The benefits include:

1.      Experts will deliver a superior product - You can’t be an expert in everything. People who focus on a core area will always be better than a generalist. Your focus as an author is always to improve your writing, not to learn how to format books, design covers or fathom the intricacies of eBook conversion.

2.      Professionalism. As a self-published author you don’t want to stand out from the crowd for the wrong reasons i.e., you don’t want your book to scream self-published because of inferior design or editing. There is a personal pride in publishing your work to the world, so you want it to be professional and as good (or better) than traditionally published books.

3.      Use your time for more productive pursuits. These days, authors must focus on writing and marketing, everything else is optional. It will take you ten times longer than an expert to format an eBook and you may lose your sanity in the process. In that time, you could have written another chapter, a blog post or spent time marketing on social networks.

What should you consider outsourcing?

You may consider doing these tasks yourself but recognize the need to outsource in specific areas:

• Copy-editing. Even after several drafts, it’s impossible to see everything that can be fixed in your manuscript. A copyeditor can polish your work and make it professional as well as offer ideas for improvement.
• Cover design. An eye-catching cover is critical in an age of eBooks and online browsing. People will click through to look at an interesting book purely because of the cover. If there’s a great cover on the sidebar of your website, it may be enough for someone to take a further look. Most writers are not cover designers or graphic artists so outsourcing this can pay great dividends.
• eBook conversion. Paying someone else is affordable and will save you hours of frustration. It will also give your eBook readers a far superior reading experience, which means they might buy your next book.
• Print book interior layout. If you have a complicated book with tables, images or specific typography, you should definitely consider using a professional. Even with a plain text fiction novel, it can give you that final professional finish.

When you are looking for the best people to work with, the following points will help you.

• Know exactly what you want in terms of service and timing. For example, you might ask an eBook conversion specialist for conversion of a MS Word fiction novel, 75,000 words into ePub and Kindle formatting. No upload required, just the specific files as well as the original HTML for any edits. Required in 3 weeks (or specific date).
• Research costs and ask for quotes from several before committing. Freelancers understand this process and are happy to quote for their services, or they may already be displayed on websites. Speed of delivery will also be a factor in cost so ensure you leave plenty of time for booking people if they are busy. You will usually have to pay 50% upfront so make sure you have a budget ready.

Many people want to know where to find great freelancers and word of mouth is still the best way. Ask other independent authors who they use and also use the social networks. I found my freelance professionals through relationships formed on Twitter before I even knew what I needed. When the time came to choose, I knew blogs I could look at for information and could liaise with people directly based on friendships I had already cultivated.

Comment from one of our clients:

"I am seeing more and more posts from people offering help to take a book from concept to publication.

I am sure that as with most offers, they range from good to just OK.

I wrote a Children's book and was very proud of it. Unfortunately, I didn't think many people would buy several sheets of typed paper and a concept.

I really didn't have any idea as to move it on, after meeting Mark Gedye of InterPro Publishing Solutions, I saw the book grow into reality, Some offers are good some are just OK, but Mark was brilliant!

I have now written three and am about to start number four. It is almost a certainty that without Mark, I would still be looking at a handful of typed paper."

You will never regret contacting him.

If you would like to discuss your book ideas get in touch …