Writers Beware: Self-Publishing Nightmares To Avoid

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Maybe you’ve spent months trying to get a literary agent’s attention, without success (don’t feel bad—it’s a difficult task!). Or maybe you’ve decided to skip the agent, maintain creative control, and get your book published ASAP. Either way—you’ve decided you’re ready to self-publish.

Self-publishing no longer suffers from the scary stigma of being called “second rate.” Today many successful authors choose to self-publish, and their books are indistinguishable from traditionally published books. Self-publishing can be a writer’s dream come true!

But before you sign on the dotted line with a self-publishing company, make sure you do your research. Otherwise, your dream book project could become a nightmare.

Self-Publishing Horror Stories

Pages of typos and grammar errors.

You may have read and reread your manuscript and are confident that every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed. So, to save money, you might decide to skip having a professional proofreader look over your book. Cue the ominous, foreboding music! Nothing makes a book look terribly amateurish or results in more bad word of mouth than page after page of spelling errors and grammar mistakes. Don’t take the chance—have an expert proofread your book before you self-publish.

Some self-publishing companies offer in-house proofreading for an additional fee. But be warned: Online complaints about self-publishing companies abound—missed typos, overlooked grammar gaffes, bad formatting, even illustrations being split onto separate pages.

Hard-sell horrors.

Of course, every self-publishing service boasts how affordable they are. But before you can say “attack of the spam monster!”—suddenly your mailbox is barraged with pushy sales pitches for expensive add-ons. All the marketing support you thought was included in your original price quote turn out to be “extras” you must pay more for. You’ve fallen for the lure of the initial low price and now they have you in their clutches…and they’ll never let go!

Amateur book cover design.

Your book cover is your ultimate point-of-purchase sales pitch. You may have written an engrossing, unforgettable, incredible book—but if your cover art doesn’t capture your buyer’s attention and interest, you won’t make a sale.

Make sure your book cover art reflects your genre and meet your reader have certain expectations. You wouldn’t see a romance cover with a blood spattered noir cover, or a book set in the old west featuring a city skyline on the cover.

Self-publishing your book may seem scary, but it doesn’t have to be!  At Self-Publishing Relief, we can guide you through every step of the process. We’ll take care of the technical formatting issues and get your book set up on Amazon. See testimonials from satisfied Self-Publishing Relief customers. And schedule your consultation with Self-Publishing Relief today!

 

 

 

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2 Comments

  1. Yawer Qazalbash

    After self publishing three books I found the most difficult part is promotion and selling the books. It also consumes most of the valuable time, which a day worker who write books as well, hardly can afford.

    Can you suggest any solutions for these two problems.

    Reply
    • SPR Staff

      Promoting your book is hard work! There is help out there–our Virtual Assistant program, for example. Another smart way to maximize your marketing and promotional efforts is to team up with other self-published authors to create a power promo team! Check out our blog to find that article and many others with advice about marketing and promotion.

      Reply

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