Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right.
Henry Ford
I wasn’t sure if there would be interest in my first book, so I didn’t spend much money on it, just did it bare bones.
An Author
You get what you pay for.
Cliché
So you just finished writing your first book. Now what? There’s more to selling your book online than just creating a listing on Amazon. But so many authors I speak to have the same attitude as the author in the second quote. Yes, this is a real quote—I didn’t just make it up, although I’ve heard enough variations on the theme to fill a book!
At our Sixth Winter Writers’ Weekend I’ll be talking about the things you need to not just publish your book on Amazon, but to help it sell. What is the very first thing that you need?
FAITH.
That’s right. You need faith in yourself and faith in your work. You need to believe that your book is as good as the best seller in your genre. That it can compete. Without that initial faith, you won’t do what you need to do to publish a book that sells.
Does your book look like this?
If so, how many copies have you sold?
I’ve often written and spoken about what you need for a professional book. It starts with the cover and includes professional editing, proofreading, professional formatting, to name just a few things.
But there is something else you want to think about. If you put out a poorly done book, what happens when you are ready to put out book two? This time, you have learned your lesson. You’ve done everything right. Your first book sold a little better than expected. This time, you’ve gotten that professional editor, paid for a really great cover, gotten some great early reviews. You know you can take it to the bestseller list!
But your first book is still out there. On Amazon. Maybe Barnes and Noble, too. You can remove it from CreateSpace but it never really dies. Someone is advertising it as a used book. If you google your name an image appears from someone who shared a post on a blog five years ago. And every time someone looks for your new, polished, really great book the first thing they see the one you are now ashamed of.
What’s the answer? Don’t publish a bad book. Even if it is your first book make sure it reads and looks professional. Have faith!
Author and publisher Karen Hodges Miller will be speaking on “Self-Publishing: You Can Do This!” and “Finish Your Book! What’s Stopping You?” at the Sixth Winter Writers’ Weekend March 2-4, 2018, at the Nassau Inn in Princeton, NJ.