Easy Peasy Books

104: Can't You Just Decide? What I Wish I'd Known With My First Book with Gillian Whitney

Gillian Whitney Season 3 Episode 34

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0:00 | 21:53

I still remember the exact moment my husband Devon, who handled all my typesetting and layout, looked at me and said, "But it's your book." I had just yelled out, in complete frustration, "Can't you just decide?" after being hit with question after question about fonts, trim sizes, paragraph styles, and everything in between. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of decisions that come with self-publishing, this episode is for you.

In this solo episode, I'm sharing exactly what I wish I'd known before I published my first book. I'll give you some simple, free homework you can start today, even if you haven't written a word yet, along with a surprising tip about paper color that could throw off your entire cover design if you don't catch it early. Plus, I'm sharing what six books' worth of trial and error taught me about finally landing on a system that works. Because here's the thing: how your book looks says just as much about your professionalism as what it says.


0:41 – Why Authors Need to Start Looking at Books Differently
2:41 – The Publishing Decisions That Overwhelmed Me
6:00 – How I Learned to Study Books Like a Publisher
9:10 – Using Amazon to Research Your Book Design
12:19 – The Book Design Decisions You Didn't Know You Had to Make
17:24 – What Six Self-Published Books Taught Me