Authors-Readers Connect discussion

Hi friends!
I am a self-published author of a book, and have just completed my 1st draft of a second novel (Book 1 of 3)
My whole publishing journey I've been trying to be as frugal as possible. Reaching out to friends and family to Beta Read, asking my spouse to assist in editing, even trying to create my cover by myself (Which I will likely NOT do for my WIP)
Does anyone have budget friendly ways they published their works?
What worked for you, and what would you say is worth the investment?
(I also bought a microphone and downloaded a free audio app to create my own audio book - because I'm cheap!)

LOL! Oh my goodness, E.J. that's so cute. I hope you get a lot of good tips. I think as Indies we all try to be as frugal as possible. If you don't get a lot of replies here, go to the "BOOK PROMOTION SITES: THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY WORK" thread, that's where we mostly hang out, and you'll get a lot of help from some really good authors that are eager to help. All the best on your second novel. How exciting.

My tip: canva.com is an excellent site to use if you want to create your own book covers. That's what I use, and I am proud and absolutely love my covers that I created on my own. And here's the best part--IT'S FREE!

All the best, E.J.

Groovy's right. Join us on that thread. We get down to the nitty gritty there. Congrats on your new book.

Yes, I'm on the other discussion group too, which is geared toward marketing. I do my own covers on Canva. I buy images on Shutterstock and upload them on Canva. I've redone some of my covers, paying an artist for professional covers, but I don't know that it's made a difference as far as sales. I do my own editing and formatting. I haven't done audio books yet because I keep changing my books. I don't do social media or have a website. It doesn't seem to get many sales. I have an email list which I think is more valuable. You can do almost everything yourself. Just make it look professional.

I will say though that I like the free one-week trial of ProWritingAid as a great way to scan through my WIPs for all the dozens of mistakes I am making in my prose. :)

D. wrote: "Yes, I'm on the other discussion group too, which is geared toward marketing. I do my own covers on Canva. I buy images on Shutterstock and upload them on Canva. I've redone some of my covers, payi..."

I am likely going to change my cover soon. What are some things you paid for that hindsight could have been done on your own and what are somethings that are worth the cost?

P.L. wrote: "I will say though that I like the free one-week trial of ProWritingAid as a great way to scan through my WIPs for all the dozens of mistakes I am making in my prose. :)"

I've been using Hemingway App (Free Online version) to help editing.
I paid to have a beta reader with my debut. This time around I think instead of paying a beta I should save up for an editor.

Editors are good but it can also be a can of worms. Be sure to get a free sample edit first. Be warned, there are both good and bad experiences with editors.

Hemingway app is great! ProWritingAid catches a lot that Hemingway doesn't (and vice versa). I really like the sentence-length analysis of PWA but also a few other bells and whistles. On the other hand, the free trial is limited.

D: I agree about professional covers not recouping their cost. I like the professional covers I get, but it's a huge expense and in science fiction I'm unlikely to get that money back. The pre-made covers are all fairly generic looking to me and I don't care for the look. So I've been making a few of my own covers as well. It scratches a different creative itch, and I like that.

See E.J.? I told you there are wonderful authors here eager to help and support one another. You got some really good advice here:)