Must-read for writers on how to self-publish

Writing and self-publishing a book has never been easier. I often get asked for advice from people writing a book or who aspire to do so.

Here’s a book on how to self-publish that I recommend: What Kind of Loser Indie Publishes? And How Can I Be One, Too? by Pamela Fagan Hutchins.

After I left my job as an editor at The Democrat and Chronicle to “rewire” (read about it here), I knew I wanted to write and publish a memoir about my family owning pharmacies for 90 years in Iowa. But although I’d written many articles, columns and editorials over my 33-year career, I didn’t know much about writing a book and self-publishing. So I read a slew of articles, blogs and books. This book by Hutchins was the most helpful. Here are five reasons why:

1. Hutchins writes with humor and pathos. She takes you along her personal journey, having written and self published nine books at the time she wrote this one. As she says in the introduction: “I’m not a hybrid author who moves back and forth between the indi- and traditional-publishing worlds. I’m ground zero to 50,000 feet. If I can do this, and share what I’ve learned, maybe you really can do it, too. Don’t you think.”
2. There’s no b.s. in this book. Her first chapter is titled: “Earn (no) money all by yourself (on the financial implications of traditional versus indie publishing.” This chapter is a great overview of what’s going on in the worlds of traditional publishing world and self publishing, with questions to ask yourself in deciding which route to go.  The bottom line is that it’s hard to make significant amounts of  money as an author so you better have other reasons for wanting to write a book.
3.  Hutchins shares the aggravations she’s encountered, so you can anticipate and learn. In the section on “How to put yourself on the market,” she goes into great detail about the pros and cons of various e-book publishers. For example, she’s blunt about the challenges of working with Apple. It’s a lot easier to read her summaries before you go to each site to check out their terms.
4. Throughout the book, she offers web links for everything she writes about. So if you read her book digitally, you can just click on the link and voila! you go to the site. The first time I read her book, I got a copy from the library. I liked it so well, I downloaded the Kindle version so I’d always have it as a reference.
5. How you market your book will be just as important as producing a quality book. Hutchins’ advice about a marketing plan, giveaways, social media and more really helped me have a book signing event that was over-the-top in success. (Read about it here.) She provides a sample marketing plan, press release, etc. in the appendix.

If you’ve written a book, what advice do you have to share?