The pandemic has produced more books and self-publishing authors than ever before. The hardest and darkest of our time turned into an opportunity for many to stay home, sit down, and write the book anyone could imagine. The question is: Have you considered whether you have a big market for your book? Have you built solid author branding? Have you realized that writing a book doesn’t stop at just getting that book published and making it available in the market?
Self-publishing challenges are beyond the lack of financial support, let alone completing the manuscript before the deadline. You’ll realize the problem when you find out you’re not selling a single book at all. The truth hits hard when you haven’t considered the challenges before experiencing the effects of not recognizing the problems beforehand. We hope the following items will help you recognize the struggles you have and how to deal with them.
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Target Audience and Author Branding
Identifying the target audience and where to find them is one of the self-publishing challenges indie authors are facing. Being unpopular is a reality you have to deal with. This is the reason why you have to search how many people are reading the genre you’re writing about. It is also where author branding becomes an indispensable technique you have to practice. You have to build a fan base not only to have buyers and readers but also to have advocates who will campaign for you.
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Book Cover Design and Formatting
Your book cover design is critical for buyers when they see your creation in an offline or online bookstore. Whether you like it or not, readers judge the book by its cover before skimming the content of your literary creation. When it comes to content, proper formatting is also crucial for your book. If you don’t have a nose for graphic design and technical formatting, you can hire a professional book cover designer or choose a self-publishing agency with your needs packaged on the service.
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Manuscript Editing and Proofreading
Going deeper into your literary creation, from the book cover design and formatting, refining the manuscript is vital to overcoming self-publishing challenges. Flawless grammar, proper punctuation, and word choice could make your novel or essay more comprehensive and convincing. Whether you have an intensive background in writing or not, you still need a professional editor or proofreader to look at your work. This is especially important if you need to follow an industry-specific style guide, like The Chicago Manual of Style or the APA Style. You’re lucky if you find a reliable self-publishing agency with experienced and well-equipped editors and proofreaders.
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Book Marketing and Distribution
The most arduous task of all the self-publishing challenges you’ll encounter is book marketing. Your effort of writing and publishing poems, short stories, novels, or essays will be in vain if they will not reach the market or the right target audience. First, search the market or possible number of readers of the genre or subject you’re dealing with. Second, create pre- and post-launching marketing strategies before you publish your book. Third, choose the distribution platforms or self-publishing agencies to help you with book marketing.
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