The Most Common Mistakes First Time Authors Make

1. Believing Self-Publishing Means Do It Your “Self”

Here are some of the issues:

• This is the beginning of the top “most common mistakes”

• Writers are writers, infrequently trained or experienced editors

• Writers are writers, rarely graphic designers

• Writers are writers, not necessarily business people and marketing specialists

• Spending time learning DIY publishing, when they could be writing another book

Self-publishing means you own the rights and royalties. Self-publishing with the help of professionals is perfectly normal, acceptable, and above all, wise.

2. Going the Self-Editing Path, to Save Money

Here are some of the issues:

• Missing the benefit of more than one set of eyes; the author is “too close” and tends to skip over significant things

• Don’t have the time to self-edit the 4-5 “passes” it takes

• Don’t know how to improve the structure—cutting some things, moving things—to make it more engaging and focused

• When reading through, miss errors in basic grammar and spelling

• Having time to read it out loud to catch mistakes and gauge if it makes sense

• Don’t want to spend the money

Professional editors have been the backbone of many-a-book success.

3. Choosing Weak Titles and Subtitles

Here are some of the issues:

• Titles with words or names that can be spelled in multiple ways

• Clever wording but missing the right audience

• Vague titles without a clarifying subtitle

• Difficult to remember or hard to pronounce

• Is already taken and published

Titles matter for discoverability and for word of mouth marketing.

4. Designing the Cover Themselves

Here are some of the issues:

• Not understanding image quality (resolution/filesize) for print

• Using unreadable and tiny fonts

• Using too many different fonts

• Not matching the cover design with the genre

• Sizing the full print layout incorrectly, and with bleed

• Using amateur software, giving a common or weak design

Covers are important, even before the manuscript is finished for early marketing. Books are judged by their cover. Covers show a book as professional, serious, modern or outdated. A cover is an advertisement to draw in the intended audience, it is not to be designed for personal taste.

5. Paying Too Little Attention to the Interior

Here are some of the issues:

• Difficulty setting correct headers or footers

• Too boring, or too flashy with chapter openings

• Uncertainty about reader preferred font sizes

• Inability to generate Table of Contents

• Setting proper margins

• Reader conventions that are important to maintain

• Consistent use of styles for typographic hierarchy

Self-publishing gets a bad rap when books are poorly formatted.

6. Waiting Until the Book is Finished to Begin Marketing

Here are some of the issues:

• People don’t just “find” the book once published; use a website to connect and build an email list for newsletters

• The book needs to stand out; define the audience, position it in suitable categories

• The author doesn’t want to “brag”, but you have an expertise so it’s not bragging

• Being silent doesn’t sell books; make it known to your groups

• The author doesn’t understand social media posting, or advertising; outsource

• The budget it too tight to outsource for marketing; at least post on Facebook

What to do? Build visibility (positioning with the right audience) before hitting “publish”. Read up on marketing ideas.

7. Uploading Book Files to KDP Before Understanding the Requirements

Here are some of the issues:

• The author finds out they can’t just upload the Word manuscript as is, or even after saving as a PDF.

• The interior and cover files need to be sized to KDP specifications found on that website

• The cover file needs to be ONE layout containing (from left to right) the back, the spine, the front

• The book format also dictates the document size (for hardcover book, softcover, or ebook)

• PDF export settings are specific, it’s not the default settings in the software

• Image sizes and resolutions, and color modes are very specific

• KDP Errors come up when uploading improperly formed cover and interior files

• Not knowing how to complete all the information fields when adding the book to KDP

• Issues with barcodes

Most authors need final files from professional designers to minimize file uploading issues.

8.  Not Having a Clear Goal for Publishing This Book

Ex: to learn the process; for passive income; to build authority; to open doors; to grow a business; to teach; to entertain, etc.

Here are some of the issues:

• Struggling with a working title

• The structure of the writing could make more sense

• Missing out on relevant design

• Setting the price too low or too high

• Setting the right categories in KDP for search and sales

• Choosing the right marketing strategy

The bottom line goal sets the stage of many important decisions through the publishing processes.

9.  Having Unreasonable Expectations

To what are they relative? To other authors or publishing companies?

Here are some of the issues or questions:

• Self-publishing, the process, might it be a real learning curve?

• The monetary outlay, will it be more or less than expected?

• Getting professionals on board, is it worth it?

• Will good writing sell itself or not?

• Sales and momentum, what should you expect?

• Reviews may or may not be many. Is that in your control?

• Timing. Do you have what it takes?

10.  Going it Alone, as in “Self”

Authors have used publishing companies forever. And readers, these days with the variety of publishing options, still compare books with traditionally, conventionally published books.

Here are some of the issues:

• A bad rap for self-publishing

• Covers that don’t sell books

• Interiors that are unattractive or has bad, less readable typography

• Typos or grammar that causes the reader to “pause” or “stumble”

• Technology frustration

• Slow or minimal sales

• Little time to write the next book

• More time spent on social media than living

When you employ professionals in at least your first self-publishing experience, your book is credible, professional and polished, and you are helping build the self-publishing reputation. The more you write, and the more you work with professionals, the more fulfilling it is for you and your readership.

We are ModernBookDesign.com, book designers, with this mission: To assist First Time Authors. How can we be of help? Download the Free Guide to Publishing on our homepage.