Critics of self-publishing argue that self-published books lack quality. While it is true that some self-published books leave much to be desired, the truth is that many others are the result of years and hard work by their authors. In the academic world, there’s even more scrutiny. Critics often look down on self-published books, somehow making them seem inferior. Indeed, self-published books are not inferior so long as they avoid the following four things.
- Avoid Unreliable Sources
A cardinal sin of academic works is using less-than-reputable sources. There is no question that academic works need as many citations as necessary. However, citing fringe or dubious sources can quickly damage a great book’s reputation. Therefore, it’s important to find appropriate sources. Journals are the first stop for any academic works. Also, books by renowned experts are always great ideas. Lastly, blogs and interviews by experts are great sources of valuable information. As such, it’s important for self-published academic texts to go above and beyond the expectations of a traditional paper.
- Keep Away from Poor Visuals
In most academic texts, it’s common to find immense, single-spaced paragraphs jam-packed with information. This can make reading a paper quite laborious. As such, using friendly visuals such as clean fonts and one-and-a-half spacing can make a significant difference in improving a text’s visual quality. Mainly, following a clean and easy-to-read layout can help boost the text’s overall quality. Additionally, charts and graphs out to be as user-friendly as possible. Colorful and well-planned charts can make a significant impact on a text’s overall readability.
- Beware of Duplicate Text
Duplicate text is often confused with plagiarism. Plagiarism involves intentional misappropriation of ideas and text. In duplicate text, you have words and phrases that are the same as those contained in other text. As such, the author is not deliberately plagiarizing text. They are simply using similar words and phrases. Duplicate text is quite common when using direct quotes. So, even if they are duly cited and accredited in the text, it may trigger a duplicate text warning. This is highly important when publishing on Amazon Kindle. Duplicate text warnings may cause removal. Thus, it’s best to avoid duplicate text whenever possible.
- Eliminate Mistakes
Mistakes such as typos and grammatical mishaps can happen. While unsightly, they send the wrong message about the quality of the work. Yet, human error is entirely possible. That0s why it’s a good idea to enlist some help to proof texts. The use of automatic grammar and spell-check tools can go a long way toward avoiding mistakes. Additionally, it’s important to get the theory right. Having colleagues and peers go over the text adds a layer of credibility to the work. It shows that the author took care to make sure that its contents were carefully reviewed. Consequently, there is certainty that the book’s contents respond to the standards that traditional academic publishers uphold.
