What are you doing – or have you done – to ensure that your end product is something that readers need, want, or will enjoy?

If you’re like most of today’s authors, you’re not a professional writer. You didn’t come to authorship after years of experience in the book publishing industry. And yet, here you are – an author, or at least an almost-author.

Where does your knowledge come from?

Recurring posts in a self-publishing Facebook group that I co-moderate include some form of:

• “I want to write a book. Where do I start?”
• “I wrote a book. Should I look for a publisher or do it myself?”
• “My book is done. How do I publish it?”
• “I’ve published my book but haven’t sold any copies. How do you guys sell books?”

I don’t recommend this approach for two reasons.

First, you want to learn everything possible about what’s involved before you even start writing. The more you know about books and publishing, the better able you will be to write a book that people will want to read.

You received training for your job, right? Authorship is a job, too. Learn before you do.

Second, you’ll get conflicting information when you ask such broad questions in groups. When that happens — and it’s the norm, not the exception — you won’t know who to believe.

People sharing bad information state their “knowledge” with power and confidence; people who know the facts are equally confident when they respond. How do you know who to trust?

A better way to learn on your book publishing journey

You want to learn from experts. And there are many of them in the group I mentioned above as well as in my Build Book Buzz book marketing group on Facebook.

The problem is figuring out who they are when you don’t have a lot of knowledge already.

So, while these groups are incredibly helpful, you’re better off using them to ask specific process questions rather than very broad questions like those above.

This is why I highly recommend getting the basics by:

• Reading a how-to book (I’ve reviewed several on this site)
• Taking an online course
• Attending how-to workshops at virtual and in-person conferences

Who can you trust?

As with crowd-sourced input, you still need to determine which author or instructor deserves to be trusted. Consider:

• Asking successful authors what resources they recommend
• Posting questions such as “What how-to book or course about self-publishing helped you the most?” in groups
• Reading the reviews on books you’re considering and the testimonials on course descriptions
• Paying close attention to the credentials of the author or instructor to make sure they have the necessary experience

Keep in mind that while conference presenters are screened, that’s not the case with authors and online course creators. Someone who knows only a fraction more than you do can write a how-to book or create an online course.

There are lots of talented people who can teach you far more than you’ll ever learn trying to sift through answers to broad questions in a forum or group. Getting your publishing and marketing knowledge from qualified experts, then turning to groups for more specific information, will give you the knowledge mix you need to succeed.

How did you learn how to write, publish, and market your book?