Are you thinking about self-publishing a book this year? Are you wondering how much does it cost to self-publish a book?

You probably have a lot of questions. But did you know that in 2018, about 1.68 million books and E-Books were self-published? That means it’s doable if millions of other people are doing it, too!

But if self-publishing a book is something you want to do, but you’re not sure how to self-publish a book, you’ll definitely want to keep reading this article.

Since there can be so many little things that can slip through the cracks, you want to make sure you are avoiding these mistakes when self-publishing a book!

Keep reading for 7 things not to do!

1. Poor Cover Art

Trying to do the art yourself may pop up into your head because it is saving you money in the moment. Instead of sending out the book and having someone create the artwork for you, you’re doing it yourself.

However, if you’re not an artist, this isn’t always the best idea.

The cover is the first thing that people see before they pick up the book or glance at the description online.

And although they say not to judge a book by its cover, the majority of us actually do judge the books based on the covers we see.

2. Not Hiring a Proper Editor

It can be easy to think that you know what you are doing since you are a writer. There’s no way that you could make any capitalization or grammar mistakes – that’s just too simple! And if you do, when you read through the book, you’d catch them.

That’s not always the case! Many times, you read what you want to read instead of what you are actually seeing. Because of this, it’s a great idea to hire a proper editor that has expertise in the field of editing.

Even though you know what you’re doing, you probably aren’t being paid to be an editor as your full-time job, and it’s best to invest in one to make sure your work is properly proofread.

3. Poor Formatting of the Book

Readers like books that have formatting that makes sense. It’s human nature.

If it’s a novel, make sure to have chapters and label the chapters with a title or a number. If you are self-publishing a book that is about how-tos or a recipe book or something of the sort, you need to add in pictures, format the directions correctly, and make sure to have numbers in there.

You also want to choose a font that is easy to read. This means to pay attention to the font size as well! Adding in page numbers is also something to do before publishing.

The margins should be consistent throughout the book with enough white space on each side.

Without the right formatting, a person will either glance at it and set it down right away or give your book a low rating.

4. Not Having a Pre-Launch

Hyping people up before the launch of anything is what can help you get the sales you want.

Whether this is clothing or your book, a pre-launch is a must. You could advertise on social media, on your website, or anywhere else that you have a following of some sort. Your audience will be looking forward to the launch and anticipating its arrival!

You could also host a small gathering when the book launches to get people excited about the book! You could talk more about it, sign books, and have a meet-and-greet as a new author!

5. Not Offering Pre-Order to Customers

Going along with number 4 above, if you have a prelaunch, people will be anticipating the arrival of the book. So why not just let them press “place order” and give them the option to pre-order the book?

This way they won’t forget to go back on the day of the launch, and instead, you’ve locked them in from before the book even comes out!

6. Not Sending Your Book Out for Review Copy

Not sending your book out for review copy can be detrimental to the success of the book. This process will allow you as the author to collect reviews from publications and book reviewers.

There are various places you can submit your book for review, but some of our favorites are Publisher’s Weekly, Booklife, and Reedsy.

With a few good reviews piled up before you launch, you can then use these reviews for the book promotion later on!

7. Selling on Only One Online Distributor

When you read this title, you were probably thinking about Amazon. Although this is a great place to self-publish your book, this is not the only place to do it.

KDP and Barnes & Noble Press are great for distributing to a very narrowed group of people. But bigger book distributors have access sending your books out to other smaller bookstores or libraries.

There are smaller bookstores or even larger ones like Barnes & Noble that have their own loyal customer base. Using Ingramspark and BookBaby are also great online distributors, for instance.

If you don’t exhaust your options, you are missing out on many different customers that could come across your book for purchase.

Avoid These Mistakes When Self-Publishing a Book

Knowing how to self-publish a book can be tricky, but avoiding these mistakes when self-publishing a book is a great place to start!

Make sure to review your book multiple times, hire someone for the art, and distribute the book in multiple places. And don’t forget to have a stranger review your book as well!

And before printing and publishing, be sure to look up the cost to self-publish a book so you know what budget you need going into it!

If you want help self-publishing a book, you can check out our services to get started!