Steps to a Rocking Self-Publishing Career

Lessons from Interviews with 10 Self-Published Authors

By Simon Whistler

RockingSelfPublishing.com

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Contents

Preface

About the Podcast

Thanks

Who Are the Authors?

Writing

Words per Day

Rapid Writing

Scene-based Writing

Recycling Material

Consume

Writer’s Block

Technical Issues

Agents and Publishers

Still want to go Traditional?

Pricing and Finances

Making a Living

Pricing

Higher Prices

First Book Free

Marketing

Email Lists

Reviews

Targeting Marketing

Marketing Expenses

Social Media

Real-world Marketing

Launch Marketing

Keyword Marketing on Amazon

Author Websites

Creating an “Octopus”

Owning Your Own Site

Book Covers

Premade Covers

Custom Covers

The Cover Design Process

Delivery

Editing, Proofreading and Beta Readers

Full, Copy or Line Editing

How do you choose an Editor?

No Editor?

Proofreading

Beta Readers

Community

Your Current Friends and Family

Goodreads

After the Book is Out

Keep Writing

Schedule Your Writing

The Long Haul

Dealing with Critics

Printing

What’s Next?

Preface

I’m Simon Whistler. I put this short guide together after conducting several interviews as part

of the podcast I host—The Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast. Thanks as well to all of the guests

who have appeared on the show so far; you make the podcast possible.

So what is this short guide? Well, while the feedback I’ve been getting from the show was

positive, a lot of it was saying, “Whoa, Simon, this is a lot of information! I’m trying to write

down all the things your guests talk about, but I can barely keep up!”

I’ve been trying to deal with this through the show notes that I provide on the website

(RockingSelfPublishing.com) each week, but they are a bit disjointed as they are organized by

who was interviewed rather than by subject. This guide brings together all of the information

shared in the show by subject, so it should be both more digestible and more actionable.

If you listen to the show, you’ll know that there is no “one right way” of writing or marketing

a book as an indie author. For that reason, you’ll find that some of the action steps and advice

here can conflict. I do not advocate one strategy over another, but all the strategies here have all

worked for different authors, so I’d recommend going through this guide and picking out the

strategies you feel would work for you and implementing them.

I hope you find this useful and good luck rocking your indie career.

About the Podcast

The Rocking Self-Publishing podcast goes out each Thursday. While this book distils some

of the information heard on the show, it doesn’t cover everything. I also like to think the show is

quite entertaining, so if you are not a regular listener, I’d give it a go—

RockingSelfPublishing.com.

Thanks

The cover for this guide was designed by the talented Adrijus Guscia over at Rocking Book

Covers.

A proofread was completed by Sarah Barbour at Aeroplane Media.

The formatting was done by RM Prioleau, author and the sixth guest on the podcast.

Thank you all, and thank you to all the authors mentioned in this guide.

Who Are the Authors?

Libbie Hawker (L.M. Ironside)—Historical fiction writer and author of The She-King

series.

Danielle Bourdon—Author of The Royals series.

Lisa Grace—Author of The Angel series.

Alan Petersen—Recent first time author of the spy thriller, The Asset.

Joe Nobody—Accidental bestselling author with a unique marketing and pricing strategy.

R.M. Prioleau—Author of The Necromancer’s Apprentice and major advocate of writing

communities.

Darren Wearmouth—Another recent first time author, he co-wrote First Activation with his

brother Marcus.

Adrijus Guscia—The first non-author I had on the show, he shares his knowledge about

book cover design.

Lindsay Buroker—Fantasy writer with a background in websites and blogging.

Victoria Jeffery—Author who tried to go traditional in the 1990s and came to self-

publishing two years ago.

Writing

The actual writing process seems like an appropriate place to start. Let’s have a look at how

my first ten guests go about writing their books.

Words per Day

Most experienced authors I have interviewed have moved away from the “X number of

words per day” option to get writing done. They’ll often say “I’ll aim for 1000” rather than “I

have to do 1000 without fail.” You can also choose another way to set a goal, such as doing one

chapter per day. Really, what it comes down to here is personal preference, but just make sure

whatever strategy you choose works for you.

Rapid Writing

R.M. Prioleau and Danielle Bourdon have used “novel writing months” to complete books.

These pressure you into writing a book: it doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be written. It is

a “words per day” system, but it is short term and is a sprint rather than a marathon.

National Novel Writers Month (NaNoWriMo.org) is a good place to get started. It happens in

November. There are other writing months for different genres throughout the year. For

NaNoWriMo, you have to write 50,000 words in a month to complete the challenge—some

authors do more, but you have to hit the 50k minimum.

Danielle used this to complete her first book. Once she had done that, she found it easier to

do another (and another, and another). She also says that it is important to let go of perfectionism

or you will never finish anything and writing rapidly is a great way to do that.

NaNoWriMo has a word counter which can be publically seen so there is plenty of peer

pressure encouraging you to write! You don’t have to edit anything during this month; you just

have to get the word count done. In fact R.M. says that NaNoWriMo is such a productive time

for her that she usually writes only during this month and spends the other months of the year

editing and perfecting what she has written.

Scene-based Writing

Alan Petersen opts for a scene-based method of writing. He will draw up an outline of the

book and then just start writing each scene that forms a part of the novel. They don’t have to be

fully formed and you don’t have to write in order—just get something written down and then

start fleshing everything out later.

A good software program that Alan recommends for this is Scrivener—great for structuring a

novel.

Setting Your Book

Libbie Hawker has a huge interest and amount of knowledge in the area she writes in. This

means that she already has a lot of information about the setting of her books and doesn’t have to

do a lot of research. The research process is easier if you are interested in the subject and writing

is easier if you already know the setting well. If possible, set your book somewhere you are

familiar with and around a topic you are knowledgeable in; that way, you then won’t be starting

from scratch. Joe Nobody says that everybody has some experience in life they can use in a book

—you don’t have to have been a policeman or a firefighter, but you do have to work out what of

life experience you can bring to your novel.

Related to writing about what you know, Lisa Grace says that you shouldn’t chase a hot

genre. Instead, find something you are passionate about and write about that. It will show

through in your writing. Of course, you should be logical about this; if your interest is incredibly

niche then you might struggle to make an income off it. Victoria Jeffrey highlights the problem

that she faced when she wrote children’s fiction, which is a much harder area to break into—she

points that children don’t buy books and that the market is still very dominated by traditional

publishers.

Recycling Material

Victoria wrote two full-length novels back in the 1990s when traditional publishing was her

only option. Ultimately, these were not published, and when she looked back at them nearly two

decades later, she decided not to self-publish them either—she felt her writing had progressed to

such a level that they no longer cut it. This didn’t mean the end of them, though, as she regularly

dips into them for ideas and scenes. Material you have written but don’t want to publish can be a

great inspiration when you are stuck for ideas, so don’t delete your old manuscripts!

Consume

Libbie Hawker highlighted the importance of keeping up with your genre. As a writer, you

should be reading heavily, especially in the genre you write in. Audiobooks can be a great way to

fit in more reading.

Writer’s Block

Be logical about it: if you have become stuck in the story and are not making progress, then

take a couple of days and take a step back, put on the “editor’s hat,” as Libbie calls it, and think

“Why is the story not progressing? What’s wrong with what I’ve written so far?” When Libbie

gets stuck, she knows something incorrect has happened in the plot, so she goes back and figures

that out. She says you must be ruthless about cutting out writing that doesn’t work.

Alan Petersen says that if you get in the habit of writing everyday, it is easier to get unstuck.

You’ll have to write something each day, which will force your story to progress. R.M. Prioleu

would recommend joining a writing month, which compels you to hit that word count each day.

Victoria Jeffrey says that having a detailed outline of your book can be a good idea if you

find yourself getting stuck with writing. Some authors find that the words just come and the story

unfolds, others don’t. If you fall into the latter category, draw up a plan before you write your

book.

Technical Issues

Lisa Grace says keep things simple when writing. Use a basic word processing program and

don’t do any formatting to make it look nice. Most of your nice formatting will get messed up

anyway when you converting it to an ebook format.

Agents and Publishers

We’re a self-publishing show, but traditional publishing often comes up in the conversation.

In this section, we’ll look at what my first ten guests had to say about the traditional publishing

world.

Our first interviewee, Libbie Hawker, said she wasted two years trying to find an agent when

she should have been embracing self-publishing. She says that you should stop trying to find an

agent and focus on your writing. Libbie says that agents don’t always know what the market

wants and readers and writers are the only crucial elements—agents and publishers are an

unnecessary addition.

This sentiment has been echoed by many guests on the show. Self-publishing is a powerful

way for you to reach your reader base directly.

Still want to go Traditional?

The traditional world might still have a place for you. This can be especially true if you have

already had success with self-publishing—at which point you might actually be approached by a

traditional publisher. At this point, you can see traditional publishing as a way to reduce risk. For

example, if you have hit it big with one series that has come to a close, signing on to a publisher

for another series (or just a single book) can be a way to reduce the risk of the new book not

being a success. You’ll have a publisher who has already paid you some amount in advance, no

matter how well the book does.

Pricing and Finances

Each author who has been on the show so far has said that they either write full time or want

to. It’s never an issue of passion; it’s always an issue of money. If you want to make a living as

an author you absolutely need to be aware of the business and financial side of things.

Making a Living

Several authors on the show have said that the way to make a living as an author is to go self-

published. Sure, publishers have their benefits, but there is good money in self-publishing even if

you are not a big-time indie author.

Pricing

Pricing information can get out of date quickly. Therefore you should look at how self-

published books in your genre are priced. A few guests have also said that unless you are doing a

promotion on Amazon, then you should absolutely price your book so you get the 70% revenue

share (as of September 2013, that’s a $2.99 minimum).

Higher Prices

As I said at the start there is some conflicting information in this guide. One person who

prices rather differently from the rest is Joe Nobody—all but one of his books are above $9. He

chose higher prices because this is the entertainment value he feels they provide. He said that if a

person takes ten hours to read a book, then $9 is a good deal (especially when you consider the

cost of the movies today!)

Joe is not worried about his price being higher than other indie authors. His experimentation

with prices showed that there is very little advantage to pricing lower; even when he gave the

novel away for free, he found downloads did not increase much. “If we dropped the price to $4,

we didn’t have the marketing reach to double the sales”—financially, it just didn’t make sense.

If you give your customer a good story, a well-edited book, and a nice cover, people won’t

really mind the few extra dollars, says Joe.

First Book Free

This one is mostly for series authors, and Danielle Bourdon uses it to great effect. If you have

written several books, it can be a great idea to make the first book free. A good free book can be

a great way to get readers interested in your series, and if they really like the first one, they’ll

probably be happy to pay for the sequel. Danielle is by no means the only author to use this

strategy and Lindsay Buroker and Lisa Grace have also used it to great effect.

This is great if you have a series already out, but what if you’re a new author with just one

book (that might not even be a part of a series)? Although Lindsay Buroker now has a full,

seven-book series and uses this perma-free model, she didn’t always. When she finished her first

book, she wanted to entice readers in, so she wrote a prequel novella, which she gave away. Not

only did this make readers want to know what happen next, but she also included a short sample

from the main novel at the end.

If you have the time, writing a short prequel to give away can be a great way to drive the

sales of your main novel. Lindsay does warn, though, that you shouldn’t put too large a sample at

the end of the prequel or you might upset readers—no one likes thinking they still have 30% of

the book left when all that they have is actually just a sample!

Marketing

For indie authors, marketing is absolutely essential to their books’ success. Joe Nobody even

writes his marketing plan before he writes the book! This ties in closely to the business mindset

brought up in the previous section—if you are going to make a career out of writing, marketing

skills are essential. In this section we’re going to look at some different marketing strategies you

might like to implement.

Alan says there is a misconception that if you have a traditional publisher, it is going to do

some marketing for you. If you are an unknown, it is going to require you to do a lot of the heavy

lifting. Don’t think that by going with a publisher you are going to get much marketing included.

Email Lists

Lisa Grace works hard to communicate with her fan base. Email is an easy way to talk to

them and inform them about her new books. Lindsay Buroker says that her email list is very

useful when she releases a book as she will encourage readers to buy the book early which will

lift it into the bestseller lists.

Reviews

These are essential, especially early on. You should reach out to your personal network and

encourage people to review your work. Darren Wearmouth asked his friends to give honest

reviews if they wanted to and he was pleasantly surprised by how many people bothered!

Alan Petersen says you should contact the book bloggers in your genre. Google can find

these. First find the name of a book that is selling well in your genre and then search Google for

the name of the book followed by “review.” You’ll easily find a few bloggers and reviewers in

your genre this way. Now you just need to send them a personal email (no templates!) along the

lines of “I see you review books in X genre, I’d love you to review mine, can I send you a free

copy?” Offer an ebook or a print copy. Alan put together a spreadsheet of all the people he was

going to contact before the book even launched—another author drawing up a marketing plan

before the book launch!

Joe Nobody builds longer-term relationships with bloggers. When he releases a new book,

he’ll reach out to this small group and just ask them for a mention. These tend to have smaller

audiences, but he has a good relationship with them and they have loyal readers who are more

likely to convert into sales.

Targeting Marketing

Certainly one of the most unique marketing strategies was shared by Joe Nobody. Joe will

integrate currently popular topics into his novels as part of his marketing strategy. For his latest

book, he found that pleasure boating was going through a resurgence in the US, so he decided to

integrate that into his novel—in this case, he gave the main character a boat. Joe also uses this

strategy to give his character depth; for example, he might want to make his main character a bit

nerdy, so he’ll give him an interest in model trains.

Upon release, he executes a marketing plan that involves contacting various websites that

have a readership which is interested in the topic he chose to target, for example, boating or

model trains. These people are not a community primarily interested in reading but instead

interested in the specific subject matter.

He contacts them asking:

- Can I do a guest post on your site about my book?

- Is this something your readers might be interested in?

- Would you like to review the book?

You can find these sites simply by searching Google. For example if you are using model

trains, search Google for “model train blog” or “model train community.”

Not only does this strategy create a better book by giving the characters depth, it opens up

great marketing channels that most authors are not utilizing.

Marketing Expenses

“The days of somebody writing a book, not spending any money on promoting it, rounding it

out, or improving it, and being wildly successful are such a small percentage of writers these

days”—Joe Nobody.

Joe says that $1500 is the amount you should have set aside for your book to pay for

everything, including some marketing.

Many authors have said that you should have money to spend on your books. See it as a

business venture that is going to require a bit of investment. As well as spending money on

editing, you’ll need to spend on marketing. This can be as simple as a good cover or a more

advanced strategy, such as paying for advertising or book promotions.

Social Media

When R.M. Prioleau launched her first book, she used her social media presence to promote

the book. Even if you have never published before, you can still put the book in front of your

friends on Facebook or Twitter. She also placed her book in the “Book Bazaar” on KBoards (a

popular online forum for indie writers).

Darren Wearmouth found that getting in touch with people who had reached out to him on

social media about his book and gently asking them for a review was a good way of encouraging

people to leave reviews who otherwise might not have.

Real-world Marketing

R.M. says that book signings are not just for the established author—she printed several

books using CreateSpace and reached out to local coffee shops about whether she could set up a

table and sign books for people. Book signings have been a profitable venture for her in

themselves. Doing these in coffee shops is almost always free; you just have to ask.

Launch Marketing

Darren Wearmouth shared with us his launch strategy which help him become ranked

number one for horror and sci-fi in the UK, as well as achieving impressive results in the US. Of

course, he and his brother co-wrote a good book, but he also executed an effective initial

marketing drive.

Darren’s strategy involved utilizing paid advertising. It was affordable but effective and done

over the first week of his book launch—although he had put all of the advertising agreements

into place prior to launch (once again, an example of an author properly planning marketing

before the book launch).

If you want your book to take off from the start without a fan base you need to organize

something like Darren’s strategy. What is effective certainly changes over time, but if you don’t

do a big marketing drive at the start, your book probably won’t take off.

Darren’s strategy is outlined below. Have a look into some of the advertising partners he uses

here and see whether you might want to use them for your book launch. They are all affordable

for the new indie author.

Pre-launch—Got a decent cover and created an interesting book description. This makes the

book a nice package. Initially, he decided on a pricing strategy of 99 pence and 99 cents to get

exposure and get people to enjoy the book.

Day 0—Targeting advertisers that would work with them. Darren found these by reading the

experiences of other indie authors (KBoards is a great place to start). He had a targeting plan and

spoke to all the advertisers he wanted to use in advance. He made personal contact with the

people who do promotions on these sites and asked their advice—they were very helpful.

Day 1—Family and friends went and bought the book. Darren saw a really great response

from personal networks. He also bought a week-long advertising banner with eReader News

Today. Decided that Facebook/Adwords/GoodReads was probably not as useful. While he didn’t

make money back from eReader News Today, he did get a lot of clicks and exposure.

Day 2—Advertising on Pixel Scroll.

Day 3—Placed an advert with Kindle Nation Daily , which was a very approachable site.

Excellent access to different ads available and information on how effective they all are. Darren

went for a $99 ad, which had been effective for other authors. This is what propelled his book’s

Amazon ranking close to the top 1000. (While it’s hard to tell what is the direct cause of any

single sale, Kindle Nation Daily seems the most likely candidate here.)

Day 4 –Started an Ebook Booster promotion, which promotes your book to 25 sites at once,

making advertising in many affordable places a great deal easier. It costs $40 and it is all done

for you. His Kindle Nation Daily ad continued to be effective.

Day 5—Had a campaign with Book Blast , which promotes ebooks on sale to an email list.

Jason, who runs the service, was very helpful and easy to work with.

Day 6—Used the Kindle Fire Department. Advertises your book every two months and has a

large audience.

It’s well known in the indie world that a strategy that works well today might not work

tomorrow. Mentioned numerous times on the show is KBoards, where the latest info on what

marketing is currently effective is often shared. It pays to keep up to date when planning your

marketing.

Keyword Marketing on Amazon

Alan Petersen says that as long as you are an unknown author, people won’t be searching for

your book specifically. Instead they’ll be searching in the genre, so this is where you need to

focus your marketing efforts. Alan writes in the spy thriller genre, so he wants people who are

searching Amazon for “spy thriller” to see his book.

Alan says the first thing you should find out is what your prospective readers are searching

Amazon for. As Alan says, his target readers are searching for things like “CIA thriller” and “spy

thriller,” so he will want to target those keywords. You can get a good idea of what keywords to

use by guessing the first part such as “spy” or “cia” and typing that into the Amazon search box.

At this point, it will attempt to auto complete the search term, and from this list you’ll be able to

get a good idea of what keywords people are searching for. In the case of “cia,” we get “cia

thrillers” and “cia fiction,” among others.

Targeting these keywords means that when someone types “CIA thrillers” into the Amazon

search box, Alan’s book comes up near the top. To do this, you can include this term in your

book and author description on Amazon. Don’t use it too much; one or two times in each works

well.

Author Websites

Lisa Grace was the first interviewee to highlight the importance of having a website. She

says that you must have a website before you even launch your book! Your main site should be

based on your name (not your novel), as this will allow you lots of flexibility when it comes to

writing more books, especially if you want to switch genres. Purchase the title of the book/series

domain if you want, but this should be a secondary consideration.

Lisa believes that you should have consistency in your online presence. Take the domain of

your name, for example: “www.johndoe.com”, or, if that is taken go for

“www.johndoebooks.com”. You should then also use this for your other online profiles, so if you

were signing up for Twitter, you would use “@johndoebooks”.

Creating an “Octopus”

Lisa says you need to have an “octopus-like” strategy. You should have “arms” in many

areas informing people about your books but they should all lead back to the “body,” which is

the main website. For example, you should have a Facebook page, Twitter account, et cetera, but

on each one you must have a link back to your own website. Every presence you develop online

should always have a link back to your own site.

All the authors we’ve had on the show have a website with information about their books. It

is a good place to send people who are interested in your work. Once you are more established

and have built a following, having a base for fans to come to is invaluable.

Owning Your Own Site

Lindsay Buroker notes that by having your own website, you have complete control. When

someone else’s website is your main presence online (such as a page on Facebook), you can run

into trouble if they change their policies. Having your own site will also make you look more

professional.

Victoria Jeffrey saw her sales drop when Facebook went through an update that made one of

her marketing strategies far less effective. She now runs her own site, which isn’t subject to the

whims of Facebook meaning she is far less likely to see a marketing channel disappear.

Alan Petersen (and many others) hosts his site on the WordPress platform, which is very easy

to use once you have the hang of it. It also allows you to install Google Analytics, which will

show you where your visitors are coming from and therefore what part of your marketing is

being most effective.

Setting up a WordPress website is inexpensive. You can find hosting for $50-60 a year, plus

a domain name for $10-12. Lindsay recommends that if you are not the most technical person,

you seek out help getting set up. Elance, oDesk and even Fiverr are good places to look for

assistance (or you can just ask a knowledgeable friend). You’ll probably want to go with a

WordPress site as it is easy to run and doesn’t require any serious computer skills.

Book Covers

Book covers are the first thing a reader sees when browsing Amazon (possibly even before

the title), so making a good one is essential.

Lisa Grace says that for book cover inspiration, you should have a look at the top covers in

your genre. You can then send your chosen designer the covers that you really like, and he or she

will be able to start designing based on your preferences.

Adrijus Guscia was the first non-author I had on the show, and he told us about the process

for getting a book cover designed. He summed the situation up well: “Unless you are a graphic

designer, you should pay for cover design.”

That being said, I did mention at the start that this guide will have conflicting advice:

Danielle Bourdon, who has a wide range of great-looking covers, makes all of them herself.

Perhaps it just comes down to whether you have the skills to do the work yourself.

There are two main types of cover that indie authors typically go for:

Premade Covers

For the first time author who is looking for something eye catching and does not want to

spend a fortune, getting a premade cover from a designer is a great idea. The downside is you

won’t get it tailored to your book—but if you can find one that matches, you’re going to save a

chunk of money.

Premade covers can go for under $50 and are usually around 50-80% lower than the price

that designer would charge for a totally custom cover. If you have found a designer you like, go

and have a look at their premades before you shell out for a fully custom cover as you might find

something spot on for far less.

The Cover Design Process

This is the process that Adrijus outlined, but your designer of choice might do things a bit

differently. This should give you a good general idea of how it will work, though:

1. Find your designer of choice and hire him or her.

2. The designer will send you a series of questions about the book and probably ask for a

synopsis.

3. You’ll receive a few basic ideas for your cover; each should be notably different.

4. Your feedback goes to the designer.

5. Revisions are made and sent to you.

6. Repeat review and revisions until satisfied.

7. Spine and back are created based on main cover design. Reviewed and revised until the

author is happy.

Delivery

Your book cover will be delivered however you want. If you are unsure what you need to do,

just ask your designer, who has done it many times before. For example, if you want a cover for

an Amazon ebook, say so; the designer will know what the right format and size is.

Editing, Proofreading and Beta Readers

Editing is worth doing; everyone agrees on that. Even if you are a very talented writer, you

should hire an editor. Joe Nobody says that he made the mistake that all indie authors make and

that was not hiring an editor for his first book. Joe’s sentiment is echoed by most experience

authors.

It can be expensive, but it is worth setting aside some money for it. You’ll find a wide range

of editing options, at a wide range of costs. Here we are going to look at those pursued by my

first ten guests.

Full, Copy or Line Editing

Full editing is a really deep edit. Your editor will give you advice on the story and your

characters, this is often called a developmental edit. Line or copy editing just makes sure

everything flows—it’s where the editor will read and actively correct the text. There is a lot of

confusion over editing terms in the indie world, when you are thinking about hiring an editor

make sure you know what you are getting – ask for specifics.

How do you choose an Editor?

Check their references and be careful about it. KBoards is a great place to start and you’ll

find a good base of recommended editors there who have been used by writers on the boards.

The freelance websites (oDesk, Elance, Freelancer, et cetera) also have a lot of editors, but be

careful to choose someone with excellent references.

Interviewing editors is also important. Alan Petersen says that you should never give them

the first chapter as it’s usually the part of the book that needs the least editing! Choose something

from the middle as by that time you’re usually being a bit lazy. A good editor will do a sample

for you for free.

On the Rocking Self-Publishing website, you’ll find a page of resources I update regularly.

Here you’ll find a select few editors whom my guests speak very highly of.

No Editor?

Victoria Jeffrey said that an editor was just something she couldn’t afford at the start of her

indie career. It was interesting to get this perspective on the show as there will be many people

who want to write but cannot afford to hire a quality editor and don’t want to risk wasting money

on someone who isn’t capable. Don’t let not being able to afford an editor stop you from writing,

but equally, don’t underestimate the value of an editor. As you’ll see below, Victoria uses beta

readers to help bridge the gap of not having an editor. She knows this solution is not perfect,

however, and intends to hire an editor shortly.

Proofreading

Also very useful, but this doesn’t have the “big picture” view of other types of editing. R.M.

Prioleau decided to use friends and family at first to proofread the book. They did it for free but

weren’t as capable as someone who proofreads for a living. She also says that if you have a

critique group, members can be great proofreaders as they’ll tend to be more honest than friends

or family.

Just as with an editor, always be careful to check references. KBoards is a good place to start

as are the freelancing websites mentioned above.

Beta Readers

Beta readers are a great idea, but make sure these people will give it to you straight. For this

reason, using family or close friends is not a great idea.

Victoria Jeffrey, who was open with us about the fact that she doesn’t have an editor, says

that beta readers were invaluable. While they didn’t know the industry terms, they were quick to

point out any problems with her books (like the continuity issues that an editor would usually

pick up).

Community

Lisa Grace highlighted the lonely process that writing can be. She describes it as, “Just you

and what you are using to write on.” Therefore she recommends social interaction online (with

both writers and readers) to deal with that. KBoards is a great place to start interacting with both

readers and writers.

Writing communities were a particular focus in my interview with R.M. Prioleau. She says

that meeting in person can be really valuable and a group can provide feedback on your work

before you publish. She attends a weekly meeting of authors, all of whom have different skills.

Online groups are also a good option if you can’t find a local meeting.

Your Current Friends and Family

They’re probably not writers, but they are readers. They might be biased towards you and

find it difficult to give you honest feedback, but don’t discount your family and close friends.

Danielle Bourdon says that she always runs an idea past her husband first and then her parents.

She doesn’t ask them for ideas; she just makes sure the ideas she comes up with are of interest to

them.

Goodreads

Go and sign up for this and start reading and reviewing others books. Libbie Hawker says

that it is very important to use it as a reader and not just as a writer.

Write reviews and get involved. Don’t go in and start shouting that you have a book—even if

the book is good, people will slam you because you are marketing too aggressively. Libbie also

says having friends who are writers can be great for feedback.

After the Book is Out

Marketing. Obviously. We’ve mentioned this previously—writing is just one part of being a

self-published author. You now have to make sure people will buy your book. But what else

should you be doing once you have clicked the “publish” button?

Keep Writing

Danielle Bourdon says that it is incredibly important to keep writing. If you are serious about

making a living as an indie author, you are going to have to write more books, so you may as

well get writing straight away. She says that there will be peaks and troughs in your sales, but it

is important to keep writing through all the fluctuations and to not get demotivated.

Lisa Grace echoes that, reminding authors that if you are planning to make writing your full-

time income, then you need to accept that it is a full-time job. This is especially true for indie

authors as you are going to have to market and build a fan base for your books as well.

Schedule Your Writing

Victoria Jeffrey says that if you want to be seen as more than just a one-hit-wonder, you need

to produce regular content. This is especially true if you are writing a series. You must let people

know in any way you can that the first book is not the only book! People will come back for

more if they like the first book, so make sure those who are looking for a sequel can either find it

or know when it is arriving.

Essentially once your book is out, you need to start on the next one (but still leave enough

time for marketing).

The Long Haul

There are a few examples of self-published authors who have become very successful in a

short amount of time, but it is important to remember that these are few and far between. While

this may seem disheartening, making it “overnight” is far from usual. Victoria Jeffrey says that

even if you aren’t “making it,” you must stick with it—at least for a certain amount of time.

Victoria has given herself five years to turn writing into a full-time job. If she makes it sooner,

great, but she knows that most of the time, it takes a long time to turn writing into a full-time

career.

Dealing with Critics

Most of my interviewees say you should read all the reviews, good or bad. Self-published

authors don’t usually have access to the kind of editorial support you might get if you were

traditionally published. Reviews are a great way to get feedback on your book for free—read

them and implement the useful feedback. It’s relatively easy to update a book today, so if readers

are pointing out errors, try to correct them quickly.

Bear in mind no one will write a book that everyone loves. Even some of the most notable

books in the world get scathing reviews—you simply can’t please everyone! If the book is not

for them, it’s not for them. Negative reviews don’t mean you are a bad writer, they just means

you’re not everyone’s writer. This has been a recurring comment in the interviews.

Printing

Joe Nobody says that you should absolutely do a print copy of your book. It looks great on

Amazon, it costs nothing to do, and it can be great for marketing. Bloggers receive a lot of

ebooks to review; sending a paperback copy can make you stand out from the rest. Joe

recommends using CreateSpace.

R.M. also recommends CreateSpace, saying that it is easy to manage with a bit of work.

There is also a paid service on the site if you don’t want the headache of doing it all yourself.

R.M. also says that having the printed book in your hands is a great experience; it can motivate

you to get back to the writing desk!

What’s Next?

Go sit at your computer and start typing!

On a more serious note, I do hope that this short guide has brought together the ideas shared

in my first ten interviews in a neat way. Hopefully it has given you some actionable advice that

you’ll be able to implement whatever stage you are at in your indie career.

Our podcast comes out every Thursday at RockingSelfPublishing.com—keep on listening!

Thanks,

Simon