I apologize for not being here “live” to answer questions and chat with you, but I’m spending time with my new baby boy! He’s an absolute doll, but a bit of an attention hog. (Go figure.) Anyway, I will be back live again soon, but in the meantime, D.D. has graciously offered to post my blogs in my absence. So, on to today’s post…
When I first started self-publishing, just over two years ago, there weren’t a lot of authors doing it yet, and it was in the infant stages of taking off. Now, it seems there are tons of authors doing it, which is super exciting to me. And, as it’s taken off, there are also just as many people telling you what you NEED to do into order to successfully self-publish your books. Specially, what you need to pay for.
A lot of us are on a budget. Let’s face it, writers are generally not millionaires. And I’ve heard from a few authors that they’d love to self-publish, but just can’t afford it right now. This statement has me scratching my head big time, since the total cost for my first self published book was $10. So, here are my tips to self-publishing on a budget:
1. Do your own cover.
This may sound daunting at first, but, trust me, I am no artist either. But there are tons of great stock art sites where you can find gorgeous photos or illustrations for very reasonable prices. Pick an image that fits your book, pay for the license to use it, download. This is where I spent my full $10 on my first self-published book. Then you can easily download free programs like GIMP or Paint, and add a title (Big and clear! No fancy fonts!) and author name to the front. Voila! Cover.
2. Find a critique partner to edit your book.
While it’s great to hire a professional editor if you can afford it (and I do recommend this if you can – I do now for every book!), you can often find some very grammar savvy people willing to read your book for free. I’ve seen editing co-ops crop up on several writers’ forums, where you edit her book in exchange for her editing your book. Have a friend who is grammar savvy read it for you. Or, even one who isn’t, just to point out typos. I believe it is very important to have a well edited book, but you can, with a little work, find people generally willing to help for free or a reading exchange who will do a great job.
3. Forget fancy formatting.
I hear so much about the importance of formatting… but I honestly don’t get it. I may be doing this all wrong, but I upload word docs to most sites. The only time I’ve run into an issue is with very large files (my 5 book boxed set, for instance). Amazon can take word docs and so can BN, and both have looked fine to me. Smashwords is particular about how their docs are formatted, but they have a very comprehensive guide that you can follow which almost always does the trick. Some places require an epub, but you can find free online converters to turn your doc into a epub, then you can download Sigil for free and edit the epub if needed.
(P.S. there have been times that I have paid for formatting – when I was short on time or with very large problem files – but my point is you don’t NEED to in order to get started. If you do want formatting done, I highly recommend Lee at Ironhorse Formatting. He’s very quick, and his prices are great!)
4. The best marketing is free.
The best marketing I’ve done for my books is right on the vendor sites – picking appropriate keywords and categories, writing engaging descriptions, and making sure my covers pop. Beyond that, I maintain a Facebook page and a website (which I put together myself, so that was almost free – just hosting and domain name fees) and that’s about it. You don’t need to do a lot to get the sales ball rolling.
As you start to sell more, I might suggest spending more money on your books. Like any business, you’ll want to invest back into it. As I mentioned, I do hire out formatting sometimes now, just to save me time so I can write more! I do sometimes spend more on marketing – ads, giveaways, etc. – now, too, though the bulk of my sales are still from people browsing the vendor sites. So, as my sales have gone up, my budget per book has, too. But you don’t NEED a big budget to start with.
So, don’t be daunted by the cost of self-publishing! You can spend a lot of money on your books… or you can publish them very cheaply for next to nothing, which any starving writer can afford.
It’s Your Turn, WG2E-Land: What parts of the Self-Publishing process do you hire out to be done versus which parts do you do yourself? And, how much have your Ebooks cost to produce?
The Best of Self-Publishing on a Budget Wishes —
~Gemma Halliday
www.facebook.com/gemmahallidayauthor
On Amazon
First off, congrats on the new baby. Enjoy, babies grow up too quickly.
Thanks for the pep talk. Launching my first romantic suspense in October, Serenity’s Deception, and I am looking for some good links for cover photos also fonts. Any suggestions? Also, any hints of where to promote books besides Facebook and Twitter?
Thanks in advance, Janice
Fonts I would keep simple. The more clear the font, the better. I use DaFont a lot for nice, simple fonts. For cover art, just about any site with royalty free photos for sale works. Try googling, then browse the sites to see which has the type of art you’re looking for. I use all different ones, just depending on the photo I’m looking for. Also, when you find the photo, try searching other sites for the best deal. Often photographers upload to multiple sites.
big big congrats on your little one, spend the time you want & need with him
when my first born arrived, i took so many pictures of her (back before digital!) i was told i was spending too much time doing that, pulled back, and regret to this day having listened to that, so spend the time, cause as janice above says, they grow up too quickly!
re my books, i do all my own work, but am open to feedback, just can’t afford outside services right now; and just a very few ads, like w/d.d. on rg2e
best wishes gemma
we’re now waiting on our fifth grandchild, which we can’t wait to spoil
Thanks, Adan! Pictures are on thing I’m slacking on. Must get snapping!
Congratulations on your new baby! All the best to you:)
Congratulations! That’s so exciting! For me as a mom, babies were a bit overwhelming… but from age 1 on, it’s just gotten better and better.
I pay for editing and cover art. If I had to choose one over the other, it’d be the editing I’d pay for. (Or is it the editing for which I’d pay?) I pay per word and sometimes get a good deal on a short story.
I’ve got a neighborhood pal who does my cover art for a very reasonable price. She’s got a great eye for design, and has come up with some really creative ideas that I think make a cover stand out. Her covers are about $50-$100.
Hi Gemma
Any recommendation for professional low cost cover design and book editing?
Thanks,
Vijay
Hi Gemma,
Congrats on the baby! Also congrats on your self-publishing success!
We all do what we have to do as regards our budgets and capabilities. Certainly some are better at DIY (do it yourself) projects than others. I, for example, have the graphic arts skill of a toad. I couldn’t do a decent cover to save my life (well, maybe if it *really* was going to save my life). But since it isn’t, yet, I’ll shell out a few bucks to have someone do a cover for me.
As for editing, much of what you say is true. But I would like to point out that editing (no matter who does it) is really only effective if the person doing the editing is more skilled at matters of grammar, style, and usage than the author (otherwise, it’s just a proofread looking for typos, not a true edit). And if one of the pair doing an editing trade is more skilled than the other, why would she trade? In the worst case, allowing someone without proper skills and training can actually make a manuscript worse than it was before the edit.
One of the wonderful things about having had the opportunity to work with some exceptional editors on my traditionally published works is that I learned the true pupose and value of editing. A good editor does a whole heck of a lot more than fix grammar, spelling, and punctuation. She has an eye for pacing and an ear for dialogue. She picks out all those annoying little quirks we all have has writers, like overusing a particular word or phrase. She notices that you tend to start all your paragraphs with the same type of sentence construction instead of providing variety and surprise for the reader. She points out where you have a nonessential “tail” at the end of your chapter when you should have hooked out at the high point. Or when you have a “warm up” paragraph at the beginning of a chapter when you should have dived right into the action. She can suggest changes in word choice that strengthen the tone or mood you were shooting for.
The list goes on and on…
In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that yes, I do editing for people. For money. But I do it because I see the value in it. That’s why I went to copyediting school for 18 months to supplement my real-world education.
I just hate knowing there are some writers out there who think editing is all about grammar and spelling.
This is a good point, Vickie. If you can afford it, I do advocate hiring an editor – especially if you’re new to writing or have never worked with an editor (such as at a publishing house) before. I guess, personally, my biggest downfall is typos. So, anyone with a fresh set of eyes is a helpful reader for me. But I would definitely never publish without letting someone I trust as far as grammar goes read my work.
Just being in critique partner situations before, I agree that it is very important to pick wisely. The best situations I’ve been in are where I’m with someone at about he same skill level/experience level as myself, but we have complimenting skills. For example, my dialogue is snappier than hers, but her descriptions are much more vivid than mine.
Congrats on the new baby and thanks for the fantastic info Gemma!
Ebook format –
For anyone who’d like to participate in a free webinar on ebook publishing/formating, etc. I suggest checking out the folks at — foliumbookstudio.com. You can do a project for free, or for $30 have a long term project (including cover design) archived. I’ve had this group speak to writers’ groups. This small firm was started by a couple of techies from Silicon Valley and they’re cutting edge. It’s worth popping in to one of their live webinars, or check out a tutorial on the resource page, to get your questions answered and know what to expect from the ebook process.
Editing “helper” –
While nothing takes the place of professional editing, I do suggest a tool to writers as a “second set of eyes”. Check out the site at — autocrit.com. You can put through 500 words at a pop a couple of times a day for free, or for a small fee you can get an annual membership and put through chapters or an entire book. Again, check it out and play around with it. Speaking as a former professional editor I found it was a very good tool.
P.S. Don’t want to forget to mention a very good source for ebook cover design. Check out —
http://graphiczxdesigns.zenfolio.com/. They have some original ready-to-go covers for as little as $30. They will also do a custom cover for you. They did my cover design and were great to work with!
Congrats on the new baby. what a wonderful joy to have in your life. cherish every minute…
I spent the money on a cover but it wasn’t that much – give up fancy coffee for a few weeks and voila a cover. it wa sworth it for me, but otherwise, I totally agree.
I spend my money on editing and cover art. I know that indies have to get their work professionally edited or it will look like it is self-published and put readers off, and I get someone to do my cover designs for me. I did try myself and got nowhere fast as I was stuck what to do and no idea how to do it. I learnt how to format my work myself, and now tricks to save time when it comes to formatting it into an ebook for publication (do para indent of 0.3 when you type up the story from the start). It is the editing that costs the most for me, the cover designs are quite reasonable as I use someone from the US not in the UK. I did ask a freelance illustrator I know how much she charges and it was much more than my US designer.
It’s so refreshing to see a post like this. Often I read about what you NEED before, the money you NEED to invest in getting started. I’ve done what you’ve done: everything myself except one thing. I paid an editor to correct my grammar and spelling mistakes. That’s it. I didn’t want input on structure, characters and plots. I had a few beta readers who pointed out the flaws, and perhaps there are a few left, still, I couldn’t afford to pay more.
My first book cost $225 to publish. My second will cost will cost $40 because I’m releasing it in paperback and want to distribute to the other markets CreateSpace offers. The money covers the cost of distribution and the price to get one proof mailed to me to check before I release it. The book will be edited, but through a mutual exchange of services. No money exchange, just time and experience.
I learnt how to format through Smashwords, Kindle, Kobo and Kindle, and now that I know, it takes me an hour, tops, to format my manuscripts. I take a lot of photographs, and pick from them to create the cover. I use a Ulead program I’ve had for years and PowerPoint. I pay $18 a year for my website/blog. That’s it.
Thanks again. Regardless of money, anyone can self-publish if they take the time to learn instead of pay. The philosophy of “Give fish to a family and feed them for one day; teach them how to fish and feed them for a lifetime” applies here. Learn instead of pay, and then you’ll never HAVE TO pay, but you can if you want.
Nice post, Gemma and congrats on the baby!!!
I spend my money on cover design and editing/proofing. I am lucky in that a friend has offered to format my next book for free (and he does a great job!). I can manage some technical jobs but formatting makes me really frustrated and, IMO, my time is better spent writing and marketing. I agree that some authors can put together a nice looking cover, but I am not one of them!!! Not yet, anyway. I did save a little $$ by buying several covers at once, which got me a discount with my designer. Every bit helps!!
Gemma: congrats on your baby!! And thanks for the positive post–these days there seem to be more postings on the negatives of indie pubbing. Yours was a refreshing change and was just what I needed this morning–I’m hoping to do a soft launch of a new romance ebook (I was published 4 times in print….once with Dorchester….but now I am embracing DIY ebook pubbing—and I have the rights back to all 4 print books so will get them out there too!).
There was a question about photo sites, so thought I’d share some info….
Below are some photo sites I’ve used (learned enough Photoshop to do some practice covers and I think I’ve settled on one, though I’d love to post 3 somewhere and get votes….any suggestions from anyone out there???
Photo sites:
stock.xchng
sxc.hu
morguefile.com
istockphoto
bigstockphoto.com
dreamstime.com (my fave, lately)
canstockphoto
My advice is to have something in mind when you start looking at photos or illustrations…it’s REALLY easy to get lost for hours and hours finding the “perfect” one…key words are important when searching (e.g. Victorian house vs. house). Also, read the instructions–save photos you like usually into a “light box” or something like that on the site where you can go back and make final decisions.
Also, one way to narrow things down is to find ebook covers for stories “like yours.” Or think about what other author’s readers you want to attract. Obviously, don’t copy their cover styles completely, but there’s nothing wrong with using a design as inspiration (e.g. illustration vs. photo, hunky guy vs. heroine in a gown, using a setting vs. symbols).
AND you can usually download a “comp” of the photo that has a watermark on it–then see if it works after you’ve added your title and author name and positioned it (enlarged, maybe) into a cover template. Read the photo “uses” carefully. Some photos can be completely free but most cost a little bit but are typically “royalty free” which means they can be used on ebook covers. Again, it’s like everything else–read the fine print! And always provide a proper photo credit as it’s explained in the fine print.
Re: formatting. I am currently using Scrivener, which is primarily a writing program but has a wonderfully easy way to format files into both mobi (for Kindle) and epub (for everything else). Gwen Hernandez’s “Scrivener For Dummies” is finally out (and on its way to me from Amazon!). I recommend this affordable software–I think I paid about $40 for it). But, if you can create a “clean” Word file, yes, you should be able to upload it and get pretty good results!
Re: editing….in the spirit of disclosure, I also do proofing and copy editing “on the side,” so what I need to do for myself is get away from my work long enough that I can bring a critical eye to it for that final edit. Trading services like editing and formatting and cover design is a fabulous thing–I traded ukulele lessons for Photoshop lessons from a graphic artist friend!
Re: marketing…though I’m toying with purchasing some affordable advertising, I really think I’m the most interested in trying to be a guest blogger on well read sites–offering something helpful for the opportunity to be able to mention my ebook and have a “buy” link if possible. And then get the next ebook out there!
Lastly, do remember to tout your next ebook at the end of the first one–either with an exciting synopsis/summary or, better yet, the first chapter!
Write on!
Janet Wellington
I mainly use istockphoto, or if can’t find what I want then dreamstime.
Great info, Janet!
“Lastly, do remember to tout your next ebook at the end of the first one–either with an exciting synopsis/summary or, better yet, the first chapter!”
And yes, to this! A thousand times, yes! I would also suggest adding buy links whenever possible. You already have the reader hooked… reel em in!
Gemma, great advice as usual. I buy my covers because artsy I am not. So my books are costing $40 to $50 a book for the covers.
Congrats on the new baby, Gemma! What a wonderful blessing.
And thank you for all the great advice!
Yay on the baby! Aren’t they great!
My first book was under my pen name. It cost me $3. I did the cover. I later had the cover redone – same picture, but the designer changed the font, boosted up the colors. That cost $40, so $43 for one book of short stories.
I have paid $5 at fiverr.com for formatting to smashwords. Nothing fancy, just running out of time and had someone else do it. But I still ended up having to go in and fix it because he’d used block style + indent instead of one or the other and when he used page break there was a line I couldn’t remove and it kept getting kicked back from Smashwords. So now I use a template and format myself.
I did spend $100 (not including photos) on the cover for my latest in my own name and it was worth it. I loved another cover designer’s work but she was too expensive for me – right now. I still want to use her in the future. I think for a writer they have to decide what they need in a cover. Do you NEED a $200-$400 illustrator or will a premade cover be okay? Do you have time to format and convert yourself?
From this point on I have a budget per book and money will be flowing in order of importance to me — editing, cover art, formatting.
Great post, and wonderful suggestions that I will definitely keep in mind! Thanks for sharing!
Great post and congrats on the new baby. We’ve got our first on the way, and at 5 months and having just finished a short notice trip visiting family and helping post-surgery recovery of my husband’s father, we are suddenly a little baby crazy. I can only imagine what it will be like when she is finally here. I hope you post updates of how you manage your writing career along with the handling of the newborn. I would very much look forward to reading about it, learning from it.
Your suggestions in this post are spot on in my opinion. I already implement most of them. I am lucky in a few ways in that I have professional experience with advanced graphics software (and even video editing software), editing, and formatting documents in a variety of styles, uses, and programs. It makes me very versatile for doing my own book covers, book trailers (eventually), formatting, and polishing for and after my editors and betas get a hold of my work with fervor.
In some ways, I look forward to a time when I could hire out more for these, especially for formatting and book covers… Yet, at the same time, I may never do so. Perhaps, I’ll just hire them to help expand my ideas or tweak my own workings. Believe it or not, I enjoy doing these aspects. Cover art helps me solidify aspects of characters, themes, motifs, etc. I work on them periodically from before I start writing and all the way through final editing polishes.
Then again, having too many interests has been one of the biggest reasons that I haven’t climbed terribly high in any single professional area. That I tend to pick up things quickly and excel easily at them, I wouldn’t be so extended with my endeavors. (Note: It’s not that I’m perfect or the best or that I don’t need to take time to develop my abilities in these interests. I merely tend to be competent at the things that capture my interest – and quickly enough – that I am not easily discouraged from pursuing them to a certain degree… or maybe it’s just that I’m not easily discouraged when I can take personal enjoyment in what I try to do.)
Regardless of my experiences, I really enjoyed this post. Thank you for taking the time out to do it.
Yes, the best marketing is free! I coach authors how to get on TV and it costs you nothing to pitch TV producers. If you use the right system and get on TV your book sales will skyrocket. And TV producers will not hold you back because you self-published. Thanks, Edward Smith.
Hi!
I’m so so so THRILLED over this site. I just can’t express it. I’m an indie author and just two months ago I put my first short story on Kindle. I haven’t made much money yet, but I am by no means daunted!
I just wanted to say thank you to all the WG2E crew for the wonderful information, the inspiring advice, and the grace to share what you’ve learned.
Again, thank you thank you thank you!
Anad