The Five Rules of Self-Publishing

In this post I would like to share with you my five rules that I believe are most important for the self-published author. I am often asked by aspiring authors how they should approach self-publishing, and like I always say, it should be approached like a business. The five rule for self-publishing are:

1. Before your book goes to print, order your own ISBN (International Standard Book Number). You can either a strip of ten numbers or a single ISBN number if you only plan to publish one book. Make sure you purchase them yourself from www.isbn.org.


2. As soon as your manuscript is complete, begin to look for:

• Printer: A book printer is the person that is going to take your manuscript and convert it into a book. Standard industry book sizes for paperback books are 5x8 or 6x9.
• Typesetter: This is the person that is going to format your book according to your chosen book printer's requirements. They do what is called 'designing the interior of your book', since they will put page numbers where they should be, and they will set up the book with the proper headers, footers, table of contents (if applicable) and more. Once they have finished, your manuscript will look like a book once it is printed.
• Proofreader/Editor: These people serve as your other set of eyes to make sure that you don't have too many misspelled words (even the best books can have a few of these) or sentences that   look      like     this.
• Graphic Designer/Illustrator or Professional Cover Designer: This is the person that is going to design your book according to your specifications. When choosing someone to design your cover, be sure to select one that has experience designing books for book printers. They will know what type of software to use to create your cover, such as Adobe In Design and Adobe Photoshop among others.
• Distribution Method: How will you deliver the books that people have ordered?

3. As soon as your manuscript is complete, and even while you are writing, you must think about marketing. How are you going to sell this wonderful book that you have written and what are you going to do to get the word out about your book.

4.Define your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your book? Narrow this down. You can't give a broad statement such as 'My book is written for everybody' because it is not. Your book is written for a specific group of people. Your job is to find them and get them to purchase and read your book.

5. Be sure self-publishing is the method you want to embrace. It may not be for you. This should have been rule number one.

Until next time,
~Sandra~