How can I increase my chances of success with my book and e-book?
In the first part of this series, we presented the importance of strategy and product quality. This second part is more about building your author name as a brand and promoting your book projects.
In today’s book industry, it is easier to see if you have many titles. Some authors, who switch between different genres, use different author names for various books, especially if it is a very common name that does not stand out.
One should then try to create a clear brand for each author’s name. This way, one can reach different target groups and markets using different channels. These author names can be anonymous. One reason for creating a pen name may be that what you write does not fit with your usual professional role.
Maybe a lawyer doesn’t want to put his name on erotic short stories or children’s books. If, on the other hand, a criminal lawyer writes a piece in which a lawyer is the main character, it is a selling point that the author has the same profession as his main character and thus possesses knowledge of the subject.
Try to establish yourself and your book or books as a brand to retain your readers and also to win new ones. Also, try to imagine how your readers perceive you and your titles. It can also help you ask friends in your social circle to gather feedback.
Then compare the answers and set goals you want to achieve. Authors use a variety of methods to promote themselves and often with different purposes, such as being entertaining, different or interesting. Here, how you dress, accessories and general presence can play a key role in creating a professional “image”. It is important to be consistent, feel comfortable and always shine through with their own personality in all communication. A significant but gratifying challenge is finding the core of your own brand.
ASPECTS OF CREATING A BRAND
Self-esteem: the personality you want to reflect: do you want it to be genuine or invented? Think about who you are and who you would like to be to find, develop or shape your author’s name as a brand.
Author photo: Your photo or pictures that you use should match the brand you intended and the image you want to give to your readers. For example, if you focus on creating your “image” as a happy and funny children’s book author, then images or photos that make a dark, depressing and gloomy impression will not fit. Use a professional photographer who can understand what “image” you want to give. A professional photographer can reflect this with the help of selected locations, lights, details and possibly through processing in Photoshop.
Own website: It is important for your readers that they can find you online. Having your website that you regularly update should give you added value as you develop your brand as a writer. Here you present yourself and your books and all other important information that you want to convey to your readers.
If you need help with creating a professional author web site, just contact us, we can help.
Active on social media: Find your appropriate platforms to get in touch with your target audience. Although you may feel that you are “exposing yourself” by using social media, you do not have to write about personal things or talk openly about your opinions if you do not want to. Instead, take advantage of the broad readership that you can reach through social media and perhaps write about why you started writing and what thoughts made you write one or the other book. You can write about new book projects that you have started and why. Make your readers curious!
Press and media: Editors are particularly interested in different stories that they can tell. Contact various newspapers and media that may be interested in your books and with you as a writer. With the help of a pre-written press release and photos, you can get magazines to pick up on your particular story. Feel free to start regionally as it becomes a more emotional connection to write about a writer and her work that comes from the place.
Be active at events: Being involved in various relevant events is an excellent opportunity to get in touch with your existing target audience and find new ones. You can also network and gather inspiration from other writers and industry people, which is essential for your book’s success. There are many events you can take advantage.
SELF-MANAGEMENT
To profile yourself as a writer today has a much greater significance than before because the competition is tough. To achieve success, you must keep an overview of all the different actions and marketing activities that you carry out and follow up.
Keep control of yourself, rely on yourself and hold on to the threads! Almost no one gets rich from dropping a book and it’s hard to live by writing. But if you want to try, you should see yourself as a brand and build-up activities around it. Of course, also be inspired by others and bring in new ideas that you can use when promoting your brand.
The most useful tool is to believe in yourself and dare to do something new. Behind each new door there are additional doors, which in turn lead to something new and exciting.
How can I increase my chances of success with my book and e-book?
First and foremost, you should define the concrete meaning of the term “success” to set appropriate goals. Ask yourself what it is you want to achieve for yourself and your title. Only after you have decide what is important then you can you develop a working strategy.
SET YOUR GOALS (REALISTICALLY)
One of your goals might be to create a name as a writer. Many dreams of becoming a well-known or at least a well-known author. How do I get there? Ask yourself questions and look for answers: Am I present everywhere where my target audience is?
You may notice that you are not as active on social media yet, or at least not in the platforms where your readers are. If this is your insight, then it is evident that using an appropriate channel on social media is the goal to reach more potential readers. Maybe you should start your blog, website or record videos on YouTube to reach your target audience. Sky is the limit in today’s social media consumption.
PRODUCT QUALITY
If the quality of your book and e-book does not meet your readers’ expectations, you will not achieve success, no matter how much time and money you invest in your marketing activities. Therefore, you must take the time to make your book as professional as possible.
It is proven that the following criteria are particularly important: The content of the book and its theme, niche you choose, the book description, the book cover, the price and the most importantly book’s reviews.
Since the content, the book description, reviews and the book cover are the 4 most essential factors in choosing a book, as an author, you should consider hiring an editor and graphic artist to achieve success with the book publishing.
THE TEXTS
Don’t hesitate when it comes to investing in proofreading and language review, and it’s always worth the money. Reviews of your script on a professional level can go a long way. Proofreading ensures that misspellings and misspellings are corrected so that the confidence of your readers does not diminish. Studies show that texts with spelling or language errors irritate the reader and lower the readability.
BOOK COVER
The impact of the cover on potential readers is enormous. If the book’s cover convinces the reader both aesthetically and thematically, it arouses interest in wanting to read on the back of the book, either in the bookstore or with the help of a click in the online bookstore.
The cover should represent the book’s content, showcase the book’s genre and quickly capture the buyer’s attention. A book cover may very well be self-made, as long as it looks professional. If you want to be on the safe side, hire a graphic designer to design your individual and personal cover.
If you need a professional book cover design, we may help.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
If you have succeeded in capturing the buyer’s interest with the cover, it is usually the book description that decides whether or not they will buy it. Do not reveal too much here and keep in mind that the text should rather arouse curiosity than tell everything.
Keep the description short and without complicated words. Feel free to use words and descriptions that arouse the reader’s imagination. If you want more tips on the book description, please check our blog.
PRICE
Surely, the price also plays a role in purchasing decisions. Try to understand what your target group may be willing to pay for your book. Every book has a price, but which is the right one? You can orient yourself by comparing prices of similar books within your genre in the bookstore.
This tool may help you and save time to determine the best price for your book. Remember wrong pricing is one of the major reasons for e-books to fail.
KEYWORDS
Choice of high volume, relevant keywords is very important, do it right readers find and buy your book or it will see no sunlight at all.
Use keywords in you title (if possible), in your sub-title, book description, author description. Ask yourself how you best reach your target audience with your keywords and themes or concepts relevant in your book genre. A big advantage of focusing on more specific keywords is capturing your potential readers later in the buying process.
PRODUCT CATEGORY
The more clearly defined the book’s category, the easier it is for readers and booksellers to find your book. That choice is used by online book stores algorithms while listing reader search results.
AUTHOR’S INFO
As in the book description case, it is also important to create interest and inspire confidence in author description part. What is important for a successful author description is background information about the author, the message, the excitement and the way of presenting yourself as a writer, it is part of your marketing that will also play a central role in part 2 of this series.
Collaborating with book bloggers can accelerate book sales. They help you spread the word among its readers and followers. Be sure to include searching relevant blogs in your niche/genre in your marketing plan.
For all writers, it is a dream to experience good sales figures, advertising and getting a lot of attention about their work, but this does not happen overnight.
As a self-publisher, it is important to set up a marketing plan to reach the largest possible readership. Collaborating with relevant bloggers can help you a lot along the way. Many book bloggers collaborate with reading circles.
They also use various social media such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and their websites. Book bloggers are now getting more influence. As these sites grow, they get more and more attention in the media and in the book industry.
Investigate carefully which book bloggers may suit you, depending on your genre, niche and audience. See how many followers they have and what other social media they use. Once you have selected the ones that may support you and your book, it is time to make a plan about whom to contact and send a copy of your book to.
We recommend that you do not outreach all book bloggers at the same time. It is better if the reviews are published periodically, possibly once a week. Book bloggers can be perfect partner for your marketing plan.
WHAT A BOOK BLOGGER CAN DO FOR YOU AS AN AUTHOR:
Write a review
Spread your book information in various media, forums, events and with other book bloggers in addition to their own blog.
Sometimes it is difficult for readers to decide which book will be the next purchase. They often search on reading forums or among book blogs for tips, ideas and reviews. On some sites, you will also find comments from readers and discussion forums that provide many tips and ideas.
More and more publishers are beginning to understand the importance of book blogging and are inviting them to mingle with the publisher’s authors and take advantage of newly published books.
It is really difficult to list book bloggers as there are thousands. And to get results you may need to target those ones relevant to your book niche, genre. You can find more book bloggers on Google with a simple search of your genre and niche.
In addition to book bloggers, as a self-publisher, you can also try to contact reading circles which you may find many on Facebook.
Do you dream of writing and publishing books? Why? It sounds awkward to ask such questions. On the other hand, being a writer requires a lot of hard work (it usually involves completely unpaid long process), so it’s good idea to have right mindset.
0% ROMANCE, 100% HARD WORK AND A SPLASH OF MAGIC
Perhaps writing your book is your biggest dream. You share that dream with many others. People feel good about both writing their own and reading other people’s stories. We live in a time when self-publishing, as never before, is available to everyone. This is excellent news for us with the writer’s dreams.
Publishing is available in all forms – from traditional publishing as well as hybrid publishing to pure printing services, where you are your publisher. Being accepted by a publisher is not impossible but difficult. Instead, many choose to publish their book themselves, giving you control over the entire process, and you decide for yourself how much money the publishing will cost.
Once you have decided to try self-publishing, you are faced with a myriad of decisions to make. It is an exciting journey, which I highly recommend. First of all, however, I would like to emphasize this: You will not wake up one day, and suddenly find that your work is on the shelves.
Self-publishing involves many steps, which you must take in order for your dream to come true. Most of the steps include hard and time-consuming work, but who really does great things without effort? Achieving your goals requires perseverance, patience and hard work in addition to talent.
Few experiences are comparable to holding your own book in your hand if you love writing. The journey with everything you create as well as everything you learn along the way up to publishing is difficult to describe in words. If this is truly your dream, and if you are willing to work for it, it is worth all the effort.
YOUR STRATEGY
Why are you writing? Is it to inform others, or maybe you are very angry about something? It is not uncommon for the desire to write from an intense personal experience such as an injustice, a loss or an injury. Do you want to express hope, faith, fear or maybe a laugh to your audience? No matter what, it’s you story and it hasn’t been told before.
What is your goal? Is it enough to physically hold your own story in hand, or should sales revenue should pay your bills, leave a legacy, options are endless. Regardless of goals, please work with intermediate, smaller goals and set a (realistic) schedule. Many steps are more time-consuming than you would expect.
How much does it really cost? The costs depend on the extent of your own involvement in activities other than writing. What can you do for yourself, and what do you need help with? I recommend that you take help with editing, proofreading and visual design aspects of your book. Sure, you can do all by yourself but time you spent on tasks not related to writing does not worth it.
Find out what you don’t know! If this is your first time publishing a book, you can’t possibly keep track of everything. Others have made the trip before you and can tell you about it. Be curious, and learn.
Feel free to take a courses and ask questions on social media! There are groups and forums for authors and self-publishers, which can be of great use. Network with other writers. Writing can often feel lonely, which is why networking with others can be very beneficial. Also, it is more fun to share experiences with others.
Be purposeful, and don’t give up! Self-doubt is human, it happens to all of us. Creation most of the time happens outside the comfort zone. Feel free to go back to your goals as often as you need to maintain motivation.
We describe this process in three blocks: editing, production and distribution.
EDIT
Writing a script usually involves in different phases; producing a raw script, which is then edited, in one or more sessions. In this phase test readers, editors and proofreaders help.
PRODUCTION
The production is about transforming your submission and your cover, both physically and electronically, into a concrete product. It is now that you convert all text into a print-ready PDF file and create the cover, which must also be converted into a print-ready PDF file. You decide what format and what kind of binding and paper the book should have. In this part of the publication, you also print the book in case you want your own small edition.
DISTRIBUTION
You can sell your book in several ways, the most common of which are an online bookstore, traditional bookstore, directly by you, through your website, or at fairs and events. Don’t forget the libraries! As a self-publisher, you have a lot of work to do to reach your readers. It has to be creative, purposeful and persistent. It helps you if you create well-planned marketing and are active in social media.
Have you written texts and stories, they stay alone in your computer? Do you sometimes dream about what it would be like if others could read your writings? Today, everyone has the opportunity to publish their own books as a self-publisher and thus share their stories and knowledge.
Writing is a hobby for many. Using the written word, one can convey thoughts, tell experiences or let the imagination flow, put it on paper and tell in a way that is not necessarily possible through the oral word.
At some point sharing your own thoughts and ideas in public can at first seem a little daunting since you don’t know how readers will react and whether they will appreciate what you have written. That is exactly what it is about being a writer: to awaken thoughts, inspire others, and create new worlds for the readers and to offer knowledge.
With digitization, it has become possible to share their own thoughts and texts in blogs, social and other media, which has led to completely new dimensions of interaction and communication. But the internet does not always offer the author what is needed – sometimes, you have ideas that could be enough for an entire book.
Self-publishing is a perfect opportunity: you can easily and quickly get your book out in the bookstore, on your own. Self-publishing is a risk-free way to publish books and an increasingly popular alternative for authors: it means low publishing costs and the author decides on how to and where to publish himself.
I WANT TO BE AUTHOR
When the desire to write becomes so high that you just have to write, even in the middle of the night, or when the characters in your story start to feel alive, it is time to plan your book publishing. Necessary first steps are to have concrete ideas about the content, to write them down, the willingness to publish, your narrative voice and a lot of motivation. With these, you have a solid foundation for the writing process, which is the next step in the publishing process.
SELF-PUBLISHING IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK
For many people, writing is an integral part of life and you might not even think about sharing your texts with others. Book publishing is much easier than you might imagine. Self-publishing opens up many new opportunities for authors in the book market around the world.
FIND YOUR GENRE AND NICHE
If you write fictitious love stories, children’s stories or poets, fiction is your branch. The non-fiction is fact-based and consists of e.g. textbooks, lexicons, biographies and scientific texts. As a journalist, you can, for example, write in connection with your work, or you may be a specialist in a field.
Regardless of whether you are writing facts or fiction, it is important to think about why you want to publish your own book and what opportunities there are. In order for your book to reach as many readers as possible, it is important that the content of your book is outstanding and interesting. Think about what makes your book unique and write it so readers find something new and engaging – something that makes them recommend the book to others.
Most often, the author has an idea of the content before the writing process begins and the story is edited and developed as the writing process progresses. The important thing is always the writing itself: write down everything that makes your story move forward.
Everything does not have to proceed according to the original plan or you may come up with new things during the writing process that will affect the content and form of the final text. Remember that you can always change, move and delete text afterward, but a text that does not even exist cannot be edited.
INSPIRATION
Although writing is your favorite job, it can sometimes feel like an almost impossible when you lack inspiration: nobody wants to read it, it’s better to give up – you might think. Every writer goes through difficult phases too, but it is not worth giving up. Both good and bad thoughts can be good to share with others. Support from others and good discussions are important; otherwise, the authorship may feel alone. Besides, you often find inspiration through sharing with others.
PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE INFLUENCES THE READER
The fine-tuning of the text is an important step in the publishing process and it may be necessary to obtain support in the fine-tuning phase. It is well known fact that one can become blind to one’s own text and make mistakes even if you go through the text many times.
As a writer you are a professional in your field and as a professional, you want to be taken seriously. The book must be published with good text. Ask as many readers as possible to go through your text and tell them what they think about it. Both friends and family can be good test readers – but they may be biased and we recommend that you obtain an objective response.
When you are in the final stage, you better employ an editor who reviews your text for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and who also gives feedback on the language overall, the logic of the text and the credibility of the text. With this response, you can develop and process your text until it is completely finished.
PUBLISHING ON YOUR OWN
Developing the book idea into a broader concept and transforming the idea into text is a long and sometimes quite complicated process that you have invested massively with time and work in. Now it is time to complete the project and get the book out in the bookstore!
Self-publishing is an easy, fast and effective way to get your book in the book stores. In practice, this means that every author can publish his or her book without criticizing or changing the contents of the book: as a self-publisher, you have full right to your book’s content, appearance, publication date and sale price.
As a publishing form, self-publishing has grown a lot in recent years and many self-published books have ended up on bestseller lists worldwide. Many authors who publish their books in traditional publishers choose to publish on their own because of the artistic freedom that self-publishing entails. With the help of self-publishing, aspiring writers are given the opportunity to publish their books, which they might not have otherwise.
THE BOOK’S PATH TO THE READER
Once your book has gone through all the required steps and finally been published, you can be proud of yourself! You have done a great job and it is great that your book is now published. Congratulations, you are a writer!
The readers who only read digitally on their mobiles, tablets or reading devices can be reached by publishing it as an e-book.
E-books has significant advantages. Especially self-publishers benefit from this opportunity, as they can reach their readers in the same bookstores and online bookstores as the publishers can. You do not have to publish your book through a large publisher to reach your target audience. Many writers today can realize their dream of writing and publishing using e-book self-publishing
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
There are many benefits of e-books. One is that the readers can always bring with them several books at the same time without dragging on heavy books.
Another advantage is that the reader chooses when, where and how to read your e-book. You can read it on a tablet, a reading device or a mobile. This is the perfect solution for the reader who is traveling or commuting a lot. You can also easily borrow an e-book from the library, as long as the reader has an internet connection.
Most e-books have several formats like Mobi, PDF, ePub, which allows you to change the text and screen size depending on the device you read. The reader can adapt the book to make it easier to read. In an e-book you also have access to search functions and interactive links. For example, you can link your readers to your web page, your YouTube channel or your Facebook page.
The long life of the e-book is a great advantage because it does not depend on a certain printed edition in the same way as the printed book is. It is also flexible because it is easy to renew it if new formats are released and you can easily change the content if needed.
E-books are usually cheaper to buy than the printed version. For those readers who want to save money or are not prepared to pay the printed version’s price, the e-book can be a cheaper alternative.
E-books are also more environmentally friendly as you do not need to consume any paper, ink, color cartridges or use large printing machines.
One disadvantage of e-books is that you don’t have this old fashion way of reading a book. Some still prefer to hold the book in hand, even smell the paper. Other than that we see no disadvantage, may be you run out of batter of device you use to read the book.
DISTRIBUTION
You can publish your e-book with Elib, Amazon, iBooks, Google Play, Skoobe, Readfy, Apple, Overdrive and Kobo, among others. You can also offer your e-book at a promotional price for a certain period, release your e-book for lending and receive pre-orders before you release the book. Promotional price and marketing timeframe set by the author himself.
With e-book lending, you take the opportunity to expand your readership, as lending e-books makes it easier for the reader to find new books and new authors. The reader does not have to buy the book directly but can first borrow it and then maybe decide to buy it.
You can make it possible to pre-order your e-book. Your e-book will then be visible even before it is published. The big advantage: As soon as you have caught the attention of your future readers, they can pre-order your e-book and they do not have to remember the exact publication date – a sound basis for an advertising campaign!
E-books especially appeal to those readers who like to shop online and use mobiles and tablets. This target group is also often active in social media. They write and read online, create book blogs, review websites, Instagram, Twitter and other channels. They are happy to share their positive experiences of the book with their followers, which will increase your sales figures. They often prefer that the book and the lower price can be downloaded quickly.
ARE ALL E-BOOKS COPYRIGHTED (DRM)?
You can use soft copy protection (watermark), which means that each file contains visible and invisible information about origin. The reader has no restrictions, but if illegal copies appear, they can be traced back.
In addition, you will find hard-copy e-books (Adobe DRM) that are encrypted to your Adobe ID and can only be read with software such as Adobe Digital Editions. Some titles have no copy protection. The authors and publishers decide for themselves what kind of copy protection the title should have. The rights that you acquire when you purchase the eBook are always bound by your personal use.
YOUR BOOK CAN REACH A LARGER AUDIENCE!
As a writer, you should not miss out on this large crowd of readers who prefer to read books on mobile, iPad, Kindle or any other reading device. So you do not have to choose whether to publish your book as an e-book or a printed book. Publish both versions at once! A title achieves higher sales figures when available as both a printed book and an e-book, as it gives a more professional impression to your readers.
With just a few steps, you can boost number of readers! Well-thought-out metadata makes your book easier to find and can thus give you better sales figures. What does metadata mean, and how can it be improved?
Metadata means data about data. It is essential to specify the correct properties, which are then passed on to the reader by distributors, retailers, and librarians. Metadata in the book industry is data that informs about, among other things like book title, subtitle, author, book description, cover, format, price, ISBN, keywords and directory information.
This is the basic information needed about the book to list or catalog it with, for example, Amazon and other online bookstores. You need to provide a complete picture of the book’s content. The more elaborate and complete it is, the better the sales success you will have.
We will explain in detail what metadata means and give you some tips on how to improve it so that more readers buy your book!
METADATA
It is essential to understand how the reader thinks. What criteria the reader look for, how can you choose your metadata and how to appeal to the reader?
To avoid problems with the various online bookstores and physical bookstores, the metadata must follow specific rules and guidelines:
1. Books have ONE title
Think carefully about your book title. Try to make it appealing and unique! We recommend that you search for the title in various online bookstores, to ensure that it is not already taken. Your title should reflect the book’s content and genre. If a book is titled “The Fairy of the Wonderful Rabbit” you quickly understand that it is a children’s book. The title along with other metadata and the cover form the book’s business card. Therefore, it is important that the title addresses your target reader audience.
2. Books can also have ONE subtitle
It can make a difference if you also have a good subtitle. It can clarify contents, supplement the title, or explain the book’s genre. The title may be “An Unexpected Meeting” and the subtitle “A True Love Novel”. In this case, the title of the book does not explain much about the genre of the book, but the subtitle does. This way, the reader can easily find the type of genre or book they are looking for. Also, try searching the subtitle of your book and see which books are visible at the online booksellers. What place in the list of books does the subtitle have? You could also inspire a little on the books that are best-sellers or high up on your search lists.
3. Books always have at least one, author or publisher
You can have one or more authors or publishers, or both. This information should never be omitted. It is important to put a first and last name. If you do not, your book may not be found anywhere, as it has an impact on online bookstore algorithms.
Online bookstore algorithms consist of instructions on what to do, with what and in what order by using metadata information. Many readers only search for the author or publisher’s name. You can, of course, also publish your book under a pen name instead of your name.
4. Is your book included in a series?
If your book is part of a series, you should include the series name. Remember that the books should be numbered and that each book should have its own title. The series name can be part of the book’s title. The book’s cover design should have a similar theme so that the books are recognized in the same series. When specifying the book’s category, all the books in the same series should have same category.
5. The book’s description
As an author, you want the reader to get stuck reading your book. If the cover has convinced the buyer, then it is the book’s description or book description that should lead to the purchase. Therefore, it is incredibly important to have a good and attractive description that makes the book interesting without revealing too much.
Each book needs a description that informs the reader about the story. The text must be flawless, match your title, and awaken the desire to read the book. The book’s description may also contain some of the keywords that you have chosen for your metadata.
6. Author presentation
The first thing many of us do when we hold a book in our hands is to turn it over and read the back cover. We read about what the book is about, and we are also curious about who the author is.
If we are looking for a book in an online bookstore, we want to read about the author there as well. Therefore, even a professional author presentation is an important part of your metadata.
7. Item group & theme
A product group consists of one subject category (e.g. “art: general” which belongs to the subject area “specialist book”) and up to three additional categories that provide additional information (e.g. “Art deco” as style). In some cases, specific combinations of subject categories and supplementary categories need to be selected (e.g., an age group for children’s and youth books).
Use the option to select multiple product groups if your book fits into more than one product group. In such cases, however, the following applies: The product group must be as clearly defined as possible but at the same time as general as is necessary. In many cases, it may be worthwhile to select only one product group to optimize visibility. The clearer the book’s product group is defined, the easier it is for readers to find your book.
8. Keywords
A change of perspective can do wonders. Get into the shoes of a reader who wants to buy a new book. In which online book stores and in which category would you search for the book? What keywords would you enter, and how many books do you see? Do you think many other readers are searching for the same keyword?
We recommend you do your keyword research. Choose some online bookstores such as Amazon, etc. (Remember to use your browser’s incognito mode when doing a keyword search and logging out of your accounts! Otherwise, your previous keywords will often automatically appear and results shall be personalized, you don’t want that).
Now enter keywords in the search field as if you were looking for a book like yours. What keywords does the e-commerce store suggest? Is your first thought correct? In that case, many others are probably looking for a book similar to yours using this keyword. Then this keyword generates high visibility for your title.
Next, pay attention to how many books you see in this search. Is it several thousand? Then the book will probably fall far down the list. Are there just a few dozen? Perfect! Then this keyword is often used, but your book will still be visible. Exactly this keyword should also be included in your metadata! The purpose of the keywords is to help readers find your book while searching.
The impact of the cover on potential readers is enormous. If the book’s cover convinces the reader both aesthetically and thematically, it arouses interest in wanting to read on the back of the book, either in the bookstore or with the help of a click in the online bookstore.
The cover should represent the book’s content, showcase the book’s genre, and quickly capture the buyer’s attention. A book cover may very well be made by yourself, as long as it looks professional it is ok. If you want to be on the safe side, hire a graphic designer to design your own and personal cover.
The interior design of your book is important as much as the design of the book’s exterior. The front/back/side cover, the inserts, sentence structure, trims, margins, fonts, spacing needs your attention. We go over what is important for your books interior design to give the reader a good reading experience.
When the reader notices a book in the bookstore and opens it to explore the content, a first impression on the book’s layout is vital in buying decision. A well-designed interior structure/content puts authors one step ahead as an integral part of marketing.
The self-publisher can either design their book themselves or have a graphic designer do it. Regardless of who do takes care of design, it is important for you as an author to know basics about boos interior design.
As a writer, you probably have an rough idea on how you want your finished book to look like – if you decide to hand over this job to a graphic designer, you must convey your expectations to get there.
WHAT DOES A PROFESSIONAL PHRASE MEAN?
A professional phrase creates a uniform and high-quality look for the book. It gives the reader a readable text as well as a good reading experience. The uniform appearance of the insert and the high-quality phrase is based on a comfortable and easy to read font, suitable font size, and correct spacing.
The purpose of the sentence is to create both a consistent and high-quality look on the book. It gives the reader an idea of the quality of the book and facilitates the purchase decision. A good sentence means that the reader does not have to think about the sentence; the good readability means that you focus on the content rather than the sentence.
Furthermore, a professional phrase contains appropriate font and heading style, correct text size, and proper line spacing and margins. The same goes for image placement; it is good to keep the distance to the text uniform throughout the book. The chapter breakdown and the text surface positioning also belong to the sentence: a uniform paragraph breakdown and style make the story flow clearly.
HOW IS THE SENTENCE PLANNED?
The starting point for the design is the text, the book’s title, and target group, i.e., who the book is intended for.
There are no set rules that every author should follow when writing. There are many options to choose from, and using your own ideas and own creativity is ok. Using your own design style can even be an advantage as long as you have a design style. However, most sentence types have typical features and elements that facilitate the reading experience, and that should be taken into account in advance.
You can start planning the sentence by thinking about what the cover of the book communicates to the reader, and you can think about how the content should look. For example, a reader who reads a novel expects a specific text size and style, no uppercase letters and images – while a reader who becomes interested in a specialist book will likely be convinced by the factual information in the book as well as a professional look. The style of the sentence is thus strongly influenced by the genre and the target group, i.e., who the content of the book is aimed at.
A practical tip is to review other books from the same genre when you set your sentences. Visit a bookstore for this or look through your own bookshelf. Review, research, compare with other books and think about what elements you can use in your book’s setting. Also, consider which book you think is clear and easy to read and then use the same style for your book.
SENTENCE TYPE AND FONT
The genre of the book determines the style and the final look. When planning the sentence, inspiration, and ideas based on the manuscript are needed – in connection with this, it can be useful to compare with other books in the same subject or genre. When deciding on the type of sentence to use, there are usually many alternatives – however, the genre of the book is crucial.
BODY TEXT
The most common fonts used for fiction are serifs – this is because of their readability. The heels (the hyphens that end the letter stack that is a letter or character) seem to direct the eye from letter to letter and word to word.
Fiction books are usually read for a long time, and therefore, both font and layout should be as clear and easy to read as possible. Novels often use fonts such as Minion, Garamond, or Athelas. When it comes to the size of the font, small (10-11 points), too narrow line spacing should be avoided.
In poetry books, the pages are divided according to the position of the poems. It is recommended to choose the same font for the entire sentence, but depending on the style of poetry, the sentence may also be artistic or playful.
Reading non-fiction books differs from reading fiction books in that the reader often searches for specific passages in the text based on the information they are looking for. Important information in the text can be characterized by, e.g., bold or italic style.
Therefore, antiquate fonts are common in professional literature as well. Unlike fiction books, both antiquate fonts such as Myriad Pro, or Proxima Nova and serif fonts can be used. The size of the font is usually 8 to 11 points. The style of the sentence should fit the contents of the book, and the style is therefore factual.
Books for children and older people often use a larger font size and especially for books aimed at young children, the content consists mainly of images. The font is playful, such as Swinging Petidoni.
Margins and other empty spaces around the text also part of the book’s style. For example, in poetry books, space gives room for the reader’s interpretation, while empty spaces in professional books have a different meaning.
The inner and outer margins should be wide enough, especially in novels, so that the reader can hold the book “normally” without covering the text with their fingers. If you use narrow margins, the text gives a messy impression and makes it look crowded. When you decide on the margin width, you can compare with other books that you read comfortably.
HEADINGS AND CHAPTERS
The heading structure consistently divides the content of the text into sections and creates an organized feeling. The heading hierarchies reproduce the content and make the text interesting and easy to see through.
In a few books, the text goes from cover to cover without any sort of division. Both fiction and non-fiction books contain chapters whose task is to divide the text into clear sections and help the reader understand the content.
In fiction books, for example, a new chapter can be started when the narrator, place, or time is changed, or the author begins a new chapter to create tension in the story. A new chapter is always started on a new page, and the text can be started directly as a body text.
Another alternative is to start the text in the new chapter with a so-called capitalization, where the first letter, first sentence, or first words of the new chapter have a larger font size or even capital letters.
Non-fiction books usually contain both headings and sub-headings that make the text organized and make it easier for the reader to find the desired information. If the book includes subtitles, you should avoid using too many different fonts – this often means that the whole text gives a messy impression.
In fiction books, the headings may contain decorative elements such as symbols or other ornamental features. The headings must be uniform and precise: they should be placed at the beginning of each paragraph, with or without numbering. Headings do not have to be named but can also consist of a number, or the heading can be omitted entirely.
In fiction books, the purpose of the paragraph division is primarily to divide the text into consecutive sections to ensure readability. Headings in non-fiction books, on the other hand, help the reader find the right information. It is therefore recommended to add headings, especially in non-fiction books.
AN IMAGE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Images create interest, support the text, and give the text an added value and/or information.
The images give the text of the book more life, and they serve as a visual complement. If it is not a picture book, the images are intended to support the message in the text or emphasize the importance of a particular text.
In non-fiction books or manuals, images are often used to illustrate and clarify the text’s content and give different examples in the form of photographs and figures. In children’s books, images are an essential part of the story that reflects the children’s book content. The pictures are usually drawn or painted in children’s books. In historical works such as biographies or history books, images enrich the content of the text and allow the reader to gain insight of the past.
If the images intended for the book are of poor quality, it is better to omit them altogether. Blurry images give the book an unprofessional impression, and, as previously mentioned, the purpose of the pictures is to support the story – poor quality pictures affect the opposite. Old black and white images may not look clear even with the best software. As a professional writer, you want to show that you are an expert in the field, and good quality pictures emphasize this.
The placement of the images is also prominent in connection with the setting. In children’s books, the images are usually large and clear, and they often cover a whole page. In professional books, large images are rarely used; instead, images are used as smaller sizes that support the text. Alternatively, you can insert a kind of picture gallery in the middle of the book in non-fiction books. Regardless of where you place the images, there should always be a clear caption for them.
TITLE PAGES AND TABLE OF CONTENTS
The book’s initial pages, i.e., the title pages, should always follow the same pattern in professionally created books. You can choose any book in your bookshelf, and you will notice that the body text never starts on the first page of the book. The title pages are unnumbered and contain the author’s name and the title, as well as an imprint page with impressum providing copyright, ISBN, and print and publishing information. The page numbering starts from the page where the body text starts.
If the book is to have a table of contents, it is usually created immediately after the print site page. The table of contents lists all the book’s main chapters, sometimes also sub-chapters – these help the reader navigate the book.
For this reason, a table of contents is important, especially in professional books. In novels, a table of contents is unnecessary, but it obviously helps the reader find the right chapter, right at the beginning of the book. The actual body text starts on the first odd page – to the right – after the table of contents.
HOW IS THE SENTENCE MADE?
The writing of the manuscript can be done with a professional phrase software or – if you are looking for a free version – in a regular word-processing program (e.g., word). Grammarly is highly recommended here, even its free version helps a lot.
The design software used by most graphic designers is Adobe InDesign – a program suitable for placing images and text professionally. Before each sentence, the text and font settings that you will use throughout the sentence are defined – this gives the book’s layout a consistent look. It is possible to make certain presets in word as well, but the most significant work must still be done manually in word processing software.
CHECKLIST FOR BOOK INTERIOR DESIGN
Choose a suitable font, the right text size, and the correct word and line spacing for your book theme. Find inspiration by browsing other books of the same genre
Choose the font and text size for the headers and set the subheadings’ size to be slightly smaller than the main headers
Set the margins on both sides of the body text (Note that the text should be marginally adjusted, like having straight right and left edges)
Add title pages to your book: author name, book title, impression, and any dedication
Check the quality of your pictures and adjust if necessary. Plan where in the text the images should be placed and ensure that the images get a consistent layout
Finally, update the table of contents and verify that the page numbering is correct
Self-publishing is one of the most important areas booming in recent years in the book industry. It gives the author the freedom to decide freely about content, design, price, and to publish his work efficiently and quickly to reach the readers.
It has been conducted a comprehensive European self-publishing survey in collaboration with the University of Applied Management in Erding, Germany. The aim was to understand how you, as a writer, develop your marketing strategies, what differences you see in different literary genres, how you reach out to your readership, and the extent to which you build your network with bloggers and other writers.
More than 3,200 authors from eight different countries participated: Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, France, and Spain. Previous surveys were conducted in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
The study found that the authors’ most significant writing motives are to entertain the readers, convey personal experiences, and strengthen personal development. The most popular genres among the self-publishers turned out to be professional books, novels, and short stories. Children’s books, science fiction, and fantasy are genres that are growing in popularity. Publishers do not attach much importance to getting high income from their work.
PUBLISHING FORMAT
The self-publishers usually publish their books as a printed book and an e-book, to reach more readers and increase awareness. Compared to the survey conducted in 2016, more authors are now publishing their books in both formats.
Results from 2016 survey were as follows:
52% printed book and e-book
45% printed book
only 3% only e-book
When compared with the other European countries, you can see that the German-speaking authors are the ones who place the highest importance on publishing their titles both as a printed book and an e-book. In Spain, every tenth author publishes his book only as an e-book.
COMMUNITY
Before their first book publishing, many self-publishers had built their own community within a specific theme. Authors invest more time and money on marketing when there is already an active community.
The French authors are the most active in Europe in building a community, but only 39% responded that this affects their book publishing success. On the other hand, in Finland, 87% benefit from their community to raise awareness and increase sales.
Building a community of your own is usually done through Facebook, your website, and blog. Other platforms used are Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Fanfiction, of which LinkedIn and Twitter are used most frequently. In France, Spain, and Sweden, Instagram is popular. The writing platform Wattpad is mostly used by Spanish writers.
NETWORKING
How actively does a writer interact with other writers? Beginners in self-publishing engage more actively with other authors as they have a greater need to exchange knowledge and experiences, tips, and ideas.
Writers who are networking are the ones who are active in building a community, would like to entertain others with their books and invest in personal development. They target a younger readers group, invest more time in social media, and spend more time and money on marketing, often collaborating with bloggers, and are usually female and younger writers.
Authors responded that the most important topics they discuss are: writing (75%), self-publishing (67%), marketing (58%), and participation in trade shows & events (37%).
SELF PUBLISHED TITLES GET MORE PROFESSIONAL
A professional and well-designed book is essential for the its success. A professionally designed cover, adapted to the book’s genre, arouses the interest of potential readers and conveys a positive impression. It is one of the book’s self-marketing tools.
A large number of self-publishers are aware of this, and the survey shows that 36% of the participants use expert services, in 2016 it was only 29%. The most common services for which they employ professional help are cover design (79%), proofreading (65%), and language review (52%).
MARKETING
Another critical factor for the book’s success is its marketing. Here, 33% of the participants replied that they created their website and send out review copies. 30% think it is important to attend trade shows and events, while 26% of the authors have their blog.
Investing in network advertising on different platforms is 24% important. The social media most commonly used by the self-publishers is Facebook and Instagram. 60% of participants replied that they invest less than one hour a week while 21% invest up to 3 hours a week promoting the book on different channels. Authors who spend more time marketing the book receive a higher income from book sales. So obviously marketing pays off!
Try to establish yourself and your book as a brand to get readers attention and win new ones. Also, try to understand how your readers perceive personal your brand as an author and your titles. Investing on a unified brand as a writer – both online and offline – creates recognition among readers. It is essential to have a uniform image across the boards; all the design, imagery, color, and style of your website, blog, social media channels, and marketing of the book.
Writers who spend more time on marketing make more money on book sales. So invest you time at least if you are on budget on marketing if you want to boost your books visibility.
To create your author name as your brand and increase your book sales, you must work actively with a marketing plan. You must reach out to your readers and create a community online, but how do you do it?
When you have written a book, you are very overwhelmed by it. A project that has taken a long time to push through is finally done! But now it is time for phase 2 – marketing the book. It is reaching the right target group with their life’s work.
There is a wealth of ways to market your book, so which method is right for you and your writing? Sometimes it can even be that the alternatives are so many that you do not know where to start. So let’s review the most effective ways to promote your book and what you should focus on right from beginning.
The following seven elements are essential to each author’s marketing plan – these are the necessary steps on which you base all your marketing. They are also steps that you can get started with before your book is published and completed.
IDENTIFY YOUR IDEAL READER
This is almost the most important thing of all – finding your ideal reader/target audience! Everything comes back to your readers! Once you know who you are trying to reach, you need to find out how to reach them and where they are online. To find your ideal target group, you need to think about who you think would like to read your book.
If it is a children’s book, you are directed to find parents of a certain age, grandparents, preschool teachers, preschools, etc. After all, it makes no sense to target those who, for example, are interested in medical information in that situation right? If young people are targeted, then a newsletter will not work on this target group, you will have to focus on the social media platforms that the target group is on.
SET REALISTIC GOALS
Whether you want to sell as many books for a certain amount of time or be in a best seller list – make sure you set a goal. If you do not have a clear destination in mind, you can never map your path to get there. It’s ok if your goals changes along the way. You have to start somewhere. We all need to have a goal to pursue to push ourselves forward with our plans.
If you don’t know your goals yet, I think you should basically start somewhere, such as I will sell 10 books in 3 months. Then also answer: How should I get there? What do I need to do to reach that goal? We all have to start somewhere! Sound basic but has to be done.
SET UP A MARKETING BUDGET
Of course, there are costs associated with marketing. Time is also a cost. Think about how much time you can devote each week to promote your book. Even think about how much money you can spend each month on advertising on Facebook / Instagram etc.
Don’t forget to take into account cost of creating your website and the help you would need. Plus, budget your domain name (what your website should be called) hosting and the platform on which you will build your website.
CREATING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA – HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLATFORM?
The short answer is choosing platforms where your readers are. But, you think, how do I know where they are? Well, do some research. For example, you will find many statistics on internet that come out every year. They tell you which target group is where and give you other functional and useful information about all the platforms.
Facebook
Unfortunately, to succeed on Facebook, you have to pay for traffic, preferably in the beginning, until you get a bunch of followers.
You can get started and create a page, post every day, and share the fun with your followers, to create engagement. If your commitment is not enough (that you don’t make as many posts), you won’t get any organic reach. So, publish posts that your followers see as exciting and want to engage. Make posts where you, as a follower, would love to comment; then, you are good to go.
Facebook is the best tool available for targeting ads to precisely the right audience you have. When you advertise on Facebook, you can also link it with Instagram so that you simultaneously advertise on that platform.
Instagram
The other platform you can use is Instagram. You can share pictures that you associate with you as an author, your book, and your plans in the future. If you love sharing visuals and share everyday life to create engagement, this is the perfect platform for you! However, you can’t get links on Instagram posts. The only place you can add a link is in the profile of your account.
What’s great is that you can add up to 30 hashtags relevant to your post, which will spread the word about your post under these hashtags.
Pinterest
This is a platform to use for website links and to sell products, as it acts as a search engine. This means that you create a pin, optimize it for search results, and get traffic to your website or book page every day. But like all social platforms, Pinterest also requires you to be an active user on the platform. Which means you have to be online every day.
You can schedule your pins with a scheduler such as Buffer. Then you can plan your posts and make sure they are published even if you have no time to engage with platform every day.
YouTube
Video is seen as the best way to connect with people online, as it creates a more personal touch. People see you and get to know your personality through video. If you can create good value around your book and yourself, which are worth watching, I would encourage you to check out this platform.
Other platforms: Snapchat, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.
There are so many more social media platforms out there, and more is popping up. But you don’t have to be active on all of them. Start with one at a time and then gradually develop your presence over time.
If you have written a book aimed at companies, LinkedIn may be the best platform for you. If you are targeting a younger market, you can get a Snapchat account. If you are writing picture books for schools and parents, it may be better to focus on Facebook. Do what’s best for you and your book.
Content tips for social media:
Why you have chosen self-publishing.
The post tells everyone that you have signed the book agreement
Where are you in the process?
Post the cover of the book and who you worked with (maybe it is a well-known artist, graphic artist, or photographer), get ideas
Funny GIFs, memes, or quotes that is relevant to your book or your personality
Events around the book
Posts about where to find the book how to get in touch with you
Short videos about your book and you
Remember that you want to be where your readers are!
BUILD A WEBSITE
Everything you do online should lead to your website. This is why you should build a website that is optimal for your target audience. You can start working on the website even before the book is published, to to use it to post where you want to market your book, blog, tell where to buy your book and get the word about who you are and what your book is about.
We strongly recommend that you have a fully functioning, published website at least six months before your book comes out!
If you do not have a book coming out yet and, it is at least a good idea to buy your domain name to be sure no one is buying it before you. (Most author sites choose a URL / domain that is the author’s name, but for some of you, that option may not be available.)
Add A Blog to Your Website
Ideally, as a complement, to your website is a blog. Your readers can find out more about you and your books and get a feel for what kind of book you are writing and encourage excitement before the book release.
It also gives you content to share on social media so you can get traffic to your website.
Start sending out newsletters
Collect email addresses from your website and social media so that you can send out newsletters. It’s perfect for promoting your book, where to buy it, what it is about, telling you who you are, etc.
