The site for the Johnny Denovo Mysteries is a WordPress blog. The only costs have been for the domain name (johnnydenovo.com) and for some custom WordPress plugins, some for DNS hosting for the domain, some for a little bit of CSS I added. Overall, it runs about $20/year.

The first two book covers were designed by yours truly. I used to be a graphic designer, so it was something I knew I could do. However, the second cover I was not happy with — I couldn’t find a good image to capture the book. So, for the third book, I hired a professional designer I’ve worked with before, and he did a magnificent job.

Advice? Hmmm. Write a good book. Have others read it, and accept their spoken and unspoken criticisms with an open mind. Be sure to have 1-2 people read it who you know won’t hold back their criticisms. You want to have a better book, and it’s better to have the pain of revision be a private, pre-publication event. I had a hard time finding the right voice for my books, but a few good early readers of drafts helped me identify the problems and find the voice. It’s been much easier ever since. Be ready to spend more money than you think is reasonable on marketing — Facebook ads, press releases, Google ads, etc. Arrange local signings. Contact your local paper. Contact your alumni association if you have one. Give out free samples and excerpts. I’ve had a lot of success with a low-priced e-book version of my first novel, and that’s led to more uptake of my second. It’s that advice about creating a “platform” — one book usually isn’t enough unless there’s a built-in platform for it (a current hot topic it ties into). Consider chopping your one book into thirds if it’s long enough so that you have three books (by the way, I didn’t do this — I’ve just kept writing). Have a professional copy editor read the final draft. Sweat the cover design. Have fun. And be patient — it’s been 18+ months since my first book was published, and I’m having my best sales month yet.

1. I really like your website, how did you mange to get it up, did you go through DogEar, or did you have someone else design it? If so, who? How much did it cost?

2. I really like you book covers, did Dogear design those as well?

3. What advice do you have for an author just getting into self-publishing?

Thanks,

Amber Lisa