The self-publishing world is full of hazards and perils, just waiting to catch you out when you least expect it!
When you enter the world of writing and publishing, especially self-publishing, it’s easy to get excited and make some simple mistakes. It’s easy to get caught up in the self-publishing journey, and before you know it, you’re four or five steps ahead, and you’ve missed something important.
A small mistake may not feel like such a big deal at the time, but often, it’s tough to recover from bad reviews or a poor start, and even a tiny misstep can be costly. Below, we have compiled a list of five of the easiest self-publishing mistakes and why you need to avoid them. They’re listed below in no particular order.
The Following are Five Mistakes That You Need to Avoid and Why!
1. Don’t Try to Use Your ISBN on More Than One Book
Your ISBN is the unique way that people can search for your book. Each book edition, Kindle, paperback, hardcover, etc., should have its own ISBN. If you were to try and use your ISBN on another book, the information on databases would be mixed up and confused, hurting sales of both books. To learn more about ISBNs, check out Should Authors Use the Free Amazon KDP ISBN or Get Their Own?, where we cover everything Canadian self-published authors need to know about ISBNs and how they work.
2. Never Use Song Lyrics, Quotes From Other Books, Movies, Poems, Etc. Without Permission
It doesn’t matter how popular or common something is. It doesn’t mean that you can use it in your book. You must be extremely careful about utilizing other people’s property. Otherwise, you could be liable for some costly compensation should the artist, company, or brand come after you.
3. Don’t Cut Corners with Photo or Image Quality
Just because you copied a photo off the internet and looked great on your computer screen doesn’t mean it is good enough for your print book. When it comes to photo quality in print books, you need at least 300 dpi. How an image looks on a computer screen or device will vary greatly when printed out. Don’t cut corners on your pictures. Otherwise, your printed book will have blurry, pixelated, or low-quality images.
4. You Don’t Need to Print 10,000 Copies of Your Book
There are plenty of ways to get some copies of your book printed. You may think you have gotten an excellent unit price on your book, but it will take up a lot of space unless you start selling it. Print-on-demand companies, like Amazon KDP and IngramSpark, can print copies on demand for you at a reasonable price. These businesses offer lower prices for authors and maybe a more cost-effective solution than ordering 10,000 copies. To learn more about print-on-demand, check out our article, Amazon KDP Print-On-Demand Publishing Explained, where we go through how print-on-demand publishing works and how you can leverage it to your advantage as a self-published Canadian author.
5. Don’t Cut Corners on Your Cover Designer
We would all love to believe the old saying, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ but many readers still do it. A poor-quality or misleading cover can be an easy way to lose sales. A cover is part of the book where a small investment could pay off. Many cover design companies are online, and independent designers are even working through freelancing sites like Upwork or Fiverr. If you’re looking for a professional cover design package for your book, which includes two cover design concepts, ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audio book covers, along with social media mockups, fonts and style guide, title page, and much more, check out our cover design packages.
5 Things to Avoid When You’re Self-Publishing | Conclusion
Here are five tips to help you avoid trouble during your self-publishing journey. We’ll constantly be updating and adding new blogs, so make sure that you follow the site and bookmark it to ensure that you don’t miss out. You can also like us on Facebook or Instagram to stay in touch and ensure you don’t miss out on any new articles, guides, or special offers.
If you are writing a book and need any assistance with paperback or ebook formatting, cover design, professional editing, or uploading to self-publishing sites such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and IngramSpark Publishing, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We also offer children’s book illustrations and formatting services.
Our experienced and professional self-publishing team is standing by to assist you with your self-publishing dreams. Do you have any additional writing or self-publishing questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us directly. One of our friendly and professional team members will get back to you ASAP!
For authors still considering which self-publishing platform suits them as a Canadian author, read The Complete Guide to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing for Canadian Authors, where we cover everything you’ll need to know about getting started on Amazon KDP for the first time.
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below, and we’ll do our best to answer them or point you in the right direction.
