Things you must know before Self-Publishing your eBook (Part 2)
Selling your eBook for profits: What to know, what to avoid, and what to never forget!
Under Part 2, we further get into what mistakes fresh writers need to avoid during their first-time self-publishing and what they shouldn’t forget before they hit Publish.
If you haven’t read Part 1, I’d suggest you go through it first. In Part 1, we have discussed many of the few things that first-time writers need to be to be properly equipped to self-publish and why many bloggers and writers on the internet, even business owners, should consider self-publishing an eBook.
Let’s dive right in!
What to Avoid:
Don’t hit ‘Publish’ before you have a Website
As discussed earlier in Part 1, your own website is a crucial tool for your eBook. Not only does it provide a legit address to your book, if done through a personal website or a blog, it can also help in linking your eBook to your other related works that your eBook readers can refer to and go through after they are done reading.
Often a mistake most self-publishing authors make is to start by not having a website, only promote their book on social media and once the book starts ranking among the top sellers, only then they start to consider making a website for the book’s fans to visit. This can be a mistake in more ways than one as your eBook being placed on your website can do more for your brand’s promotion than most any other marketing tool.
To avoid this, don’t wait for a green light and start posting your own work on your website, be it a personal website, a website of your own business or your blog’s website (especially if your eBook’s topic relates to your blog’s work).
It’s great if you already have a website but if you don’t, today will also be a great day to start, whether you are done with writing your book or haven’t even started it. Drag-and-Drop Website Builders are immensely helpful if you don’t know complex coding or anything about website-making. You can try TemplateToaster.
Don’t sell your Book for Free
I know what you’re thinking, a LOT of self-publishers first sell their books for free, no matter how good the quality is, just to get some readers, build a following and ultimately start charging for the books. And while I will not argue that it is a strategy that has worked out for some writers, there’s still a better strategy you could pull off, all the while making some money on your eBook.
Many writers believe it to be a good practice to price their books somewhere between $0.99-$2.99 from the beginning.
Why? Let me explain.
One reason could be the Positioning of the Book. If, as a first-time writer, with no other reference of your previous works or brand recognition, you are selling your books for free, most of the time it will just do negative for the positioning of you and your book’s brand. Just like how at times we think of an inexpensive product to be of cheap quality before we have even tried it.
Instead, a strategy you can use is to still charge some $$$ for your books and then put your books for free, or at a discount just to shake things up and make your readers feel like they are actually getting something of value, which is being read by other people as well.
Host contests, giveaways, etc and engage your readers instead of giving away your hard work for free.
Don’t skip on hiring a good Editor
Remember when I told you to hire a great editor by (possibly) skipping on a Graphic Designer? Yes, definitely do not skip on getting a good editor.
Not only will you learn a lot in the sense of what kind of writing style matches great with the reading style of your target readers, but it will also help you edit the smallest of the mistakes, grammatical or spelling, that might not be known to you but can be very obvious or visible to your readers.
Very obviously, the way the writers view their work is very different from what the reader sees. This implies that writers editing their own work doesn’t always make sense. The best you can do is put a break between the time you’re done with your draft and when you finally sit down to edit it. This will give you time to clear out your head, get out of your usual, writing headspace and get some clarity.
But I would still prefer you getting a good editor to proofread and edit your draft before you take any major steps with it. Edit or regret it.
What to never forget:
Look at this as a chance to boost your Email List
Publishing on your own website can be a great way to boost your Email List. This way you can notify your regular readers when your books are up for discount and giveaways.
We all know how tedious yet brilliant Emails can be as a marketing tool. So absolutely do not forget to integrate your Ebook and its promotion with your usual Email Marketing Campaigns. You can do this by the way of Pop-ups like TemplateToaster does with its free eBook — Learn WordPress from Scratch, for WordPress beginners to build stunning websites from scratch.
You are your own Marketing Team
The best advantage of self-publishing is probably the fact that you are entirely in charge of your marketing efforts. This also means that you get to steer the narrative of your work that suits you and your book the best. Traditional Publishers don’t usually put many efforts into marketing unless it’s a best-seller we are talking about.
In this step, don’t overlook the power of Social Media. It can be a great place for your readers to gather more information and notifications about your book and to even know more about the author in a more informal space. On the other hand, use it to keep your followers engaged with contests, giveaways, AMAs (Ask Me Anything), or to generate feedback. Build your book’s community and gather more unique readers to get more traction.
Have Confidence in your Work
Lastly, it can be quite intimidating to put yourself and your work out there. As a writer, even I have struggled with self-doubt and the usual imposter syndrome. Don’t let it get you down. You have just written a book! Own up to your fabulous work and shamelessly promote what you’re most proud of.
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