10 things I wish I'd known before beginning my journey into self-publishing

It's never been easier to self-publish - but there are still many ways to stumble on the road to delivering your masterwork to eager readers.

I've just published my first novel, 'How Soon Is Now?', with a second book to follow later in the year, and I'm still learning the apparently infinite ins and outs of self-publishing.

There are countless books that take a deep dive into the self-publishing model (I'd recommend any written by David Gaughran), so this post isn't a how-to guide – more a gathering place for the main lessons I've learned so far.

1. Make the writing process easier for yourself. Set a daily word-count target and try to stick to it. Find writing software that takes the toil out of writing. Scrivener was the one that really worked for me, making it easy to restructure, move, and redraft entire chapters, keep track of notes, collate research –all the stuff that, individually, gives any writer an excuse to fiddle with Twitter instead of just getting on with the job.

2. Don't rush. Make sure your project is as good as it can be before presenting it to the public. Find some forthright friends and family members (the kind who'll tell you when your hair's a mess and your shirt's untucked) and get them to be honest about what you've got. Then fix the things they're right about and all the things you find you don't like when you go back to fix those things. And then do it again, until you like everything.

3. Sign up to Kindle Direct Publishing. Like it or not, Amazon's the biggest thing going in the world of self-publishing, and KDP will get your book in front of millions of potential readers. Signing up is straightforward - the trickiest thing I found was filling in the necessary tax info (which, despite the faff, is well worth it because it'll make sure you get paid when you start selling books.

4. Make your book look as fabulous as possible. It's incredible how many authors toil for years on their magnum opus, then chuck it out on the Kindle store in a stock photo cover with some eye-scarringly awful fonts slapped all over it. Don't do that. If you lack artistic talent, be honest about it and find someone with loads of artistic talent. Don't kid yourself that a slapdash cover will do. You're fighting against millions of other books, and unless you think having the worst-looking cover is the way to stand out, you'll want to put plenty of time and thought into how to present your work at its best.

5. That goes for the inside of the book, too. If the text is sloppy and poorly-presented, readers will dump your book like a mouldy taco. Check, double-check and triple-check your text, then check it again. Get a professional editor to do another check, if you can afford it, and then check it again. When it comes to book design, I found Vellum a godsend. It's affordable, as these things go, easy to use and comes with a wealth of options to make your text look clean, crisp and stylish.

6. Don't go it alone. Self-publishing doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself. Call in the professionals when you need help - especially when it comes to launching your book. I went to Kelly Lacey at Love Books Tours for promotional assistance, and she organised a hugely enjoyable cover reveal and book tour with her network of reviewers and bloggers on Instagram, who all helped spread the word about 'How Soon Is Now?' far beyond my modest social media circle, with honest reviews and general goodwill all round.

7. Get your timing right. As a newbie, I ended up running the pre-order period for 'How Soon..?' a little too long - nearly two months. Having time to build interest and excitement is good, but you don't want to fatigue your target audience. A nice tight fortnight or three weeks should do it - and then you won't find yourself feeling guilty about constantly tweeting 'It's coming! Seriously! It really is! Soon! Any minute now!' and testing the patience of your friends, family and followers.

8. Take some time to learn about Amazon ads. If you're selling your books via Amazon, you'll want to get them in front of as many potential customers as you can. Using Amazon ads is easy. Understanding Amazon ads ... less so. You'll really only work it out by doing it, so don't waste cash on mistakes. Start small, spend little and make your learning experience as affordable and efficient as possible.

9. Watch your free time disappear. I thought keeping up with the latest shocks and scandals on Twitter was time-consuming, but once you've got a book out, your free time vanishes. You've got to check sales reports on KDP every five minutes while also tweaking and analysing your Amazon ads, checking in on reviews on Amazon and doing all the promotional work and virtual glad-handing required across whichever social media networks you've still got the time and attention span to maintain. Drink lots of water and take regular toilet breaks.

10. Enjoy it. Putting our your own book is a tremendous amount of fun. If you've written something you're proud of and presented it with care, you'll find people who like it, and they'll often be nice enough to tell you so. There's nothing better than that! Plus, there's the satisfaction of knowing you've achieved everything on your own terms. The same goes for the mistakes, of course, but you learn from those and find new, better ways of doing things. The ideas are all yours, and there's no one to dilute your style, imagination or ambition. The sky's the limit!