I self-published for the first time on Sept. 1, and I do have a few ideas of how I could've done much better. But very quickly I'll mention some other things about the self-pub process:
-Don't bother self-publishing the first book you ever write. It's not going to be very good. It's more of a "practice book." You can always go back to it later to revise once you've got the proper skill.
-Try the trad pub route on a book you're confident about. Agents first, at least a hundred. Then, indie presses.
-Things important to trad pub are still relevant to self-pub. Great opening lines, early hook, inciting incident in the first chapter.
-Come up with an original, eye-catching title. No generic ones that have been used over and over in the past. And pay a real artist for a unique, attractive cover.
-Definitely create an author site and keep a blog/journal there.
-Get shorts/flash pieces published in magazines/anthologies, and post about them. Readers are far more likely to buy when you can prove you're already a professional.
-This one's optional but I think it can give you a boost - if it's feasible where you live, create a "business" to publish your book, so you can list a publisher name instead of having it listed as independently published. It was cheap for me to do in Ontario, but I don't know how that works elsewhere.
Okay, now for the things I wish I could go back and redo:
-Establish a presence and following on at least one or two social media platforms. Nobody cares about some random person posting about their book. Few views, fewer engagements. Nobody cares (well, unless you're young and attractive, I guess). Become a part of the platform's writing community, many months (or even years) in advance of a launch. And even if you've done that, you want to get sales from the gen pop, not just your pals and associates. So post about other things, be clever, and you'll drive organic views to your profile page, where those clickers will immediately become aware of your book.
-Get several ARC reviews months before launch. I thought this would make me look like an amateur, but it's routine for indie writers. The number of reviews and ratings are HUGE for potential readers making their decision. I try not to think about how many of the hundreds of clicks I've received didn't result in a sale purely because of my very low number of reviews. It stings. It haunts me.
-Don't price it too high or too low. I fucked up by starting with what I thought were reasonable prices for a professional-quality novel - about $20 CAD for paperback and $8 for ebook. Well, people I know were willing to pay that, but gen pop? Not so much. In December I dropped the prices to $16 and $4 respectively, and have made a couple dozen sales from complete strangers, which is cool.
-It's probably best to keep it exclusive with Amazon so you can take advantage of the Kindle Unlimited program. I also wonder how much I'm missing out of from the clicks when customers want to read using their subscription instead of purchasing a copy. I'm on a bunch of other sites, but I've only sold a handful of copies on them. More than 90% of my sales have come from Amazon thus far.
-I also wish I'd done presales alongside the ARC review process. Try and build some momentum going into launch day. A cover reveal, teasers, that sort of thing.
I think my biggest mistake was boldly assuming that my title and cover would be enough to move the book on its own. Nope! There's a whole lot of other work one needs to do in order to have a successful launch. And now I know, and I'll be much better prepared for next time.
