How to Self-Publish Your First Book

7-min. read

Self-publishing can be a great alternative to traditional publishing if you do it in the right way and for the right reasons. I believed this when I independently published for the first time in 2013, and I still believe it today. As the author of three self-published books, I have learned a lot about whether and how the self-publishing model can work for a given project. This article is about the “how,” but in order to make that discussion meaningful, I will briefly comment on the “whether.”

In general, self-publishing is a good fit for you if you are comfortable with and interested in managing the entire publishing process, if you want to distribute to a niche audience, and if you are willing to make a financial investment up front in return for more creative control. Traditional publishing is a better option if you consider yourself mostly or exclusively a writer, if you want wider opportunities for distribution, and if you would like the risk of low sales numbers to fall on the publisher instead of you. You shouldn’t discount self-publishing as a legitimate form of publication, but you also shouldn’t assume that it’s the best or only path for your book. For more about the self-publishing model, read on.

Tips for First-Time Self-Published Authors

Don’t Worry Too Much About How “Qualified” You Are to Be an Author

Anyone can publish a book these days, which is wonderful. We live in a world where printing and publishing are much more accessible and where you can learn a great deal on the Internet for free or cheap. I would attach the caveat that it takes a long time to learn how to write well and launch a book effectively and that there typically is an up-front financial investment for self-published authors. That said, the market is much more open to new entrants than it used to be. If you are not qualified to be an author, you can get qualified if you invest the hours necessary to develop a robust skill set, network with like-minded authors, and learn where and how to market yourself. Being qualified to do something is the result of having done it, not the other way around.

Know the Difference Between What You Can Do and What You Should Hire Someone Else to Do

At a minimum, you need someone to write the book, someone to edit the book, someone to proofread the book, someone to design the book, someone to print the book, someone to market the book, and someone to sell the book. Most self-published authors can perform well in many of these roles but not all of them. Before you jump into the publishing process, take an honest assessment of what you already know how to do, what you can reasonably learn how to do, and what should be left to someone with more expertise or better economies of scale. Few authors print their own books because the DIY cost savings on small print volumes typically won’t justify an investment in printing equipment.

Make a Long-Term and Short-Term Plan

Five-year plans are great, but sometimes five-hour plans are better. If self-publishing is a new endeavor for you, it’s okay to put one foot in front of the other. Have big-picture goals fleshed out in enough detail to help you stay focused, but be present in this thrilling time and open yourself up to avenues and opportunities that exist outside your roadmap.

Build Your Network

I was fortunate to join a writing group and find a mentor in my genre within a year of beginning my first book. Having someone who will celebrate your wins and offer some professional kinship makes a world of difference on bad days.

Put Your Best Work Out There

In self-publishing, authors rather than intermediaries decide when the book is ready for print, which is much less objective. As self-published authors, we get to decide what “done” means to us, but just because we have more latitude doesn’t mean we can or should publish a book before it’s ready. I challenge you to evaluate your work against traditional publishing benchmarks. Luckily, you’ve read hundreds of traditionally published books and already have a good grasp of the standards. Set the same or higher standards and hold yourself to them. Many authors take a year or longer to get a book from idea to printed copy. Be meticulous about editing and invest enough time to make sure your book represents you well.

Accept That This One Piece of Writing ≠ You as a Writer ≠ You as a Person

I have a very strong emotional attachment to my writing practice. I understand that many writers have a hard time separating their personal and professional identities because I do, too. That said, when you believe that people who like your writing must like you and that the inverse is also true, it’s much harder to maintain a healthy mindset and keep the good and bad in perspective. There are a lot of ups and downs in self-publishing, and they don’t necessarily define the value of your writing and certainly not your worth as a writer.

Choose a Printer Wisely

Before parting with any money, ask yourself or someone else at least three questions.

• What is their track record for producing quality books? It is very important that you find a legitimate printing company, not one that scams or otherwise takes advantage of self-published authors. The best way to be assured the company is legitimate is to assess the quality of previous printing jobs. If you belong to a formal or informal network of other self-published authors, ask your friends for recommendations and check out whether their books meet your quality standards. If you already have a company in mind but do not personally know anyone who has worked with them, ask your printer for examples of their work.

• How much do they charge? If you get quotes on your book order from multiple printing companies, you will have a better idea of what constitutes a fair price. Many companies also offer a quick tool on their website that allows you to input factors such as order quantity, dimensions of book, paper weight, and color versus black and white to see how each will affect price.

• Do they offer any or all low-commitment printing plans? One feature that appeals to a lot of self-published authors is print-on-demand, which means that instead of ordering a set quantity, you can order some books now (with a price break for larger orders) and continue placing additional orders as you sell books. This can safeguard you against a large financial investment up front if you are writing in a niche area, have a limited budget, or don’t have any prior sales records on which to base decisions. Not everybody needs or wants print-on-demand, but if you fall into this category, be sure to find out whether your printer offers a low-commitment printing plan.

Put Your Best Self Out There

For many writers, myself included, self-promotion does not come naturally. I recognize that I need to promote myself and my work effectively in order to be a successful self-published author, but it makes me very uncomfortable. When you publish your book, someone may ask you to participate in a book-signing, author event, or speaking engagement, or you may seek out those opportunities yourself. What to do when you love to connect with readers but are risk-averse or don’t like attention? Start with this checklist.

• Keep the risk in perspective. Action is a risk, but so, too, is inaction. The cost of messing up isn’t much higher than the cost of doing nothing. You probably have less to lose than you think.

• Make it about the other person. It feels great to give back to the writing community some of what it’s given to me. When I donate books to charitable raffles or offer to lead a writing workshop for elementary students, the conversation turns from promotion to connection. This makes me feel more comfortable in my skin, and it’s a way to be on stage without being in the spotlight.

• Live your life as if your fear didn’t exist. If you don’t do something because you’re afraid of it, you will feel relieved for a little bit and then probably guilty or depressed. You also give your mind the feedback loop that you need to avoid scary things in order to be okay, and you are more likely to continue to do so in the future. On the other hand, if you face your fear, you will very likely find out it was less scary / you are braver than you expected. I still get butterflies when I tell people I’m a published author, but it’s much easier than it was the first time.

• Define what is (and is not) your responsibility. It’s your job to give people the opportunity to find and like you. You are responsible for the quality of content you put into the world and whether and how you present yourself to the world. The sooner you let go of the rest, the better.

Plan for the Next Book

Maybe this is the first time you’ve promoted or sold something. There are a variety of ways to enter the market, including selling your book online, attending book-signings and other author events, participating in writers’ groups, submitting a press release to local media, and writing articles about your subject of interest. The good news is, paying attention to what works and what doesn’t will get you farther faster when you publish again. You don’t need stellar math skills to do a simple cost-benefit analysis and discover how to allocate your resources (both time and money) more efficiently next time. If you are savvy about analytics and make it a priority to track where your sales come from, you can set yourself up for a great second book launch.

Final Thoughts

Congratulations, you are a published author! I would leave you with the following advice: Don’t be afraid to outgrow your first book. I tried to write in the same way for longer than it was fun and for longer than it was fruitful. Don’t let this happen to you. It’s natural to want to grow and learn and master more challenging forms and concepts. It’s natural that your work will evolve when you become more talented as a writer and more mature as a human being. If you’ve nurtured a healthy writing practice, it will expand with your skill set.

Did I miss anything? What are your best tips for self-published authors? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

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