How Friends and Family Can Benefit in Self-Publishing

Should authors use friends and family in their book’s self-publishing process or just get professional help?  This is an important question, especially for independent authors.  Many may assume professionals cost too much and lean exclusively on personal relationships and then not be happy with the results. Others may just take the professional route and end up paying more than necessary.  However, I found a nice balance while working on my first Christian book.  The key is knowing what your friend’s strengths are and what part of the process needs a professional.  With that in mind, here are five areas to seek help from your personal network.

Basic Ideas

Assuming there is a market for your book idea, a friend or relative can provide helpful second opinions on concepts and book direction.  A relative does not have to be a literary critic to tell you if they have seen the plot before or if your dialogue is clunky.  As a Christian author working on a Bible study devotional, I did not have any plot questions for a friend.  However, I did conduct market research to make sure there was not already a book with the same basis.

If you are still early in the process or have yet to start your book, the article “What Every Author Needs to Know about Self-Publishing” gives some important insights for this step.

Proofreading

I found real value in having a friend do an initial proofread of my book.  I reviewed my completed text twice before my friend did, and of course, he still found errors.  But did I stop there?  No, I had a professional proofreader go through the book after that. Why?  The time my friend and I invested in reviewing the text caught many of the little errors that would eat up a professional’s time and require multiple readings. (You might imagine a pro thinking, “This book looks so bad, I’ll have to read it 5 times to get out all the mistakes!”) The more a professional does, the more it costs!  So, saving them time saves you money, and your book still looks professional.

Cover Concepts

When it comes to book covers, your network’s feedback on ideas can be valuable. Even strangers can tell if a cover concept catches their eye. Just be sure to get multiple viewpoints and don’t lean on one person. (Also tell friends you need a lot of opinions so they do not feel bad if you ending up going with something they did not pick.) However, since the cover will give potential readers the first impression of your book, that is one place I would consider a must for using a professional.

I asked both friends and relatives to look at possible cover photos that my designer suggested. When we gravitated toward the same photo, I was confident to let the professional continue.

Book Marketing

For marketing, using your personal network makes a lot of sense. You may choose to have a professional do a large or small marketing campaign, but it is still a necessity to involve friends and family.  At a minimum, they can share marketing information on social media or tell their friends and family about your exciting new book.

Your connections may really multiply the effect of personal or professional marketing by “engaging” that content on social media.  This means:

• Like – this tells their connections what your friends are viewing
• Comment – questions and comments raise the value of social media posts (just be sure to reply)
• Share – puts your message on someone else’s profile for their connections to see

These three actions tell social media platforms that people like your message, so it will get promoted to more viewers.  Enough engagement can rival paid advertising, so this is really where your friends and family can shine.

I received a little help with likes and shares, but wish I’d done a better job of coordinating social media assistance from friends and family. That was a big lesson learned. I did have decent success growing my email list with giveaways and Facebook ads. However, I missed the longer-term benefit of social media engagement.

If you are interested in the basics of marketing for ongoing success, the ideas in the article “Book Marketing Ideas to Help Authors Increase Sales” will be informative.

Reviews

The biggest part of a book launch is that you must lean on friends for book reviews.  A stranger may see a great marketing campaign and go to Amazon to look at your book.  But if there are no reviews, the stranger will assume the book is not worth reading. The people who know you will most likely be the only reviews available at first. So, ask them to do you a big favor and post an honest review after they read your book.

You’re not supposed to ask relatives to post reviews, as they will be assumed to be biased. However, you should ask relatives to ask their friends who may like your book to read and review it.  Once strangers see reviews coming in, they are more likely to give your book a chance. Then they might review it as well.

I asked 28 people that I knew well to read and review my first book.  Not all of them were avid readers, but 9 posted reviews.  Those initial reviews were critical in the early months after my book launch.

Of course, you should ask influencers, bloggers, other authors, etc. to review your book.  If they don’t know you, or haven’t see a great work by you before, chances are slim you’ll get one. Yet, if you do get one, it could multiply the effect of the reviews from your personal network.

Summary

These are the areas where friends and family were particularly valuable to me as a new author.

• Initial proofreading
• Identifying eye-catching cover options
• Sharing marketing information
• Initial book reviews

The key to getting my network to help was in knowing their personalities and preferences. For example, I assumed my relatives would love to read my book and asked several of them to proofread it. When none did, it dawned on me—I was asking people who do not read books!  So, I thoughtfully asked several friends who did read if they had time to proof. One did. Proofreading is big ask unless you’re writing a short novel in the genre that some really likes.

Thankfully, getting help with cover ideas was easy. Relatives could just look at a picture and provide feedback.  Assisting with marketing was not difficult either. They could just like, comment, and share.

As I mentioned, getting reviews was not so easy. My book was big, so only a third of those who I asked were able to read and review it within two months of launch. That taught me a lesson – write shorter books!

What do you think? Or what has your experience been like as an indie author working with friends and family on your books? Post a comment and share your thoughts or questions.

About the Author

Keon Lindsey is a Christian Author, former Business Consultant, Project Management Professional, and Navy Veteran with a variety of life experiences.  He has earned a Black Belt in American Freestyle Karate, worked for himself, flown small airplanes and large jets, and has a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering.  Yet, what brings him lasting satisfaction is studying and sharing God’s Word, the Bible.  Keon hopes that his writings inspire you to seek that great satisfaction as well.  His books include:

• Have You Heard from God Lately? 30 Messages from Heaven for You
• Seeking the Lord, a 30 Day Start to Your Journey

Connect with Keon at https://KeonLindsey.com