What You Need to Know Before Self-Publishing Your First Ebook

As a certified reader, I like e-books a lot. Reading from my comfort zone and accessing millions of amazing books is like a dream come true. I never thought seriously of self-publishing an e-book, but many people did.

Right now there are almost 93 million active e-book readers and this number is expected to reach 1.1 billion by 2027. So, let me ask you a question, have you been thinking about self-publishing an e-book?

Look, it’s great if you have come up with something amazing, and you want to share it with the world. But there are a few things you have to understand before publishing anything.

I’m writing this article for you where I’ll talk in regard to what you need to know before self-publishing your first e-book. Just so you don’t face any mistakes and gain a lot of readers, make sure you go through everything that I’m mentioning in this write-up. 

Understanding the Self-Publishing Landscape

Traditional way of publishing comes with limitations, but self-publishing offers a lot of things to authors. However, all the burden falls on the author’s shoulders let it be marketing, distribution, production, etc. 

So, you’ll have to do research and understand everything before publishing anything. Learn about different distribution platforms like Kobo, Amazon Kindle, and Apple Book. 

Understand different marketing tools so you can manage that on your own.  If you ask me, pay special attention to royalty and distribution structure because you need to make some profit as well.

The Value of Taking a Publishing Course

Look you can’t just wake up one day and decide that yes today I’m going to self-publish an e-book, you have to gain knowledge before you do anything, or you can meet failure and this could be avoided only if you decide to do your research. 

There are specialized courses only for self-publishing. One of the best ones is https://www.publishing.com/kindle-publishing-course, here you can learn almost all the aspects and work accordingly.

This course gives detailed information and covers various topics, making it easier for you to understand. So it is a must to have such courses as it will only benefit you in the long run. 

DID YOU KNOW?
The first published e-book was Declaration of Independence, created by Michael Hart in 1971!

Importance of Editing and Professional Design

As a reader, I look for a polished and well-structured book with great grammar, flow, and clarity. So, make sure that all these parts of your e-book are taken care of. It’s not only about the language, it’s how you present it.

You can consider getting help from a specialist so that they can help you develop your write-up perfectly. It’s a one-time investment. Since you are publishing an online book, you have to pay special attention to its design. 

It should be eye-catching but not overwhelming, keep it simple yet attractive. Design it according to your genre, so readers can connect with it more, and don’t be shy to hire a designer. 

Crafting a Compelling Marketing Strategy

Let me ask you this, what factor matters the most when it comes to the success of any product? If your answer is marketing, you are correct because without it no matter how great of a thing you are introducing it won’t reach out to people.

This is why you have to create a perfect marketing strategy, so your self-published e-book can find its audience. Take the help of social media to connect with potential readers, reach out to book-promoting sites, and offer discounts at the time of launch.

You can also create a personalized blog or site and promote your e-book there. These things play a crucial role, so you need to be attentive. If we talk about the global e-book market, it is expanding rapidly, take a look at the stats below.

Pricing Your E-Book Wisely

Now, it’s true that you also want to make some money out of your self-published e-book, but you have to be reasonable with the price so you can’t be greedy. Think of yourself as one of the buyers and determine a price that everyone can afford.

Offer discounts at the time of launch, so more people can purchase it, and once it starts to gain popularity you can increase the price a bit so you can cover everything. But don’t keep the price high from the beginning. 

Embracing Feedback and Iteration

Your first published e-book is going to be an experience that will teach you a lot. You’ll meet with praise and criticism and keep every single review in mind if you decide to post another write-up, you could avoid the same mistakes. 

Feedback is important as it tells you in what area you need to improve. So far in the article I’ve mentioned most of the important things that are going to be your main focus, rest you can learn from specialized courses. All the best with your first self-published e-book.

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