The Self Publish Pledge

Or what I wish every author knew before they self published...

Do you want to get off to a good start in self-publishing? Avoid making fatal mistakes and costly missteps by taking the self publish pledge!

I _____ (your name), pledge to...

Writing

1. To hire an editor (if not a professional editor, than a group of trusted friends or colleagues).
2. To print a Bound Galley/Advance Reader Copy and have at least 2 other people review it.
3. To publish an eBook without an ISBN to provide reviewers a page to post a review.
4. To wait until I have positive feedback to assign an ISBN and release it for sale in print.

Title / Cover

1. To hire professional cover designer.
2. To check Amazon to see what other titles already come up on Amazon when I search for my title.

Pricing

1. For print, to not set a price BEFORE using the IngramSpark book pricing calculator.
2. To set the wholesale discount to 50% and allow returns.
3. To not let KDP assign me one of their free ISBNs.

Metadata

1. To request an LCCN from the Library of Congress.
2. To setup metadata for my ISBN with Bowker and confirm that it is valid at bookwire.com

Publishing

1. To hire a professional eBook designer or confirm the conversion from my source manuscript was accurate.
2. To setup my eBook directly with Amazon and never use a third party aggregator/distributor.
3. To consider offering a hardcover edition. Newsflash: Many institutions (i.e. libraries) are not concerned with the price of your book (like consumers are), and would happily pay extra for your hardcover format.

Marketing

Marketing is an effort, sales a result. While you can control the effort, you can't control the result.

1. To not spend money on marketing my book until it has positive reviews.
2. To make my book available in both print & eBook before spending any significant money marketing it online.
3. To explore the option of creating an AudioBook

If you would like our help to sustain the integrity of your pledge, contact us!