To Traditionally or Self-Publish – THAT is the Question

To Traditionally or Self-Publish – THAT is the Question

Can you create your own book cover?

A little more skill goes into creating a professional cover. More than just throwing some images together in Canva and slapping a title on the design. Good cover artists are well-versed in marketing angles authors don’t always know. We highly suggest you shop around and get recommendations from your Indie Author groups. Prices generally start somewhere around $30 for a pre-made cover, and can go up to $500 for a custom design, but that usually includes the print format flat as well.

There are some amazing artists out there! If you’re going to sink money into your book, do it in the cover! You want to make a strong first impression, and people DO use a cover to judge a book.

Do you have an editor available or can you pay one?

NO author should publish a book without the use of an eagle-eyed editor. None—zero—zilch. If we wrote our books right the first time, editors wouldn’t exist. The hard truth is, we are just way too close to our work.

If you’re lucky enough to have a best friend who’s an editor (don’t be hatin’ cuz I got connections) or you have some real Grammar Nazis in your close circle of author peers, then ask for help. Beta readers and reviewers who love to point out mistakes are a great option. You don’t want praise at this stage, you want honesty. Someone who’s gonna give it to you straight.

NOTE: If you have a hard time with constructive criticism, you need to reconsider your career as an author. Like, fer reals. At last check, my skin was two inches thick. If you skip the editing stage, reviewers can and will point out your mistakes. Having your book trashed in a public forum is NOT the way to go. Trust us on this.

NEXT – Publishing & Final Assessment