Debbie Young, ALLi Author Advice Center Editor
No matter how your books are published, whether by a big trade company or by you as an indie author, if you're not operating as part of a team, you're doing it wrong!
Once you've written your book, if you're going to self-publish to professional standards, you need to identify the gaps in your own experience and expertise, and assemble a team of specialists to do what you know you can't.
(Image credit: Melodi2 via Morguefile.com)
The Seven Stages of Self-Publishing
There are very few, if any, indie authors who have the total skillset to carry out all seven stages of the self-publishing process without third party help:
- editorial
- design
- production
- distribution
- marketing
- promotion
- licensing publishing rights
Even if you proofread books for others professionally, you should never assume you don't need to engage another professional proofreader to check your own – you'll be too close to your manuscript to do that.
Publishing means partnership – ideally with the author at its core, providing the content that will be shared with the wider world.
Take Your Partners, Please!
This month on the blog, we'll be posting a lot about how to choose the right partner members to make your self-published book the best it can be. Knowledge is power – so don't miss these valuable posts, which will come just at the right time, just as we are all planning our new year ahead.
Posts will include:
- predictions for the coming year from our partner members to help you fine-tune your self-publishing programme
- a new edition of our Partners' Directory to help assemble the best team for your book
- an updated version of our guidebook, Choosing a Self-publishing Service, which takes you through the whole process, as well as providing a useful appraisal of leading publishing services companies
- news of new-look “Ask ALLi” sessions to allow you to access high quality information from leading advisors in all areas
- an opinion piece on the importance of collaboration from a company set up specifically to facilitate the building of such partnerships for indie authors
In the meantime, from our blog archive, here's another great post about partnership for indie authors, explaining why you should treat self-publishing like a business, rather than a solo exercise.
Agreed. The “self” in self-publishing doesn’t mean that you actually should be doing it all alone! If you want a professional final product you need to invest in professional assistance.