Self-publishing is going through a historic moment. According to Wordsrated, the industry has experienced a 264% growth in the last five years, with more than $1.25 billion worth of self-published books sold per year. But this is not a new phenomenon—self-publishing has been around for many years, and many famous authors have published their first works this way. However, self-publishing is not something you should take lightly, and it’s important to know which are the most common errors that can arise during the process.
That’s why today we’ll look at the most common mistakes made by self-publishing companies and why you should avoid the publishers that make them.
1 – Don’t Know the Book’s Reader
One of the most important tasks of publishers is to get the books into the hands of readers. To achieve this, publishers need to know the ideal reader of the book and have to put themselves in the reader’s shoes. Experienced editors know the reading expectations and practices of a certain genre, and they can target a typical reader of, say, romance or suspense books. Therefore, they can tell if something is missing (or not needed) in your work.
When the time comes to marketing and distributing the book, the editor must be clear on who the book is addressed to. This target reader will have:
- a certain age,
- a socio-economic level,
- an educational level,
- a knowledge of the area,
- a specific sales channel,
- a response to certain incentives.
The more features of the target reader you know, the greater the chances of reaching them. And the only way to check how much the editor knows is to discuss it with them thoroughly.
2 – Don’t Proofread the Books
Publishing houses offer many services to authors, including proofreading. A common mistake is not researching their reputation and work ethics in advance, since, for whatever reason, some of them don’t proofread the books they receive.
That’s why it’s important to verify that the text has actually been proofread. This can be a difficult task, which is precisely why we ask for the help of a professional. Therefore, we can seek opinions from other authors who have already worked with the publisher and ask them about their experience. But don’t stress over this too much! For the most part, self-publishing companies do a great job, and they have plenty of ways to prove it.
3 – Don’t Distribute nor Promote the Books
One of the most common errors is not considering the publisher’s ability to distribute and promote books. Some of them only print the books and deliver them to the author. However, this is only half the job: marketing and distributing the work is as important as editing and printing it.
To avoid this, you can check the publisher’s website, social media profiles, and press releases to find out how much effort they put into disseminating the works of their authors. Many independent publishers also have their own bookstores where they sell directly to the public. There, they organize launches, readings, and other activities that can help promote the book.
4 – Put Too Much Work in the Hands of the Author
Self-publishing companies offer many services, and the author has to choose which of these services they want to hire. If you choose a particular one, such as proofreading, the rest of the publishing steps are in your hands. However, there are cases in which an author pays for thorough editing services, and the publisher, for whatever reason, doesn’t assume their responsibilities and leaves tasks in the hands of the author. These tasks can go from selling the book, promoting it, or even picking up the copies after they’re printed.
This is a mistake we should avoid before it happens. Later, it will be a struggle to deal with the publisher and get them to acknowledge the situation. To avoid this, we have to seek opinions from other authors and, when we’ve chosen the publisher, we have to put in writing exactly what their obligations will be.
5 – Don’t Design Good Covers or Layouts
A final common mistake is not paying attention to the external parts and the appearance of books. Whoever said, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” surely had no designer friends. It’s important to choose a publisher that puts care into the cover and layout design since the visual aspect will be the first thing to be considered by the reader in the bookstore.
Luckily, checking whether a publisher does a proper graphic job is one of the easiest tasks on this list. Just visit an online or brick-and-mortar bookstore and check:
- how they have treated other books,
- the use of fonts, images, and miscellaneous,
- the balance of the elements on the page,
- the colors.
All this will allow us to determine if there is a careful treatment of the graphic aspects.
Conclusion
The most common errors when choosing a self-publishing company tend to come up during the preliminary research. It’s helpful to visit their website and social media profiles, seek opinions from other authors, check out other books they’ve published, and see if they sell copies in bookstores. This can help us know if they will do a good job with our book.
If you are interested in editing, proofreading, or designing your book, at Palabra we have a team of experts ready to help you with all your editorial needs! Get in touch with us!
Translated by: @florabosch
Palabra 