Geopolitics North

Self publishing is easier than it sounds: If a larger percentage of royalties and more control over your published work sound good to you, now is the right time to consider self publishing rather than going to a traditional publisher with your manuscript.

As a self published politics writer, making sure that your book is one you can be proud of is entirely in your hands. It’s rewarding, but takes a little bit of a learning curve if you’ve never done it before.

Here are some of the most common mistakes that self published politics writers make – and how to avoid them. 

Spelling Errors in the Manuscript

There are thousands of self published books out there that aren’t as good as they could have been or ones that contain glaring spelling errors just because the writer behind it didn’t check properly before they published it. 

Never let your manuscript be published if you feel that it isn’t ready or if you think that it might still contain errors. 

Be completely sure that it’s perfect before you publish. Not a little sure and not kind of sure, but entirely sure. 

Grammar Errors in the Manuscript

Where manuscripts don’t contain spelling errors, grammatical errors are common. They are harder to spot than spelling errors because they are subject to grammar rules and not just how you spell things.

If you suspect that your manuscript might still contain grammatical errors, it’s not ready to publish yet – and where you feel really stuck, get in touch with a proofreader who can help.

Choosing the Wrong Font

The self publishing outlet you choose will likely tell you which fonts look good in print or e-book form and which fonts don’t. Generally, this is good advice and you should stick to it. If you don’t follow this essential piece of advice from your self publishing company or printer, the manuscript could be unreadable – or you could end up having to deal with formatting issues that you didn’t see coming. 

Could you imagine reading the entire War & Peace in Comic Sans? No – and neither could the publisher. 

In the equation of self publishing, that’s you. Always choose the right font for print.

Skipping the Proof Copy

Always say yes if you have the option of a proof copy for your manuscript from the self publishing outlet. It might cost you a few dollars to have your book sent to you in print or e-book form, but it’s worth paying to make sure that the final copy that reaches your readers is as close to flawless as possible.

Choosing the Wrong Title

When you upload your manuscript to your chosen self publishing platform, you’ll be asked to enter some essential information about your book for the online listing. One of these includes the title for the book. Decide what you’d like your title to be, try out a few options on cover mock-ups, play around with titles until you feel you’ve found the right one – but always make sure you have your final title chosen when you’re about to publish your book.

Using the Wrong Platform

When you have your choice of self publishing platforms, no platform is right or wrong – but there are platforms that might not be right for your needs. Don’t choose the first self publishing platform that someone recommends to you: Do your own research and consider some of the merits of the publishing platform for YOUR OWN publishing needs. 

A lot of first-time self published writers choose a self publishing platform and later decide that they would like to move their work to another. With just a bit of research, a lot of time could have been saved.