What you need to know about self-publishing

Beta reading is the first step you should take once you have completed your manuscript (and edited it yourself!) Keep in mind beta readers could turn into loyal readers, so send them the best quality book that you can produce on your own.

Do it cheap - You can find beta readers online in the reading and writing communities. Many authors and writers are willing to swap their work with yours, so it's a win-win. Such a community is the Alpha, Beta & Critiquers community on Twitter, where writers post details about their books and they can get beta readers for free, or swap manuscripts.

Do it expensive - There are readers who charge a fee for beta reading your work (like I do - more info here). I have done both paid and unpaid beta reading, and I can honestly say that the paid one was more worth it. Paid betas give you a full report of your book, almost as a light developmental edit. They tackle plot, characters, etc. while readers who do it for free will just give you honest feedback.

Don't get me wrong - feedback is still feedback, and it's super valuable! It's how it's conveyed that makes the difference.

Once you go through the feedback you got from your beta readers, you could make changes to your manuscript. One of my betas pointed out a small plot hole that I haven't noticed, so I made sure to fix that before sending the book to an editor.

Do it cheap - Editing is cheap if you do it yourself. Otherwise, editors put in a lot of work and effort to transform our manuscripts into publishable materials. Of course, rates vary and you should be able to find an editor within your price range.

Do it expensive - Hire an editor. How?

First of all, you need to pitch more than one editor (my advice would be at least 2-3 different people) Editors have unique approaches, and you want to pick the one that's the best match for you and your book. Pay attention to the following when you're looking to hire an editor:
- they should offer you a FREE sample edit. You'd send 5-10 pages of your MS or the first 1000 words (each editor has their own requirements) and they would send the edited sample back to you. Based on this sample you can decide if they're the best match for you.
- they should have a contract ready for their services. Chances are your rate will be somewhere into the thousands $, so you'll want a document for this.
- make sure they offer a fixed rate, and they don't say "I'll do it for X amount, but it could end up being more based on..." - Red Flag.

Most editors guide their rates based on the EFA guidelines, so you can always check how their prices are compared to these.

We're all for not judging a book by its cover, right? But a great cover will get readers' attention, and that's what we want.

Do it cheap - Premade covers. There are a lot of websites and individual artists who create premade covers that you can buy and then own. They design the cover and you add your own name and title to it. Premade covers were among the cheapest options I found when looking for my cover design. However, you'll have to do a lot of research to find a cover that fits your book and its vibes.
Another way would be to try finding artists who are trying to put together their portfolios and have lower rates for their first clients.

Do it expensive - Hire a designer. Designers who have previous experience designing book covers will have a portfolio and will be able to offer you high-quality materials already suited for eBooks, Paperbacks, and Hardcovers. Make sure they offer at least 1-2 revisions, so you can make changes to the design according to what you'd like for the cover.

Do it cheap - Do it yourself. Amazon has guidelines for formatting your book using Microsoft Word. It's a headache, but it could spare you an additional fee.
Another way to do it cheaply is to find someone who does standard formatting for a small fee (like I do - more info here) You shouldn't expect anything spectacular, but a clean, pretty book for both digital and print.

Do it expensive - Hire a designer, but beware that designers' fees for formatting are somewhere in the hundreds $ (as far as I've seen until now!) If you're looking for custom designs inside the book (e.g. special chapter pages) this would be the way to go.

ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy and it's a copy of your book that's ready to be published, but has yet to be proofread or polished to the last comma.

Good news - ARC Reading can only be done cheaply. Yes, there are people who charge for an ARC Reading & Review, but these are usually social media accounts with higher reach (so you end up paying for exposure)

I did not pay for my ARC readers. I created a Goole Form and posted on social media that I'm looking for ARC Readers. After a while, I have distributed digital copies to everyone who has signed up on my form.

Having a website is not mandatory for an author, but it's a great way of interacting with your readers and creating valuable content for them (with a blog, of course!) It's a great way to share more about you and about your work, and more often than not it works like a "business card".

I have no advice for doing this cheap or expensive. You need to pay for hosting on sites like BlueHost or Wix. If you're looking to save money, you can use one of the free templates offered by the hosting service. But if you want your website to reflect your personality, you'll want to pick a paid theme (I picked mine from Themeforest)

Even more straightforward than a website is the copyright process. You'll want your work to be protected, so I advise filing for Copyright as soon as possible.

There's a lot of legal stuff that I'm not going to get into because I'm not the person for it. There are dedicated legal blogs out there for anyone who wants to read more about Copyright.