I Just Self-Published My First Book- Lessons Learned and Tips!

Oh my… what a journey it has been! I am still on such a high after receiving the first shipment of my poetry book: “Cravings: Love, Passion, Desire” and seeing it displayed on Amazon.com within minutes of each other.

How coincidental is that? I hope there is a cosmic significance to that incredible timing. I couldn't have asked for a better morning.

Now, how did I get to this grand feeling of achievement? It wasn’t easy, but worth every penny!

Have you thought about self-publishing a book? If so, consider an obvious question. Do you want an e-book, print book, or both?

I believe it comes down to budget for most of us wish to share our thoughts and words with the world.

For me, my vision was to dazzle my readers with unique, beautiful pictures and raw emotions pouring out of my heart with poetry. I pictured a glossy, seductive cover and shiny pages exuding classy, yet steamy, romantic love poetry along with tantalizing, alluring colorful photos.

I didn’t think my poetry and photos would bode well in an e-book format. It would lack the luster and sensuous feeling of having a soft, sultry book in the reader’s hands.

Because I am very analytical and was on a budget, I researched which format is more popular and would be better in terms of sales.

Here are some interesting statistics are taken from a survey performed by the Pew Research Center on book consumption and formats. Print books are still the most popular reading format for both adults and children. Given these findings, in addition to the look and feel I wanted to elicit, I decided a print book would be the best option for me.

Print Book vs. E-book

Survey says:

• 72% of adults in the United States read a book in some format over the last year
• 65% of respondents claimed they read a book in the last 12 months
• 37% of Americans claim they only read print books
• 28% say they read both print books and e-books
• 7% say they only read e-books

• Print books out-sell eBooks 4-to1
• 191 million e-books were sold in the United States in 2020
• Printed book sales amounted to 750.89 million units in 2020
• Print book sales have increased 13.2% between 2020 and 2021, and 21% between 2019 and 2021
• eBook sales grew by 22% in 2020
• eBook sales have decreased 8% in 2021 but are still 8% higher than they were in 2019
• In 2020, 19% of adult readers owned an e-reader, a decrease from 32% of adult readers who owned e-readers in 2014

The Experience

I first started out with a lesser-known publisher committed to producing a professionally formatted, edited, book with an appealing cover design. That experience turned into a nightmare. There were numerous issues:

1. Cover Design I wanted a book cover that was seductive-looking based on the book’s title. Instead, I received book cover drafts resembling Hallmark Mother’s Day cards consisting of flowery, high tea or brunch designs!
2. Formatting There were repetitive errors in the formatting of photos and misaligned photo credits. Also, to my surprise, page numbers were missing and some verses were combined with the incorrect poems!
3. Editing I found spelling errors on their part. I corrected a number of mistakes they did not catch, and a few words that were spelled correctly by me were found as errors by them. As an example, I was horrified by their correction of the word “Desert.” It was changed to “Dessert.” I was not talking about pastries or pies!
4. Project Time I was told the process would take approximately three weeks, but due to several revisions back and forth, it resulted in taking two months before I requested a full refund. I spent so much of my time correcting their drafts, that ultimately, I came to my senses and terminated the project.

Lesson Learned — Mistakes I Made

1. Cost It was too good to be true. I was literally caught off guard by “Click Bait,” responding to a chat box pop up, as I was researching publishers. I initially declined their offer. Within seconds, I was called and offered a steep discount. Unfortunately, I took the bait and was lured by the inclusion of an e-book at an incredible price.
2. Read Reviews Read reviews before signing up with any publisher. Reviews on this publishing company indicated that there were “bumps in the road,” but in the end, the results were satisfactory. I should have realized that potentially going through those bumps would have been stressful and not worth the savings. Those bumps turned into heaping mountains of challenges, disappointments, and overall, stress.
3. Research Don’t become allured by price alone. Don’t rush into accepting discounted offers. Make sure you do some homework, view images/samples of their work, and ask specific questions about your concepts and concerns. Compare and obtain quotes, at least, from three publishing sites or companies.

Because of my unsuccessful experience with the original publisher, I sought out another publisher, resulting in a beautiful, alluring book design. I decided to perform my own editing, since I was able to keep the original draft manuscript already produced by the original publisher.

Lessons Learned - Positive Benefits

1. Computer Skills Enhanced Have competent computer skills if taking on the editing and formatting of your book. As I was performing my own editing, I had to learn how how to format photos with text and correct the misalignment of photos and photo credits, mistakes made by the original publisher. With the second publisher, I had to learn about selecting photos with the correct number of pixels for high quality photos and embedding fonts.
2. Book Cover Concept Have a basic book cover design idea. Browse books with similar content for inspiration and view photos on photo sites like Unsplash and others. I created my own mock-up cover using graphics and a word document. I searched for backgrounds, and overlaid pictures, chose my font styles, and assembled it into an eye-catching cover, learning along the way. Although I did not have the appropriate software, such as Adobe PhotoShop, I was able to present to the second publisher a visual concept. My concept was used with a slight variation.
3. editing services If you are not confident in your editing skills or do not want to spend time on this, it is best to outsource this function to someone proficient (even a friend or acquaintance you can pay, instead of a publisher whose fees are very high). Because I was able to keep the manuscript of my work from the original publisher, I was able to use it and avoid editing costs from the second publisher. It was both a curse and a blessing! I went through various costly revisions due to my own spelling and other errors and realize now it would have been in my best interest to pay for the editorial services.
4. Spell-Checker Program Ensure you have a reliable spell-checker. I was unable to rely solely on Microsoft’s Word spell-checker, which we all know, doesn’t catch all others. Due to technical issues, my Microsoft Word spell checker wasn’t catching them at all! Since I was performing my own editing and proofreading, I found two spelling/grammar checking sites that were useful to me: Quillbot and Ginger. Sometimes, they did not agree with each other when reviewing my work! In that case, I went with the version that best represented my thoughts.
5. Technical Issues Have the correct software programs. I did not have the necessary Adobe Reader Program to review the manuscript in book mode and did not have a reliable spell-checker. These two issues were the primary challenges that caused my most of my errors. Once I finally figured out how to see my book in the correct view in Adobe Reader, I had to add pages in order to ensure the front matter and chapter pages were in the correct sequence.

Take-Away

Given my rocky, stressful, first experience with self-publishing, I now feel prepared to tackle another book production should I so choose. I have learned the basics about self-publishing and costs, gaining confidence in my ability to do much of the work myself, but would definitely outsource the editing to the publisher if I were ever to write a novel!

1. Learning Experience This turned out to be a great learning experience in building my confidence and skill level in formatting my manuscript along with pictures, selecting photos with high-quality pixels, embedding fonts, and more.
2. Challenges Overcome Although I was faced with many challenges, I learned about the tools and how to use them to overcome the issues. I don’t consider myself a tech-savvy person, but I figured out how to resolve technical problems and enhance my computer skills.

Overall, I learned about the steps involved in self-publishing, have now developed an interest in learning more about graphic design.

Given this newfound knowledge and inspiration, I am motivated to begin creating a new masterpiece (in my eyes, anyway)! lol

Here’s my glossy, poetry book with photos… The result of my sweat, tears, and now my pride and joy! (Amazon, Bookbaby, and other online retailers)