

So I’m wrapping up my series (a couple days late and a dollar short) with a summary of things I wish I knew before I published.  Hopefully this post brings me back from the writing dead.  For those who still have publishing questions or just writing questions in general, PLEASE don’t hesitate to reach out.  I’d prefer to sit down with you offline over a coffee…but I can be flexible. 😉

1: Your job isn’t done when your book is done.  Writing a book requires equal parts soul, time and inspiration.  It will take so much out of you yet fill you up at the same time.  And when you are done, you will hold your book (or stare at it’s beautiful digital letters on a screen) much like you would hold a brand new baby you just birthed.  It’s beautiful and perfect and you can’t believe what you went through to get it out into the world.

But just like a real baby you deliver, this book isn’t going to raise itself post delivery.  (Drat.  Although you could hire a really great nanny.)  If you want to get your book into the hands of readers, you’ll need a for-real strategy for marketing and sharing your words.

And apparently marketing is a lot more than just posting on facebook “YAY! I published a book! #selfpublished #futurebestseller #nextannvoskamp”  (Your friends will totally support you…but you probably won’t get much farther.)

Make a marketing plan, even if it is bare-bones.  Know what your publishing goals are.  Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t reach them, but if you don’t have a vision for your book before you publish, no one else will see the vision (or find it for you).

If you’re interested- check out this free publishing marketing plan to help you get started: http://www.writehacked.com/self-published-book-marketing-plan/

2: It’s OK to Ask People to Help: With my first book I always felt like I was bothering people by asking them to help promote…frankly, I felt guilty even asking someone to buy a book.  (OK…I still do.)  But I learned that people are much more willing to help than you’d think.  Yes, you will ask some people who will say no, and that might sting.  But there will be just as many people who are actually EXCITED to join your team and be part of the bigger vision you are promoting.  Don’t be afraid to ask people to help with everything from promotion, editing, being early beta readers, part of your prayer team, helping with your book launch, guinea pig book discussion group, etc.  If you don’t ask, you’ll never know.

3: Be Specific When You Ask (Google Form Tip!). One thing I was much better at the second time around was inviting people to join my launch team and giving them SPECIFIC tasks they could sign up to help with.

There’s a big difference between asking 10 friends if they want to help you promote your book and asking 10 friends if they’ll share a Facebook post related to your book or asking 10 friends to write a review.

People want to help- but they are more likely to be helpful if they know exactly what you’re looking for.  Give them something tangible.

It also helps for people to be able to agree to help with only the areas they are comfortable with.  You don’t want your promotion team to be forced into a position where they don’t feel genuine. It’s better to let them choose to promote within their comfort level and run with it honestly.

TIP: I used a Google Doc Forms Template to ask my launch team for help.  I emailed 20-40 people (I wish I’d added more actually!) inviting them to join my team and to fill out my form if they were interested.  I included a brief video overview of the book so they could catch on to the heart before volunteering to promote.

If I did it again, I’d ask a few things differently, but here is what my How to Be a Moon form looked like:

How to Be a Moon Book Launch Team Form

4: You might get sick of yourself or your material. Especially with my latest book, How to Be a Moon, I wasn’t anticipating the complete burnout that followed weeks of pumping out a blog tour, planning a book launch, and speaking at my church.  I didn’t even finish my blog tour partly because I felt that everything I was saying was so redundant. I couldn’t find fresh angles to share my message and I honestly got a little tired of hearing myself talk about moon EVERYTHING.

I think that’s OK.  It’s part of the process, and it definitely keeps you a bit humble.  If you are human enough to need a break from your book, your promotion, and even hearing yourself speak- you just might keep yourself from getting a big head and floating away.  Plus, it leads me to a couple other points I learned.

5: Pace Yourself/Know What YOU Can Reasonably Do.  I was much more proactive with my second book than my first, especially online.  I lined up two weeks of speaking at my church, hosted a book launch, employed an online launch team, and planned out a guest blog tour with several writer friends.  While this was amazing, it also led to the inevitable burnout mentioned above.

In retrospect, I wish I’d paced myself more.  For instance, I should have been writing guest blog posts weeks before they were due so I always had something in my back pocket. (See #6)  I gave myself plenty of lead time for some posts, but didn’t account for all the other writing and book launch planning that would be taking my time.

I also neglected to account for the fact that I was launching my book during the summer- when my kids were all home from school and I had significantly less time to actually accomplish any of the things that life requires of us. Like showering. And making food for my children. Ahem.

In addition to pacing, I wish I had been honest about my schedule instead of living in denial-induced stress and chaos.

6. (On that note) Give Yourself More Time Than You Think You’ll Need: I have no concept of time and don’t plan ahead consistently.  This is why I can never seem to create a meal plan and end up brainstorming what meal to make with ground beef as I’m defrosting it in the microwave at 5pm.  But since I’m creative and spontaneous by nature, I usually whip up something halfway decent despite my poor planning.

As a writer there’s a bit more at stake.  (Apparently marketing plans take longer to defrost than ground beef.)  Plan to finish your book (final edits and all!) at LEAST a month before you hit that publish button to send your book live to paperback or ebook.  Why?  This gives you extra time to handle unforeseen issues.  I had a couple delays in my book upload process that resulted in me publishing my book a day after I planned.  AND because I missed my self-imposed deadline, I made a couple errors in my book that still need to be fixed- all because I was rushed.  (BTW…you WILL find errors in your book no matter how thoroughly you’ve edited.  I recommend purchasing a preview copy of your book and really reading it through for any potential problems before publishing.)

If you give yourself extra time between finishing book and publishing, you also have the opportunity to pour those last few weeks or months into guest blog posts, book launch event planning, etc.  AND it gives you the opportunity to send out PDF versions of your book ahead of time to your book launch or review team so they can read your book PRIOR to your publish date.

I didn’t leave enough time with either book for my reviewers and I wish I had.  People that don’t know you are going to rely heavily on the book reviews others leave to help them decide if they should purchase.  The more reviews the better!  (Which reminds me….if you’ve read How to Be a Moon and want to leave an honest Amazon review, that would be ever so helpful!!)

You can’t plan ahead to see all the obstacles and delays that may arrive in publishing, but you CAN leave yourself way more time than you think you’ll need so that you can launch your book WELL the first time.

7: Don’t Throw Away Your Giveaways. With my first book, I hit publish, threw the book in the air like a bride throwing her bouquet to all the single ladies, and prayed that it landed in the right hands.  But my aim wasn’t great, and I didn’t get a lot of traction from my giveaways.

For instance, I now regret that I gave away 10 books through “Goodreads“.  It wasn’t a bad idea to get publicity for my book- but the problem was, I had no way of getting my book into the hands of readers who would actually relate to it.  You don’t want to give your book to someone who wants a free book- you want to give your book to someone who will actually ENJOY your book (and possibly share it with others!)

I’ve learned that your giveaways need to be somewhat strategic.  If I offer a free book to someone who agrees to lead a book study with my book, I’m at least increasing the possibility that the giveaway will result in new readers/purchases.  My second book may be applicable to many people, but it will be most relatable to those who have experience with the church.  So I’m better off doing a giveaway at a church speaking event or Christian website than a random giveaway online where I can’t control my audience.

If your book is written for moms, you want your giveaway to reach moms.  I’m still learning how to be creative and specific in reaching my target audience, but I’ve definitely learned the hard way that not all giveaways are equal.

8: Giveaways That Don’t Break the Bank. Everyone likes free stuff, right?  But all those stickers and bookmarks and table goodies that draw people into your book sale table aren’t exactly free for YOU.  Especially if you’re just starting out and your working budget is: “Zero” or “As Cheap As Possible,” you can easily find that you spend way more on trinkets and giveaways than you’re ever going to recoup through book sales.

My solution:

1) Prioritize your giveaways.  It’s better to put a little money into something like a business card that might actually help someone connect with you than buy 10,000 pencils with your book title on them just because they were cheaper in bulk.  Ask yourself what will actually help someone remember you or connect with your product.  Let’s be honest, how many times have we gone to career/college/preschool fairs or product parties just to get the free goodies and walk away?  (Ahem.  Guilty here.)

Giveaway something that fits with your theme OR better yet that makes people want to engage with you on social media.  (Ex.  Give away a sticker and tell people to post selfies online with their sticker with a specific hashtag.)  Giveaways are great, but giveaways with takeaways are best.

2) Giveaway an ebook version of your book.  Amazon KDP allows you to do a variety of discounted price offers, give your book away for free for a limited time, etc.  This can be valuable way to promote your book and offer value to others without spending a dime!

3) Wherever possible, take advantage of giveaways that are FREE or cheap to you.  One of my favorite tips from this last book launch is taking advantage of free product offers from Shutterfly , an online photo store. I get emails from them regularly offering everything from free address labels to sticker sheets, tote bags to mugs.  For my last launch, I got a bunch of address labels with my moon theme and website so I’d have a professional label when I mailed people my new book!  I also created some stickers to give away at my book sale tables.  The stickers didn’t come out quite as well as I would have liked, but the good news is that I only paid shipping costs for them! So it’s a low-risk way to try out a new giveaway, and you can customize everything with your logo, book colors, photos, etc.

The OTHER nice thing is, Shutterfly saves your projects, so if your address labels come out really well, for instance, and you’d like to order more down the road you absolutely can when your budget increases.

9: Team Up With Other Writers. Often we perceive that other writers (especially those who write for similar audiences) are our competition.  But I have to say, the more you view fellow writers as allies, the further you’ll go.  (And I don’t just mean in terms of “success,” a word I hate to use.)  IF you haven’t, I can’t challenge you enough to join a writer’s group.  If you don’t know one, start one.  No one likes critique, but a writer’s group is the best place to find HELPFUL edits from people who are truly invested in your best.

Beyond that, join writer’s conferences, find writers online, team up to do joint book signing events, etc.  Share your resources with other writers and let the share their insight and wisdom with you.  It’s the best decision you’ll ever make.

10. Your Book Isn’t the End of Your Story. You may be tempted to believe that publishing a book will fulfill your deepest longings and dreams.  You might believe a book will become your life’s opus and you’ll never feel the need to prove yourself or dream another dream so long as you live.  Don’t believe it.

When you finish your book you will probably go through various stages of satisfaction (aaaand…DONE!), elation (This is the BEST achievement of my life!!!!), disbelief (how on earth did I ever finish that?), horror (did I REALLY just open my life up for the WHOLE world to read?), and depression (what is the meaning of my life now that my big project is over and all the drive has drained from my life??!!).

Don’t fight the various emotions that come up, but know that you are not alone.  This book writing journey isn’t easy, and life after publishing has as many ups and downs as pre-published life.  Really.

As amazing as your book publishing achievement is (it really really is!!! You should be so proud…), your book doesn’t define you.  Your book sales don’t define you.  Your blog platform and speaking engagements and all that jazz do. not. define. you.

They are part of your story and I believe God will use them in His grand narrative.  But your story doesn’t end with that book- it’s just another chapter in your life.  Allow yourself to look forward to something post publishing- plan a getaway, carve out some soul fill time, a party with friends.  Enjoy this season- but don’t let it blind you to the adventure of the small things, the daily moments that make up your whole life.

I hope this has been even a teensy bit helpful to you.  I can’t wait to read some of YOUR books, blogs, and articles in the near future- as always, feel free to add your own tips from your writing journey or ask additional questions!!  Happy writing, friends!!