The Birth of The Runner

This post is going to detail some of the steps I went through in order to turn my manuscript into a finished product I self-published on Amazon.

• My Cover - For my cover of The Runner, I went to Alchemy Book Covers. Their website has a section titled "Quick Covers". I picked out three pictures from **Fotolia.com and for $35 they turned these:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Into This:
  
   **WARNING - looking for pictures for your book cover is very addictive. Do not attempt to do this unless you have some free time.
• Beta Readers - If you haven't checked out GoodReads, do this NOW! Create your profile and join some groups. There are people who may enjoy reading your manuscript and will give you feedback for free. They will give you an idea of what to expect in your reviews when you do publish. There are people who will charge you for this service too. In my opinion, why not get as many free opinions as you can and then if you feel like you need a paid expert, find one. Make sure you know what you're looking for. Some beta readers specialize in plot, characters, flow, and that sort of thing while others are grammar and punctuation experts. Remember, only make the changes you feel you want or need to. If you are getting the same criticism over and over, maybe you should change that aspect. Every person who reads your work may have a different opinion and you can't make everyone happy so just make yourself happy.
• Editors - A good editor is not cheap. Again, are you looking for someone who specializes in grammar and punctuation or your content? I used this editor. She is pretty inexpensive and very helpful. I would recommend sending your manuscript off to an editor as a final step. Do as much as you can yourself, get some free beta readers, take their advice or leave it, complete one more draft or two, and then start paying the experts. 
• Start your blog and join social networking sites if you haven't already. Start building your book up before you publish. Get others excited about it. Set your release date and start counting down the days. This is something I would have done earlier if I had to do it all over again.
• I've mentioned this book before, but download this free Ebook to help you format your finished product. 
• Check out blogs written by and for self-published authors. I am very new at this. I have gone through the process, so I have that experience, but there are people who have been doing this successfully for years and are sharing their FREE advice. I love this website.
• Just Keep Writing!! After you've done all you need to do for your first book, start the second. Keep writing. This is the one piece of advice that all self-publishing advice givers agree on. 

Good luck to all you self-published authors out there. To all you readers, thank you for your support.