Money-saving tips and resources in the self-publishing industry is probably on every authors wishlist. Let’s face the facts, there are things authors can save money on and things they shouldn’t. Making your teasers? Absolutely. Making your own cover? Not likely unless you have hundreds of hours of Photoshop experience under your belt and understand the market well.
Not hating on those budget friendly authors but let’s remember, would you hire someone to fix the plumbing or electrical work in your house if they had little experience? Go to a mechanic who uses duct tape and tie-wraps to fix issues on your car? Probably not. The same goes with your books because this is still a business and you are selling a product.
Readers have expectations of quality and because you are competing with multi-million dollar publishing houses its important, your book can stand up against them.
Here are some top sites, every author should know and some that authors should invest in.
Tip #1- Teasers
Teasers are really the best to get reader engagement and excitement for your upcoming book release. When you’re writing, make a folder or highlight sections in your manuscript to go back to these small quotes and dialogues to tease your reader with. A picture is worth a thousand words, so find pictures that match the scene in your quote or look like your character. A great resource to create a square graphic which you can use on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, is Canva.com. Their drop and click application is easy to use on your phone or on your desktop. Plus, each graphic stores in your history on the website, but it’s important to remember they charge for some items and that is why it’s important to know where to go to get free or affordable images.
Tip #2- Images
Need to find royalty free images? Pixabay.com has a limited amount of photos but if you are on a budget, you can’t go wrong. However, here are a few tips for you; make sure images are 300DPI if you plan on using them for book covers and they are larger than 6’x9’ inches. Anything less than 300DPI will be pixilated on print and look like a total mess. Now if I were you, follow AppSumo because sometimes they have 100 pictures for $49.99 on Depositphotos and give you a code to redeem your images that will never expire. Now if I am being honest, every author should invest on a membership with a website like Depositphotos.com because you really can’t go wrong with it. You can use it practically for everything in your business that you can think of. Need funny engagement pictures in your reader group? Ads on Facebook or Instagram? Maybe promotional items for an author event and/or website content? Can’t forget blog posts and using vectors for interior design elements. The list goes on and on how you can use your investment and come tax time, write it off as a business expense. Also, I should remind you you can cancel anytime if you get the flexible plan or if you pay up front for a certain amount of images. Last, it is important that you always have a license to any image you share for your safety. You don’t want to fall into a rabbit-hole of a copyright infringement lawsuit. But that is a discussion for another day.
Tip #3- Fonts
It is important to remember that fonts found dafont.com or 1001freefonts.com are not all royalty free for commercial purposes. So look at the fine print and find fonts that are royalty free to use for commercial purposes. I like fontsquirrel.com because they specifically upload commercial and royalty free fonts but if you have the budget for an investment, check out fontbundles.net. Not only can you find free fonts, you can also find epic bundles for incredibly low prices including fonts in general, plus they offer a membership, too.
Next week I will list a few more websites that will make any author excited on money-saving tips and resources. Would love to hear from you and your suggestions. Would you like a tutorial on use these items? Let me know in the comments and looking forward to hearing from you on the next post.