As the release date of Dragon Tooth is right around the corner, I thought I could share some tips that I picked up along the way with you guys.

First, self-publishing is done through CreateSpace which is an amazon company that basically lets you publish your book for free. What’s the catch? There really isn’t. Since it’ll be POD (print on demand) meaning that once an order is made, a book is printed and shipped directly to the buyer. You get your cut, they get theirs, everyone’s happy.

So here are my top 3 tips for self-publishing authors:

Keywords are important.

These are the secret recipe that your future readers will use to find your book. It’s always important to research this fully. Never underestimate those annoying boxes that you need to fill. I think that CreateSpace lets you add five tags, so make sure to use them wisely!

For example, you can use this link to identify the top results for Amazon’s Science Fiction/Fantasy keywords, so definitely check this link:

Amazon KDP Top Keywords – Fiction

Make your title standout.

Okay, I know that this is more easier said than done, but consider having a unique title for your book. Something that would instantly grab anyone’s attention. Many authors opt to include keywords from popular TV shows and books and just play around with them, and while that might get you their attention, you would come off not only as uninspiring but rather desperate as well.

Integrate some top keywords that you can find into it, by all means. But no “Throne Games” or “Hairy Pot” please.

Edit, edit and edit.

I really cannot stress this enough. Get a professional editor to go through your manuscript no matter what happens. There are always editors who charge way less than any company would and these guys would be the go to in my opinion. If you are going to compete with traditionally published authors, you cannot afford to leave silly mistakes in it.

And trust me, it happens. Most likely since you are so accustomed to what you are writing, your brain doesn’t see what’s on the paper (or document) but sees what you want to see. Either that’s a premise of another short story that I’m gonna write, or it’s some scientific thing.

Or I don’t know, perhaps it’s both.

Until next time,
Write on.