Today, more and more authors are turning to self-publishing their books instead of relying on a traditional publisher. In addition to higher royalties and speed of publication, you can also gain more control over your published book. Take a look at these self-publishing success tips to see if this is right for you for your next book.

1. Make your book great

I know this should go without saying, but some aspiring authors think that because they’ve self-published their book, they don’t need to care for it as much as they would if they let it work its way through the publishing hierarchy.

In any case, because you may not have as many people reviewing your book before it hits the market, you have to be doubly careful that it’s as good as it can be.

So, without procrastinating too long, take the time to review your book, ask your friends for honest reviews, and polish it as much as possible before publishing.

2. Use your own print

When you post to places like the Amazon Kindle marketplace, you have space to enter publisher details.

Just because you’re not using a reputable house doesn’t mean you can’t put some details in here!

Spend some time deciding on the name of the publisher to use for your new book; you can make it sound like you’re an established publisher and no one outside the book trade will know.

It’s just a nice way to set your book a little higher in your readers’ expectations. It also means that because a number of self-published authors do this, any numbers you read for self-publishing are definitely an underestimate.

3. Don’t be afraid to promote

Unless you’re a brand name author publishing a new book, you’ll need to actively promote your new book to get sales.

Tweet about it.

Send copies to friends and even bloggers who write about your area.

Talk to your local radio station and do your best to get interviewed. As long as the topic of your book is interesting, most local radio stations will be happy to do it.

Brag about it on Facebook. You could even create a new page for your book and encourage people to like it so the news spreads faster and faster.

Give away the first chapter – with a link at the end to buy the entire book.

Get a press release written and submit it to the relevant sites.

Get inventive about promotion and follow the big names to see what they do to promote their books and then imitate as many ideas as possible.

Don’t be afraid to respond to reviews on places like Amazon – people respect authors who do this because they know that not everyone will like everything you write. Responding to reviews shows your human side.