The Many Advantages of Self-publishing

 

Getting published can be a very difficult and harsh experience, this is due to the fact that it is very difficult to have yourself published by traditional publishing houses because of strident requirements or unrealistic expectations from the publishers. Self-publishing is a great solution for this problem. With Self-publishing you are given a plethora of advantages compared to traditional publishing.

What is Self-Publishing?
In layman’s terms self-publishing is the publishing of a book without the involvement of an established publisher. The author is in charge of the entire process, from having the book published to creating marketing services for the book.
There are several advantages that make self-publishing a viable option for many authors today. Here are just a few of the reasons why it might be the right choice for you today.

1. You are in control of the process

The process in self-publishing is in complete contrast to traditional publishing. In traditional publishing the publishing house is in complete control of the publishing process. In traditional publishing once you signed the contract and took the advance payment for the manuscript, the company can publish your book in any way they wish. They can create publishing packages for your book and advertise it in any way they can. In the case of self-publishing you are in complete control of the whole process. You can choose how you publish your work, how you advertise your completed product and how you choose to go from there.

2. It is cheaper than ever to Self-publish

With the rise of many self-publishing companies through the years, there are countless promos that will allow you to get your book published at the lowest rates possible. For less than $1000 you can purchase services that already include the publishing of the book and the creation of various advertising platforms that will help in gaining your book much needed media attention.

3. You can make more money through Self-publishing

Although you shoulder most of the expenses for publishing your book, once you have made a profit, the profit is yours a hundred percent. In traditional publishing the author gets around only 10-15% of royalties. Thus in the long run you will still get a bigger profit should you self-publish your book.

4. Marketing operations is under your control

In traditional publishing the publishing house is technically in full control of marketing operations for its books. Thus should you opt for traditional publishing, you would have little to no control of your book marketing. In self-publishing you can employ all sorts of marketing techniques that you see fit. You can create advertising blogs through the internet, choose your own publishing packages, join book shows or even go door to door selling. The true beauty of self-publishing is that you have unlimited control of book operations and you do not have to answer to anyone except yourself.

5. You gain a sense of pride through self-publishing

There is a certain pride in seeing your dream of being a published author come to fruition, and the feeling is even sweeter if you published your book by yourself without the help of established publishing companies. This is because your book was published through your hard work and no one else. Your book is a testament to your conviction and to your dream of being a published author. Seeing your book fully published and ready to sell should give you a great sense of pride, because you were the one in full control of its creation, from the cover design to the final copy of the manuscript. All of it was you and you should take pride in that fact.

Book Layout Errors that Should be Avoided

When it comes to self-publishing there is nothing more important than knowing how to properly lay out the design for your book. This is because if you do a bad job at it, your book will come out amateurish and it will hurt your reputation as a serious writer. One of the things a reader looks for when he or she reads a book, is a proper book layout.  Having a good book design without any errors shows readers that the book is professionally made and adheres to a strict standard. Here are errors that you should avoid at all cost.

• Typos

In the eyes of a reader there is nothing more annoying than typos. This is because typos connote a sense of irresponsibility on the part of the publisher. It would be taken as a signal by the reader that the author did not take the time to double check his or her work, and they would interpret the book as not worth reading anymore.

• Inconsistent spacing between paragraphs

This not only makes the contents unattractive, but also makes it hard for the reader to read. When checking up on your work you should make it your first priority to spot these inconsistencies.

• Double spaced print books

It’s strange to say but these errors do happen. The effect of this error on your book would be quite noticeable because the double spaces will make your pages look spare. In the end your book will only look ungainly and also be difficult for readers to read and look as if a child made the overall design of your book.

• Lack of numbers on the pages

As hard as this is to believe, this does happen. The lack of numbers on your book will surely confuse your readers and make it almost impossible for him to find the page they are looking for when they read the book.

• Quotation marks and capitalization

Quotation marks and capitalizations is also an issue when it comes to self-publishing your work. This usually occurs when there is dialogue, a comma, and then a capitalized word that should not be capitalized or a sentence starting with pronouns. This is to avoid confusion in readers, because the more confused readers are the more likely they are to voice their discontent with the book through the internet.
No Hyphenations
This usually happens to books produced in a word processor. If you look hard at certain books there would be huge spaces between words and is a sure sign of carelessness and lack of professionalism on the part of the publisher.

• Unnecessary running heads

It is strange to say, but it seems some writers have the compulsion to put running heads on every page of their books. It should be understood that display pages don’t need and shouldn’t have, a running head.

• Messed up margins

Any book designer worth their salt knows that when it comes to book design, margins are immensely important. Imagine reading a book and then as you turn the page the entire paragraph veers off to the right. It would really ruin your entire perception on the book. Margins are supposed to help center the contents of the book and make it aesthetically pleasing and improves the readability of the book.

• Cluttered book cover design

One of the main mistakes when it comes to book cover design is that some designers use too much content. Using too much stuff on the book cover will not only make the overall look of the book cluttered and dirty looking. When creating a book cover design it is always a good idea to have a more minimalistic approach and use only a few well-chosen images to get the true essence of the book.

Top 9 Goals for Book Covers

When it comes to selling your book, one of the main factors to success is the book cover design. It does not matter whether you are publishing through self-publishing or traditional self-publishing. In this case the book’s cover does matter. Sadly though not many people know the fundamentals of book cover design and end up with sub-par cover designs that makes their overall book design look cheap and unprofessional.  Which is why when you create a book cover you should have a set of goals to adhere to and work towards to.

• It must be unique

It is easy to say but difficult to do. In this era of book publishing there are literally thousands of book designers creating book covers by the day. And it is very difficult to create a truly unique book cover design that can hope to compete with the already existing ones. But don’t be discouraged, although it is difficult it is not impossible. Thus the main thing to remember is that you are also talented in your craft and that you yourself are unique and can create a design cover that will stand out amongst the rest. Believe in your own skill.

• The overall design must be minimal

It is easy to get carried away in your design and uses a huge amount of images on your book cove. Word of advice, don’t.  Using a myriad of images will not really guarantee that your book cover design will be a success. In the end the overuse of book design may just as well damage the overall look of your book and make it look chaotic and tawdry. The thing you should always remember is that less is actually more. Use maybe one or two images on the cover. Just be sure that your images captures the overall flavor of the book.

• The images used must be high quality

The images used must be high quality. Would you read a book if the book cover has images that looks cheap and badly drawn?  Such examples are illustrations of well-loved children’s stories that have book covers stamped with images of characters that are amateurishly drawn. Their coloring and the overall artwork being both unattractive and badly colored. If you are to use an image you should use a good quality one or better yet a truly unique image specially created for your book. This gives your book a unique flavor.

• The colors used on the cover should match the theme of the book

When you make your book cover, it is good to remember that the colors used in the book should match the theme of the book. It would be so awkward and downright offending to the eye if you used colors that do not complement or capture the overall design of the book. Imagine looking at a book cover that has horror as a genre but has orange, pink and neon as base colors. It would damage the overall design of the book.

• The book cover should have an overall theme

One of the main errors in book cover design is that the design might stray from the overall theme of the book. It can come out as awkward looking and miss the entire concept of the design.

• The book cover should stay true to its genre

The same way that the design should follow an overall theme, the design should also stay true to its designated genre. If the book is suspense themed, it should be obvious just by looking at the cover.

• It should convey the scope of the story

It should explain the full scope of the book so that it would be clear from the start what kind of book it is to its target market.

• It should generate a buzz

As it was stated before book covers are extremely important when it comes to being able to sell one’s book. The book cover is the first thing a potential buyer would see and this is also the same thing that will convince the reader if the book is worth buying or not. Thus the book should be able to generate excitement or a buzz right from the start.

• It should be able to establish a market position

This is technically a proving ground for the book. If ranked with the other books in the book store or in the internet, what would the book cover look like? Would it stand out or would it be lost in obscurity with the less well made books. In the end the main intent of the whole book cover design process is for this very moment.
In quick summary the main goal when it comes to creating book covers is to capture the reader’s attention and to stand out from amongst the competition.

Book Cover Design Secrets on Getting Reader’s Attentions

When it comes to self-publishing there are few things more important than the book cover. Although the content is also important because the contents will keep the reader interested in your work, but in order for you to have your book read, you first have to sell them. This is why book cover design should always be taken seriously. And throughout the years talented book designers have used a set of rules that have helped their books gain the attention and admiration of readers. Here are a set of rules that will help your book covers garner reader’s attentions.

• Make the cover eye-catching

When you walk into a bookstore and take a look at the bookshelves what do you see first? Usually it is the book with the most striking cover. This is why you should always make the cover as eye-catching as possible. The more eye-catching the cover the easier it is to get the reader’s attention. The main trick to making the cover as eye-catching as possible is the use of contrast. Using contrast you can highlight the central or most important image while also tastefully creating a beautiful contrasting background that gives it a striking effect.

• Make the cover more spacious

One of the biggest mistakes made by most designer when creating the design cover is that they tend to make it too cluttered with unnecessary images that destroys the overall book layout. It is also very important that your book title be evenly spaced.

• Give the cover a theme

No one wants to look at something boring. When you make a book cover always remember to give your book cover a theme. One tip in giving your book a theme is that you should use images that appeal to the brain when it comes to fiction and images that appeal to the heart when it comes to non-fiction. When you make a theme for non-fiction you should adopt a central gimmick and a solid background or gradient. In the case of fiction you should use a variety of colors that will make your book cover pop. The book covers should be easy on the eyes and inspire emotion in the reader. Focus on colors, abstract symbols, representations. Focus on strong contrast and mood.

• Use the right font

One of the most important things that a book designer should know when making a book cover design is to know what font to use. When choosing a font try to use a truly unique font. Do not use fronts that are installed on your computer.  You can make your font unique by hiring a designer to tweak it or if you want to truly get readers attentions, have your font costume made.

• Give the cover a more personal touch

It is a good idea to put in a person on the cover. This adds intrigue and interest to the book.  Super close up of faces can be really powerful too, but if you find them on a stock photography site, there’s a good chance it will be used on another cover. (The better the picture, the more covers it will show up on). You can avoid this by getting a friend to pose or hiring a model for a quick photo-shoot.

• Use sub-titles, teaser and reviews

One of the best ways to entice readers into buying your book is to use subtitles, teasers and reviews. The use of these tools will help entice readers by providing bits of information that will excite interest without giving away too much. Using just the extra bit of small text makes the covers look more professional. Reviews are also very useful in getting attention for your book because a good word from a critic will give it much needed support.
All in all your main intent in book cover design is to capture reader’s attention with a combination of artistry and cleverness.