How to Self-Publish Like A Pro: A Comprehensive Guide for Writing, Publishing, and Promoting Your Book

By Tina Koenig

Did you know that only 2,000 authors who publish on Amazon earn more than $100,000 annually?

How to Self-Publish Like a Pro won't promise you'll grow rich, but it will help you publish sensibly and profess

• Language: English
• Publisher: Koenig Design, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9781736470534

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How to Self-Publish Like A Pro

A Comprehensive Guide for Writing, Publishing, and Promoting Your Book

Tina Koenig

Copyright © 2023 by Tina Koenig

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the author’s prior written permission.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: Although the publisher and the author have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, and while this publication is designed to provide accurate information regarding the subject matter covered, the publisher and the author assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any other inconsistencies herein and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. The advice and strategies herein may not be suitable for every person’s situation. Reading this book should not be used as a substitute for the advice of an attorney, accountant, or person admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. The author and publisher do not guarantee the results obtained by using this book. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, personal, or other damages. The publisher and the author make no guarantees concerning the level of success you may experience by following the advice and strategies contained in this book, and you accept the risk that results will differ for each individual.

How to Self-Publish Like A Pro: A Comprehensive Guide for Writing, Publishing, and Promoting Your Book

By Tina Koenig

Print ISBN: 978-1-7364705-2-7 (price $24.95)

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-7364705-3-4 (price $14.95)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023913541

Koenig Design, Inc., Weston, FL

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

How to Read This Book

How to be an Organized Author

How to Structure Your Business

How to Claim Your Author Email

How to Purchase a Domain Name for Your Business

How to Build Your Author Website

How to Register Your Book with the Library of Congress

How to Know If Self-Publishing is Right for You

How to Get a Traditional Book Deal

How to Find a Small Press

How to Self-Publish a Book That Will Sell

How to Find Beta Readers

How to Edit Your Book

How to Work with a Hybrid Press

How to Finance Your Book

How to Buy ISBNs for Your Book

How to Choose a Self-Publishing Platform

How to Design Your Book’s Cover

How to Design the Interior Pages of Your Book

How to Format an Ebook

How to Produce an Audiobook

How to Get Book Blurbs or Endorsements

How to Get Editorial Reviews of Your Book

How to Get Books Discovered By Readers

How to Obtain Amazon and Other Customer Reviews

How to Ad Stack or Promo Stack to Sell Books

How to Effectively Use Social Media

How to Create an Electronic Press Kit

How to Get Media and Press Attention for Your Book

How to Plan a Book Launch

How to Plan Book Giveaways

How to Plan a Book Tour

How to Get on Podcasts

How to Engage Influencers for Marketing

How to Advertise on Amazon

How to Enter Awards and Contests

How to Avoid Legal Entanglements

How to Budget For Your Book

READER BONUS: Example Promotion Timeline

READER BONUS: Book Marketing Task Timeline

Resources

About the Author

Join My Tribe and Spread the Word

About this Book’s Production

Dedication

To all the authors who have trusted me

with their work and careers.

Introduction

Afew years ago, I attended a rock concert by Imagine Dragons. I wasn’t a huge fan then, but I became one. I’ve always loved rock concerts and enjoy it when the performers take a few minutes to talk with the audience. It makes me feel they are connecting rather than grinding out another show. It was a hot, damp summer night in West Palm Beach—uncomfortable weather for an outdoor performance. The lead singer, Dan Reynolds, thanked the fans more profusely than any artist I’d ever heard. He didn’t just wave his hand as he left the stage. He explained why fans were of value. He understood that we chose to spend our money to come to the show. He told us how much he appreciated that he could have a career because we were there. Those were the most heartfelt words I’ve ever heard from a rock musician.

As a fellow creative, I am sure you understand what it’s like to have others appreciate your work.

I feel the same about readers as Dan Reynolds expressed to his fans that night. If you’ve purchased this book, I’d like to thank you. Nothing is more fulfilling than knowing I’ve helped another writer avoid costly mistakes.

Over the years, I’ve worked with authors, libraries, and publishers in various roles. I’ve written publicity materials and booked authors for tours and bookstore appearances. I’ve helped choose authors to participate in community events and guided many writers through the process of traditional and self-publishing.

This book is for anyone with a finished manuscript who may or may not be seeking representation by an agent. While there will be a chapter about finding an agent, the bulk of this book will be about publishing and marketing your book. The marketing chapters will be helpful to an author who has published a book either themselves or through a traditional publisher. If you are a traditionally published author, the company’s publicity department will handle some of the marketing and promotional steps mentioned here. It’s worth noting that even traditionally published authors don’t leave all the marketing up to the publisher. Plenty of authors do their own marketing, which includes planning book events and managing social media accounts to ensure the success of a new book and boost sales of previously published books.

My goal with this book is to share best practices for presenting your work to an audience of readers. This applies whether you decide to try traditional publishing before self-publishing or if you want to jump right into self-publishing.

Many wonderful publishers and service providers are available to writers who wish to publish books. But some companies take advantage of writers by making outrageous promises about getting them on bestseller lists (for a price) or connecting them to agents for film deals.

These pages will include suggestions for how to check references before you decide to work with a particular individual or company. Just like you wouldn’t hire a babysitter or contractor without checking references, you’ll want to treat your book business similarly. This book will provide the information you need to make intelligent, thoughtful, creative, and financial decisions along your path to publication.

Remember that the phrase self-publishing doesn’t mean you must do all the work yourself. I don’t recommend it. For many years, I worked as a graphic designer. Naturally, I thought I’d be able to design my first book’s cover. Boy, was I wrong. Despite having a great design skill set, I knew nothing about book covers. Stick to what you know and hire the rest. It’s been my experience that results are better, and it saves time and money in the long run.

It’s impossible to leave readers with only one piece of advice. So here are my top three tips: 1) Other authors are not your competition. They are resources to call upon for references, support, and strategies to help you succeed; 2) Don’t forget to proofread your cover and back cover, and 3) Plan to spend as much time promoting your book as you did writing it. So many authors I work with are shocked at the time it takes to promote and sell a book adequately.

I came to the work of helping authors both as a writer, a technologist, and a promotor and supporter of books. Thanks for trusting me with your career.

How to Read This Book

Writing and publishing a book requires creativity, discipline, and project management skills. It also requires a budget. Depending on the stage of your project, you may jump ahead to the chapters that will most quickly answer any questions you may have. Because self-publishing can be challenging, I’ve also included guidance on approaching agents if readers want to try the path of traditional publishing.

This book’s chapters are organized in a loosely chronological way. Starting at the beginning and reading through to the end will provide the steps you’ll take over six to nine months to publish your book.

Alternatively, you can skip to the bonus sections at the back of the book for an overview of several book launch plans that will give you example production schedules and timelines to publication day. I realize that it will be tempting to skim and jump ahead.

Please don’t do it.

Here’s why. Many of the tasks needed to publish professionally are interconnected. For example, you wouldn’t want to purchase ISBNs for your book without understanding the business structures available to you as an author. Don’t know what an ISBN is? Then, it would be best if you read this book in chapter order. But I’ll give you a hint: an ISBN stands for International Book Standard Number. It is an identification number for books, eBooks, and audiobooks. There are times when you may want to buy one or more yourself, and times you may not need to take this action.

For example, a book’s ISBN is owned by the book’s publisher. If a traditional press publishes your book, they will own the ISBN for that title. If you self-publish, then you will buy the ISBNs and own them. But before purchasing one or more ISBNs, you may want to form a company or publishing organization under which to hold them.

Do you know the answer to this question: Is purchasing ISBNs for your book tax deductible?

Before I tell you the answer, certain people require that I include the following disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or a tax accountant, so please look for a professional and do your due diligence if you have any questions on law or taxes.

With that out of the way…the answer is that the ISBNs can sometimes be counted as an expense against your business earnings.

Why confuse you with all this talk about ISBNs? Because it’s information like this that comprises the behind-the-scenes work of publishing a book yourself.

I want to ensure you publish the best book possible—and this requires focus on some practical tasks that many creatives loathe to do. To help with these mundane yet important tasks, I’ll introduce ways to project manage your book publishing journey. I’ll also suggest options for establishing a business entity or company for your writing projects.

Why talk about the business of writing? Because many writers do not realize that if they encounter any legal issues with the publication of a book, they can be held personally liable. Even if you publish with a traditional press, they do not indemnify you. For this reason, many authors establish a business for their publishing activity. At a minimum, you will need the following: 1) a business entity formed with the help of an attorney; 2) a separate bank account for the business; 3) a business license, depending on your geographic location; 4) a resale tax license that requires collecting tax on books if sold directly by you.

The remainder of the book is structured into chapters that demonstrate how to fund your book project, how to design your book, how to choose a book printer, and how to sell copies of your book.

I’m at a distinct advantage because I speak regularly with authors actively publishing books. I have included links to service providers for editing, cover design, book formatting, book review, and promotion companies where possible. Including these services is not an endorsement by me. However, I have tried to share my favorite service providers and those used and recommended by clients and others. As a rule, I avoid suspiciously low-cost providers like those who work for $5 and $10 because of the higher risk of copyright infringement due to an overreliance on artificial intelligence or AI software and flat-out plagiarism.

As you embark on the road to publication, you’ll find a lot of helpful tools that claim to do everything for you—including writing and editing. Don’t believe everything you read. Sadly, novice writers are easily persuaded by these claims and lack the writing or reading experience to understand what constitutes a good book.

Recently, I spoke with a professional who was proud of the book she wrote by using a software program that organized the story, character arcs, and plot. This client was in the health professions and was new to writing. She was a first-time author and impatient to release her book to the world. As early Amazon reviews rolled in, many were low ratings. Following a tough consulting call with me, this author removed her book from the Amazon marketplace and took steps to improve its quality. Writers are often so close to their work that they can’t see elements like holes in a story or lapses in continuity that confuse a reader. Software can’t fix that.

Therefore, I’ve included advice on finding early readers, often called beta readers, for your work. Beta readers can help you avoid embarrassing and costly mistakes like the one illustrated above. Beta readers are not your friends; they are individuals who know how to provide constructive feedback and may be experienced in reading your book’s genre.

Anyone who has ever consulted with me knows that I keep things honest. Just because you are at the top of your field in one industry does not mean you can publish a bestselling book. Heck, you may sell at most ten books. But you can be helped by ensuring your book is professionally written, edited, printed, and promoted. Invest time learning the writing craft and read widely across multiple genres before you publish.

Now that you’ve purchased this book, start the clock. Plan your book’s launch date to be six months to a year from today. These chapters will take you through essential tasks based on where you are in a book’s production timeline. You may read chapters now or as the scheduled task comes up. Some efforts take more time than others, depending on your skill set. Other tasks overlap. Rough out a timeline and make modifications as you read along. For example, later in the book, you’ll read that certain times of the year may be better for publishing a book depending on its subject. In that case, you would make changes to your publication date to take advantage of favorable timing.

Tasks outside your skill set may need to be subcontracted to freelancers and specialists. In evaluating your publication timeline, account for the production schedules of outside suppliers. Talented editors and designers are in high demand. They schedule projects months and years in advance. Maximize your time. For example, if you plan to have your cover designed by a professional, this can be scheduled before your book is complete or during the copyediting phase. Before choosing a launch date, it’s a best practice to organize all the freelancers you plan to use so that your book’s files are ready for uploading to publishing platforms close to your publication date. Toward the end, or nested inside most chapters, I’ll provide recommended resources for where to find the best talent and build those timings into your production schedule. At the back of this book is a more comprehensive list of resources and service providers organized by job function.

This work is hard. It takes time. It takes money. Many authors give up after launch day because they should have had a promotion plan in place from the beginning. They got through the daunting book publishing process but needed more steam for promotion.

This book will give you the tools and training to make the process more manageable. It may help you decide whether self-publishing or another model is right for you. Later in the book will be a chapter about hybrid presses, which do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. You’ll pay a premium for this, but it is a good option for some authors.

Try not to get overwhelmed by the publishing process. Read or skim this book first. Then, tackle each task individually. Create a calendar and timeline to make the project go more smoothly. For every freelancer or service provider who tells you a project will take two weeks, double it. You’ll be thrilled when you’re ahead of schedule.

As with any business, the usual buyer beware consumer warning exists. If anything looks too good to be true, it probably is. Work with reputable companies, written contracts, and known payment gateways.

Publishing a book is a marathon and not a sprint. Hydrate and keep plenty of snacks handy. Feel free to email me about any services you have used and found helpful.

How to be an Organized Author

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a chapter to discuss the importance of organization. Whether you’re a computer-savvy person (and I hope you are) or someone who still uses expanding file folders and sticky notes, this chapter is essential. Please don’t skip it.

When I began my work with clients, I realized early on that a systematic filing system based on different functions improved my workflow. You can set up a file system on your computer, in a cabinet with drawers, or in a Banker’s Box. It’s challenging to publish a book without computer knowledge. And I realize not everyone takes to the keyboard easily—or is skilled at keeping things organized. But let’s give this a try. If you use a personal computer, adapt the structure you’ll read below. If you’re a fan of paper folders and boxes, follow the same logic using tabs and labels.

Some basic organizing principles will serve you well whether you self-publish, use a hybrid press, or are graced with a contract from a traditional publisher. Let’s do this!

Depending on where you live, you may keep your winter and spring clothes in separate areas. I apply a similar system to separate my business and personal life.

If you are on a PC, create two top-level folders inside your main Documents folder. Name one folder PERSONAL and the other folder BUSINESS. Use all capital letters so they stand out.

The PERSONAL folder is where you nest subfolders like Auto, Education, Family, Finance, Health, Home, Photos, Travel, and other categories based on your needs and interests.

The BUSINESS folder is where you will keep work related to your books, publishing, and promotion. Like you did when you purchased this book, I invested money in learning about writing and publishing, including setting up business systems and methods. That’s another reason to set up your author work inside a BUSINESS folder. As you proceed through this book, you will track purchases and expenses related to your work as an author and publishing books.

If you have outside work or a full-time job, you may create a folder nested inside the BUSINESS folder called AUTHOR BUSINESS if you prefer. This will ensure a more thorough degree of work separation.

As you organize, you’ll want to be mindful of having backups of your work. Just about any email service you choose comes with cloud storage. Be sure you sync your computer with cloud storage so you don’t ever lose your work.

Microsoft often packages cloud storage with its Office software. And if you have Gmail, you can sync with Google Drive. I also recommend that you save work to an external device.

Below is my suggested file folder structure for your author BUSINESS folder:

A TO-DO list (I purposely start this name with the letter A so it will always be on top. Feel free to drop any to-dos and project management notes here. A standard author business plan can also be kept in this folder if you like.)

Administrative (This is for company incorporation and information documents, receipts, tax documents, and all records.)

Book 1 (Name this file the title of Book 1.)

Book 2 (Name this file the title of Book 2.)

Book 3 (Name this file the title of Book 3.)

Advertising (This folder may contain a directory of the vendors you work with to advertise your book. You may only advertise on Amazon or Facebook, so you may choose to have top-level folders named Amazon Ads or Facebook Ads separately outside the main Advertising folder.)

Agent (This folder is where you keep query letters and information about obtaining an agent.)

Amazon Ads (This would be an example of a separate folder for Amazon Ads. It will contain password and management information about your Amazon Advertising account, including campaign spreadsheets and invoices.)

Author Photos (Organize your author photos by the date they were taken. Be sure to include copyright information in the file name.)

Bookstores (This will contain an Excel spreadsheet listing any bookstores you might like to approach. It may also contain consignment contracts you make with bookstores.)

Book Reviewers (Keep track of all your reviews in this folder. You will need these for posting on your website, to use in promotional material, and on Amazon and other bookseller pages.)

Conferences (This file will include an Excel spreadsheet listing conferences you may want to pitch with a speaking proposal or to attend.)

Contracts (This can be a subfolder nested in each book’s folder. But it may be easier to store all your contracts in this folder rather than spread them around in the book-specific folders.)

Electronic Press Kit (This folder will contain elements used for publicity, such as the Advance Reader Copy of your book, press releases, approved photos, book covers, and a watermarked PDF with all the elements baked in.)

Email (Keep documents related to your email service provider here. Or create a separate folder named by vendor, such as ConvertKit, MailerLite, etc.)

Events (Nest a folder for each event inside this one.)

Finance (This can be nested inside the Admin folder or in a stand-alone folder like this.)

Independent Contractors and Freelancers (Include subfolders for your cover designer, illustrator, book formatter, and other vendors. If you have multiple books, you can place vendor subfolders in the top-level folder for each book. All invoices and financial information will go in the Finance folder.)

Kindle Direct Publishing – KDP (While you will have all the relevant KDP files inside the individual book folders, you may want to keep the KDP login information and other details inside this folder. Your KDP account is separate from Amazon Ads and uses different login information.)

Legal (Documents with instructions, reference material, legal guidance, and contracts.)

Library Marketing (This can be an Excel spreadsheet of library contacts and marketing plans with libraries.)

Newsletter (Keep copies of articles and content created for each newsletter here.)

Photography (These are the images used inside your books or for social media. The folder may also include your author’s photos. Use descriptive file names that help you to locate images easily. Do not use the underscore character when saving file names. Using the underscore character makes it harder to find photos in search.)

Podcasts (Because there are so many podcasts, I like to keep a separate folder for each one. You can create different podcast scheduling sheets depending on the book you are promoting.)

Presentations and Talks / Or Classes (Use this folder to save PowerPoint presentations, class programming, and scripts.)

Press Clippings (These can be PDFs or a document with links to articles, mentions, reviews, etc.)

Social Media (Consider creating subfolders for each social media platform you join. For example, create separate subfolders for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or others.)

Video (Store video you create here, as well as content created for YouTube.)

Website (Download a weekly or monthly backup of your website and save it here. Also, keep copies of your website content here.)

Did you notice that I have not included a top-level folder for marketing? That’s because there are enough separate tasks involved with marketing that it’s faster to access folders right from the BUSINESS folder. You may have different presentations and campaigns for each book if you have multiple books. In this case, you may want to organize subfolders under each book’s title.

Think of your writing as a small business. It will help you to understand why it makes sense to have a folder like Administrative and Finance.

Folders like Administrative and Finance relate to your overall author business. Inside these folders can be information related to annual business renewals, computer purchases, general expenses, invoices, payment systems you use, tax forms, and corporate documents. Let’s say you offer consulting appointments based on your book’s topic. Square is a website integration application that allows customers to schedule and pay for appointments simultaneously. Each month, you will run revenue reports. Creating a particular folder for Square that’s nested inside the Finance folder means you have a place to organize the monthly reports.

Individuals who prefer pen-and-paper systems can buy hanging file folders and make labels using the same categories. Most of these files will take up one drawer of an average file cabinet. Find a system that works for you. It should be one that can be understood by others you employ in the future. Do your best to log all your income and expenses into a spreadsheet or notebook. You’ll thank me at tax time when you’re not hunting around for receipts and already have a spreadsheet with income and expenses ready for your accountant.

I think it’s hard to write and publish a book using just a cell phone and tablet. If you don’t have a computer or cannot afford one, libraries make computers available for free. Some library systems even loan them out. Security is a concern when using public internet systems inside libraries. You can use password-protected email and save your work to the cloud with Google’s Gmail and Drive. Microsoft Outlook also offers free email and cloud storage services. Apple has similar services, but they don’t provide as much for free. Remember, when using a public library computer, clear the computer cache when your library session is over. Additionally, I don’t recommend doing any financial transactions over public Wi-Fi. Use your cell phone or tablet via a secure connection, hopefully in your home, for financial transactions.

Using my system above will keep your work organized whether on a computer, in a filing cabinet, or a sturdy Banker’s Box.

The next chapter guides readers through setting up an author business or publishing company.