Welcome to all independent authors. If you’ve always (or recently) had the dream of holding your own book in your hands, you would know the heartache and passion it takes to get that dream to become a reality.
Maybe you’ve already written that book, but now you don’t know what comes next. If you are confident that your book is great, then submit it to publishers and see what happens! Go for it! If you’d already done that and perhaps received the dreaded, “We regret to inform you…” letter, then chin up! Did you know that many famous writers have started out by self-publishing their work? So, why not you? If publishers have already turned you down OR you have simply decided that you WANT to self-publish, but you don’t know what’s next, then these are the steps:
- Write your book in a digital format and make use of a word processing program such as Microsoft Word to do proper spell checks. Do not send a document that you haven’t double-checked yourself first. Be proud of your work. To ensure you understand how to fix spelling and grammar errors, check out this short video.
- Find a good copy editor to read and adjust your manuscript where necessary.
- Find a good graphic designer that can help you with your book’s final layout and cover design. Never design your own cover, unless you are a qualified graphic designer.
- Register your book to get an ISBN.
- Again, find a good proof reader to ensure no bugs have crawled through. They have to read a final proof copy of your book to check that everything is in order. This is ESSENTIAL. Some print-on-demand companies offer this service. Let them do it, even if it costs a little extra.
- Print your book – print a maximum of 150-200 copies, unless you KNOW that you will be able to sell more than that. Remember, you can always print more.
- Have a book launch with all your friends and family – you might sell most of your books there.
- Read our “About” page to see what the criteria and terms and conditions are.
- Make sure you understand how to submit your application to sell your books on Takealot.com and also the relevant fee structure. Only then can you contact us to sell your book on Takealot. Your book will then also be listed on this page, with a direct link to it on Takealot.com. Only a few copies will be sent to Takealot at first – maximum 20.
- Contact a social media expert to advertise your book on social media.
- Enjoy seeing your dream come true.
- Write your next book…
This website is intended to bring you into contact with resources to help you produce a work of excellence, and then to sell it on Takealot.com. The problem with most self-published books is the quality. Books LOOK self-published. They crawl with mistakes that make readers cringe. Don’t do that! Make sure your book is of high quality. Be proud of what you offer the world to read. Yes, it will cost money, but nothing worthwhile is for free.