Blog 44: Self-Publishing on a Budget

Welcome back to another one of my blogs. I don’t know if you are like me at the moment, but with Christmas approaching, a few months of throwing my cash at repairs on the house and the car, new clothes for my children, and prices of outgoings going up, up and away, money is tighter than Superman’s underpants (I mean they can’t be comfortable to fly about in). I seem to spend all my time scrutinising items, wondering if they are a priority, whether I can wait before I buy them or get something similar that costs a little less. Of course, when it comes to my children, if they need it, I don’t even think about it. Especially when it comes to clothes, I can’t stop them growing. In fact, they are doing such an excellent job, they are both taller than me now. In some ways I’m saving money, because the clothes that don’t fit them, can then go to me. And as I buy clothes that they don’t always end up wearing, I get a bunch of brand-new tops, leggings, and shoes.

But I digress. Money! I remember telling my youngest that old saying that it doesn’t grow on trees, and she quick wittedly reminded me that bank notes are made from trees, so technically it does. Despite this perfectly accurate information, I have been unable to acquire any further cash from my nearby park and therefore continue to watch my bank account diminish. So, if you are feeling it too, I know you will be interested on how to put out a quality, polished product without completely drying up those pockets.

First, let’s look at the various stages that are involved: -

1.      Writing

2.      Editing

3.      Formatting

4.      Book cover designing

5.      Publishing

6.      Marketing

If you've looked into self-publishing, you'll know all the above will cost you your precious pounds. I always advise that professionals assist you create a book that looks professional. Therefore, you will be pleased to know that if you don’t have the funds, there are avenues you can go down to acquire it. Here are a few options you can try, some of which are advertised by The Book Marketer, who is in the Author Support Network: -

• Funds For Writers gives info on grants. 

• Jericho Writers have a bursary for authors who intend to self-edit.

• The Society of Authors offers grants for process works.

• The Royal Literary Fund assists with grants and pensions.

• The Write Life has an article about grant opportunities and how to apply. 

• Kickstarter can aid you with a fundraiser campaign.

• The Society of Authors has a range of different grants for different people.

• Arts Council England uses money from the Lottery for literature projects.

• The Book Marketer has a bursary for writers on low incomes to help publish and market their books.

  
  

There are so many organisations that want to help you put your work out there. But what else can you do if money isn’t forthcoming to ensure your work is good and gets to the right audience?

Writing

This is the first part of your journey, well I guess the second, if you count your initial idea phase that may have taken hours, days, weeks or even years before you started putting it down into words. Writing your story can be easy and flow through you, or it can be a bit of a battle trying to get your ideas in a form where they make sense and are engaging to read. If you are unsure about what you are writing, getting stuck at certain points or just need a little more guidance, you can get in touch with a Writing Coach (we have a few on our Network) or join a Writing Workshop, either a local one or group on social media, such as Facebook. If you are unable to fund this, you can use the services of an Alpha reader. These are the people who get involved during the writing process of your story before you have finished your first draft. They can tell you if what you are writing is working, what parts aren’t quite right and offer advice on how to move forward. You can find them on Writing Groups on Facebook, but make sure they are experienced in this area and ask them what type of feedback they will give you.

Editing

This stage begins with YOU. You lucky duck! You may have finished your draft and think, wow that has to be the best story in the history of the universe, films will be made of it and merchandise bought. But that isn’t likely to be the case. It may be good, but it won’t be publishing standard good. First drafts are usually pretty rough as we have catapulted through them with such enthusiasm that we may not be aware there are miswords, areas that are over complex, parts that don’t make sense and things that just don’t need to be in there. So, put it to one side. Yeah, you heard me correctly. Put it away for a few days or maybe weeks (gasp). And only then do you get it out (ooo er Mrs) with your critical head on and read it back. But no touching! Just read it and become familiar with your story from a reader’s point of view. Then, when you are done, read it again, but either read it aloud or get the computer to read it to you, so you can hear when there are errors, miswords or when it just doesn’t flow or is incoherent. This, my friend, is when you get stuck in and start correcting all the things you find. Don’t be afraid to use the tools available like Grammarly or Microsoft Editor to assist you find those typos and punctuation errors. Then read through again to establish if there are any other little blighters hiding away that need sorting out. Let me tell you, they are extremely good at fading into the background.

When you get to the point where you feel it's as good as you can make it, then you can get others to read and give their opinion of your work. This can be friends or a writing buddy, but it should also be a Beta Reader, or better still two or three of them. The more opinions you get the better. You can find them for free on writing groups but, like the Alpha Readers, do make sure they are good at what they do, that they are reading a genre that they like and have a lot of experience giving thorough feedback. You don’t want them to come back to you with “Yeah, it’s good” or “I didn’t like it.” You need details of what works and what doesn’t, so you have a clear picture of how your story has come across. If you have consistent opinions from your group of readers, then you know it is decent feedback. However, if you just ask one person, you only have one opinion and that can vary massively with someone else’s and give you the wrong ideas of how to edit your manuscript. Because, yes, after the Beta Reader does their thing, it is likely that you will be back to further editing. Hey, these things take time, and it is always worth it. You may want to send it back to those readers to check if they feel you have rectified the issues and improved the story.

Again, when you feel you've got your work to the best it can be you have several types of editing available to you. The first would be Developmental/Structural Editing. If you feel there are parts of your story that aren’t working and you need help to align it, or if your Beta Reader suggested this type of edit, then you should go ahead and book one. We have a few in the Author Support Network that I can refer you to. It is quite possible that you may not need the Developmental stage of editing. To assist with this, I have a free service, where I assess your manuscript and let you know which service(s) you require.

Next up, is Copy/Line Editing. This is what I do and a few others in the Network. We look at any errors in terms of spelling, grammar, consistency, repetition, and flow. This is really the polishing part of the editing stage. It’s amazing how much work is involved, it sounds like it will be a quick kind of job, but it involves so many elements that it takes some time. However, I personally love getting into stories and fitting all the pieces together. You can attempt to do this yourself, but I would always recommend a professional. I am currently doing a half-price for Christmas and do try to budget around my clients. So do get in touch if you need a Copy Edit but are worried about the cost and I will see how I can help. If you want to have a go, you can make a timeline and a style sheet where you keep track of all the characters, the weather, spellings for everything and anything that is important, then refer back to it, to make sure you are being consistent with your info. Please see my blogs on Repetition and Consistency to give you more info about this. Again, have the computer read aloud to you and listen for a sentence that doesn’t quite flow. Maybe you have written a tongue twister, or you have a lot of he said, she said, or you have changed from past to present tense by mistake. You can then ask Beta Readers or others to check over these things for you to get an outside perspective.

Don’t forget you will also need to write a blurb that describes what your book is about. You can get opinions about this from people who have read it.

Formatting

Congratulations at getting this far. It is now time for a Formatter. Not something that you would do if you were being traditionally published as they would organise the rest of this for you. But for those who want to self-publish there is still quite a lot on your to do list. If you can afford one, look up Zara on our Network, who is amazing at what she does. But, if you can’t afford one, and are using Amazon, for example, they have Kindle Create to help you set out your book. I’m hoping to have a blog on this in a few weeks with the lovely expert, Zara. However, in the meantime for the purpose of this blog, when it comes to printed books, which you will notice in your own collection, to look professional they tend to be: -

• Times New Roman is most common with size 10 -12pt.

• 0.5 to 1-inch margins. The gutter margin (the one where the book is bound) needs to be slighter bigger.

• 1.1 to 1.5 line spacing.

• 0.5-inch paragraph indents. Note not to indent at the start of your chapters, only the remaining ones.

• Align text to the left, do not justify it.

• Pages should be numbered.

• A new chapter should have a new page.

• All titles and numbers should have consistent font style and size.

  
  

If you don’t follow these simple rules, your book will look amateurish and put people off before they have even begun reading.

Proofreading

Look at us working through the list! Yep, we are at that final check stage. This is especially important to establish if there are any lurking errors which may also include checking the formatting hasn't knocked any of your wording out. Again, you may not spot these things, you know your work too well. So, ask someone who you can trust to be meticulous to go through it, as well as going over it yourself.

Cover Design

The cover is the first thing that your readers will see. It has to make them stop and pique their interest. And with AI being quite the controversial topic at the moment, you don’t want to wing it and throw something together, which at a closer glance has an extra leg and hair that blends into their face, or has a confusing background. The Book Marketer or a Book Cover Artist from Reedsy can assist you with this. But if you don’t think you have the budget, check out Canva which has free, non-AI images that you can fashion into a decent looking cover. We are currently waiting for designers to join our other pros in the Network. So please do check in with us, as I could perhaps point you in the right direction. You can ask artists for a pre-made cover which can save quite a bit of cash. They utilise what they have already made and adjust it to your needs, rather than beginning from scratch. So, it takes them less time and therefore, it isn’t as expensive.

Publishing

It’s getting real now. The idea of having your work sent out into the world will probably feel like your child’s first day of school. It’s exciting but you are still full of worry and anxiety about how it will go. You can use Amazon, IngramSpark, Apple Books, Kobo Writing Life, Barnes & Nobile Press and Draft2Digital. Check them out and work out which you think is best for you. You tend to get charged after you sell books, with the company taking a percentage of the sale. Or go to The Book Marketer and ask them to do this for you.

Marketing

Just when you thought you were published and all done, I’m afraid to say, you still have a way to go. Not marketing is like getting all dressed up and not going out anywhere. You have to show it off, get it seen by potential readers and big it up. This is what Nicky at The Book Marketer does and I can’t recommend him enough. If you check out their website, they also give advice and resources that may help you in this area. However, if you want to take this on yourself, here are a few tips that may help you along: -

1. Paid Adverts - Set up ads to promote your book on Facebook, Amazon, IngramSpark, or similar platforms.

   
   

2. Author Platform - Create a website and social media presence giving info about yourself and your book(s). Make sure to post and engage daily, and you could also start a blog. Make sure to find what makes you unique for your author brand.

   
   

3. Build your Reader Base - Make an email list for direct communication with your audience/potential readers. You could send out chapter previews or freebies. Join online reader communities to promote your book. Run promotions like price deals. Network with book clubs, literary magazines, bloggers and podcasters for features and interviews.

   
   

4. Reviews and getting seen - Obtain book reviews from sources like Amazon and Goodreads. Make sure your book is on a well-know platform like Amazon. Set up a profile with Goodreads and engage with them, make sure your book is listed there.

   
   

5. Promotion Events – Get involved with book fairs and festivals to connect with people. Offer to give talks about your book to large audiences. 

If you are beginning or part-way through the self-publishing journey, then I wish you luck. And please do contact me if you want any further advice or assistance.

Until next week, happy writing, promoting and networking!