WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE: THE THIRD SPACE
someone (actually preferably more than one and better not your mother
or your best friend; you’re looking for honest and useful feedback here) to
read it and tell you how good (or bad) it is. Hopefully (notice how much
hoping is involved in the process) with a little advice on how to make it
better. Then change as you deem necessary.
• Employ a great editor (honestly, this is not negotiable, even if you do
know where all commas should go—which I don’t—you will miss things)
and take their advice.
• Procure a gorgeous cover. I buy them (there are lots of places to get
covers these days at very reasonable prices) but if you do it yourself, just
make it look professional.
• Write a fantastic and alluring blurb and make sure there are no spelling
mistakes (it’s amazing how these seem to slip through on blurbs.)
• Format your manuscript per the instructions. Amazon provide a free
ebook on how to format for their site. I’ve always used a Word document
straight into Amazon, but if you want a more sophisticated approach
there are tools out there to help you, such as Vellum and Scrivener and
many more.
• Decide what your book is worth (or what you can get for it) and set a
price.
• Load it up to Amazon, (or wherever) click the button, and publish!
Easy. And I’d like to say—that’s it. But sadly, it isn’ t. Once you have self-
published things are far from over. That’s just the start. Next there’s the
marketing, setting up your Amazon author page and your website, surviving
your first bad review, working out how to spend your first royalties (a luxury
holiday, a hideaway on a tropical island, or a cup of coffee?), and of course—
writing the sequel.
Good luck and enjoy.
30 | MAY 2017