6 answers
Lindsey
Student
Wichita, Kansas
1
Question
Asked
1104 views
What is the best and cheapest way to get my book published and on the market??
I love to write and my dream is to become an author, so why would I wait until I’m older to get a book published? I want to self publish, but I feel like nobody’s going to discover my book that way.
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6 answers
Tom Foster
Freelance Writer with a lot of life experience
32
Answers
Forest Grove, Oregon
Updated
Tom’s Answer
A lot of people are going to give you good advice, like those above, but the best thing you can do is stop believing there's an easy, surefire way to get published and get noticed. Unless you're particularly lucky, it's going to take a good deal of hard work and determination to get noticed. So do the writing, do the legwork, and push your work as much as you can. Let go of the words 'easy' and 'cheap'. Just write, and do the work. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.
Thank you!
Lindsey
T.J. Worthy
Mentor
203
Answers
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Updated
T.J.’s Answer
Hello Lindsey!
There's two main ways you can get a book published.
↪ The Traditional Route: As an author, you work with a publisher.
↪ The Independent Route: As an author, you work to release your book by yourself.
So... You can self-publish your own book!
Self-publishing requires more effort, but there are authors who found success (such as Margaret Atwood, Andy Weir, Beatrix Potter, Mark Twain, and Stephen King).
Here's some topics to consider as you begin your plan:
𝐀. 𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
➪ 1) Do you have a solid idea?
➪ 2) Do you have a good story?
These two questions are important. You need to have good storytelling to write a book that will appeal to an big enough audience.
It's important to feel confident in your writing and ideas, but you also need to have the skills.
Let's say you have a draft to a chapter of your first novel. Ask for feedback.
Share your work with family and friends. It might help to share your draft anonymously to get honest first impressions.
(Pretend that you're sharing someone else's work online and just ask your close ones, "Hey, what do you think about this story? [That I copied and pasted into a google doc?"]) 😄
You can also post your work online to get feedback in writer's communities. Overtime, you'll get a sense of where your skills are, revise your work, and feel ready to start posting it.
𝐁. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.
A good way to have a successful book is to have an audience. [Which seems ... "duh" ... but I wanted to emphasize :) ].
You want people to not just engage with you online, but to get genuinely interact with your work.
To me, interaction means that people are commenting on your work. They share their thoughts about the characters, the world, or the plot. They imagine new scenarios for your protagonists or show appreciation through fan art or messages.
Interaction is the key to building a strong following/audience.
The best way to get people to interact with your work is to use groups online. Some good places to publish stories are Watt Pad, Tapas, Deviant Art, Tumblr, WordPress, or Scribble Hub. Then, you can create another place to advertise your work: either off social media or on social media.
Once you find a platform that you like, you can determine a strategy for how you want to share your book.
𝐂. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞.
One of the 'hardest' things you'll have to do is Marketing! Marketing a book is possible in a few ways.
One of the places I listed above can act as both social media and a place to publish stories (Tumblr). Other sites may require you to use something else to get the word out there.
Out of all of the social media options, I believe Instagram and an email newsletter are the two best options.
An email newsletter is personal to you, where you can write to readers. A book Instagram account is less personal, more controlled by the algorithm, but you can post pictures to a wider audience.
Regarding the actual marketing itself, you'll need to learn a few things:
➪ Self-Promotion
➪ Branding
➪ SEO
➪ Being Genuine/Authentic with Who You Are
Self-Promotion and Branding go hand in hand. For these two, you will need to sell yourself [as an author] - and your products [your book].
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It's a fancy term that (in simple terms) means analyzing current internet trends and using popular terms in your posts.
The last trait is important. As you start your journey, you might feel intimidated by social media, because it's a place where you feel "forced" to act like a totally different person to succeed.
Don't fall into that trap.
Focus on your personal story and what makes you unique. Be yourself!
Some people won't like your work. However, there might be someone out there who will enjoy your book and who you are.
Here's some good videos on these topics:
↪ Easy Way to Market Yourself and Why You Should Do It | https://youtu.be/lrM5CRg-O0I
↪ HEALTHY Social Media Tips for Artists | https://youtu.be/tVLXJ10KthY
↪ Marketing for Artists 101 | https://youtu.be/sjw9vFuI2Qw
↪ Email marketing for artists! | https://youtu.be/1YvRavOQT1k
↪ What should authors post to Instagram? | https://youtu.be/PYzDG4Wxegk
↪ Misty Black - Self-Publishing | https://youtu.be/GemUjKV0Pt8
↪ Complete SEO Course For Beginners | https://youtu.be/EOzZdhFw1rY
↪ I went to a handful of literary conferences this year. This is what I learned | https://tinyurl.com/writing-darth-reznor
𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤???
Well you have three main ways:
➪ Blog/Writing Site - To start with, you can post early chapters of your work. Alternatively, you can post about your process of writing or publishing the book itself.
➪ Ebooks - You can use SmashWords, Amazon Kindle/KDP or Lulu to make money from ebooks.
➪ Paperback/Hardcover: Making physical books will cost the most. I wouldn't recommend printing books until you have a idea of the size of your audience. When you have an estimate, you can use Barnes and Noble self-publishing, CreateSpace, or Lulu.
- - - - - - - -
Wow. That's a lot of information. 😅
Yet, I hope these tips will help you get started.
Sending you good luck with becoming an author :)
There's two main ways you can get a book published.
↪ The Traditional Route: As an author, you work with a publisher.
↪ The Independent Route: As an author, you work to release your book by yourself.
So... You can self-publish your own book!
Self-publishing requires more effort, but there are authors who found success (such as Margaret Atwood, Andy Weir, Beatrix Potter, Mark Twain, and Stephen King).
Here's some topics to consider as you begin your plan:
𝐀. 𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
➪ 1) Do you have a solid idea?
➪ 2) Do you have a good story?
These two questions are important. You need to have good storytelling to write a book that will appeal to an big enough audience.
It's important to feel confident in your writing and ideas, but you also need to have the skills.
Let's say you have a draft to a chapter of your first novel. Ask for feedback.
Share your work with family and friends. It might help to share your draft anonymously to get honest first impressions.
(Pretend that you're sharing someone else's work online and just ask your close ones, "Hey, what do you think about this story? [That I copied and pasted into a google doc?"]) 😄
You can also post your work online to get feedback in writer's communities. Overtime, you'll get a sense of where your skills are, revise your work, and feel ready to start posting it.
𝐁. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.
A good way to have a successful book is to have an audience. [Which seems ... "duh" ... but I wanted to emphasize :) ].
You want people to not just engage with you online, but to get genuinely interact with your work.
To me, interaction means that people are commenting on your work. They share their thoughts about the characters, the world, or the plot. They imagine new scenarios for your protagonists or show appreciation through fan art or messages.
Interaction is the key to building a strong following/audience.
The best way to get people to interact with your work is to use groups online. Some good places to publish stories are Watt Pad, Tapas, Deviant Art, Tumblr, WordPress, or Scribble Hub. Then, you can create another place to advertise your work: either off social media or on social media.
Once you find a platform that you like, you can determine a strategy for how you want to share your book.
𝐂. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞.
One of the 'hardest' things you'll have to do is Marketing! Marketing a book is possible in a few ways.
One of the places I listed above can act as both social media and a place to publish stories (Tumblr). Other sites may require you to use something else to get the word out there.
Out of all of the social media options, I believe Instagram and an email newsletter are the two best options.
An email newsletter is personal to you, where you can write to readers. A book Instagram account is less personal, more controlled by the algorithm, but you can post pictures to a wider audience.
Regarding the actual marketing itself, you'll need to learn a few things:
➪ Self-Promotion
➪ Branding
➪ SEO
➪ Being Genuine/Authentic with Who You Are
Self-Promotion and Branding go hand in hand. For these two, you will need to sell yourself [as an author] - and your products [your book].
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It's a fancy term that (in simple terms) means analyzing current internet trends and using popular terms in your posts.
The last trait is important. As you start your journey, you might feel intimidated by social media, because it's a place where you feel "forced" to act like a totally different person to succeed.
Don't fall into that trap.
Focus on your personal story and what makes you unique. Be yourself!
Some people won't like your work. However, there might be someone out there who will enjoy your book and who you are.
Here's some good videos on these topics:
↪ Easy Way to Market Yourself and Why You Should Do It | https://youtu.be/lrM5CRg-O0I
↪ HEALTHY Social Media Tips for Artists | https://youtu.be/tVLXJ10KthY
↪ Marketing for Artists 101 | https://youtu.be/sjw9vFuI2Qw
↪ Email marketing for artists! | https://youtu.be/1YvRavOQT1k
↪ What should authors post to Instagram? | https://youtu.be/PYzDG4Wxegk
↪ Misty Black - Self-Publishing | https://youtu.be/GemUjKV0Pt8
↪ Complete SEO Course For Beginners | https://youtu.be/EOzZdhFw1rY
↪ I went to a handful of literary conferences this year. This is what I learned | https://tinyurl.com/writing-darth-reznor
𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤???
Well you have three main ways:
➪ Blog/Writing Site - To start with, you can post early chapters of your work. Alternatively, you can post about your process of writing or publishing the book itself.
➪ Ebooks - You can use SmashWords, Amazon Kindle/KDP or Lulu to make money from ebooks.
➪ Paperback/Hardcover: Making physical books will cost the most. I wouldn't recommend printing books until you have a idea of the size of your audience. When you have an estimate, you can use Barnes and Noble self-publishing, CreateSpace, or Lulu.
- - - - - - - -
Wow. That's a lot of information. 😅
Yet, I hope these tips will help you get started.
Sending you good luck with becoming an author :)
I'm excited to put your great advice to good use!
Lindsey
Emily Kurfess
Graphic Design
4
Answers
Charlotte, North Carolina
Updated
Emily’s Answer
I have two books self-published on Amazon using Kindle Direct Publishing. This makes your book available for free to those who subscribe to that program on Amazon. This is the best way to get your book out there to new readers who may not want to take a risk to pay for a book from a new author. Seriously consider paying for an editor and a book cover designer. If you cannot pay for that, run your book through Grammarly (it's free), and join Facebook groups for free Beta readers. Beta readers aren't editors, but they can provide some great feedback about your story before you reach a final draft. If you can't afford a professional cover, use a free design program like Canva.
This is so helpful, thanks Emily!
Lindsey
Trinh Nguyen
Author
1
Answer
Chicago, Illinois
Updated
Trinh’s Answer
Hi,
If you are still a student, we have a great opportunity for you!
We are She's an author publishing. We have sponsorships available for students to write and publish their 1st book. Students will not have to pay. We help publishing their first book.
Students must be currently enrolled in their school.
Please provide Full Name, email, social media tag, name of school, year, and book idea.
Dm us at @sshesanauthorpublishing or dm me at @honganh.sap on Instagram for more instruction
If you are still a student, we have a great opportunity for you!
We are She's an author publishing. We have sponsorships available for students to write and publish their 1st book. Students will not have to pay. We help publishing their first book.
Students must be currently enrolled in their school.
Please provide Full Name, email, social media tag, name of school, year, and book idea.
Dm us at @sshesanauthorpublishing or dm me at @honganh.sap on Instagram for more instruction
Thank you so much, Trinh! I’ll go check it out!
Lindsey
Caitlyn Johnston
Senior Technical Writer
44
Answers
Odin, IL
Updated
Caitlyn’s Answer
You can self-publish, but, like any book, you'll have to have a strong marketing campaign. One benefit to having a publisher pick it up is they already have a strong marketing department.
I appreciate this, thank you for the advice.
Lindsey
Jared Oluwa
Sync Licensing Facilitator
2
Answers
Gardena, California
Updated
Jared’s Answer
Check out KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) via Amazon to get a digital book distributed.
Jared, thank you!
Lindsey