How to publish your book is the first question every writer asks when they have finished their book and they now want to get it published. To be more specific you are asking how do I publish my book?
Every writer has a specific purpose in writing their book. It may be of a life experience or it may be about a member of your family with a history or it may be about a professional subject based on your knowledge of the profession or it may be a fictional story. No matter what it is you as writer must figure out how to get your book published.
Writing your book may have taken you a few months or a few years and it is an important part of your life putting your creative works together. You have taken time and care in the writing of your book and getting your book self-published or getting it published the traditional way is no different. Time and care must be taken to get the best results. If you want the possible results such as sales, you must go through the publishing process thoughtfully and carefully to get those sales results.
Starting Your Self-Publishing Process:
You have your manuscript finished to at least a format in which you are happy with although you are aware there may be some editing needed and some changes that may make you book even better. Even a simple editing process is a good thing for your book. There are many editors out there and some may be independents offering their services and some are larger companies offering those services.
A larger company editor works on a volume basis and an independent editor works with the client on a personal basis and is usually a little more expensive but does a more complete edit. Whenever you can work with an editor one on one please do that. It will make your book a much better book. In addition, there are about 4 levels of editing you should consider. If you are more interested in just getting your book out there for every little upfront cost then a quick edit for spell check, commas and periods and such then that is your best choice. If you are interested in getting a great book out there for shopping other publishers or gaining representative agents or agencies to represent your book for a movie a more complete edit such as content editing. Line editing, proofreading, would be more what you would be looking for.
Editing your book also can get into the flow and read ability of the book. Most publishers and agencies today prefer a more polished book that would take very little editing on their side and favors the Author in shopping their creative works. This applies to screenplays, scripts, books, treatments and more. If you can afford the additional work to be done, it is definitely beneficial to you.
The next step would be your books cover design. This entails artwork that represents your books subject matter and catches the attention of any potential reader and buyer of your book. This process can be done inexpensively using templates, images or photos that are stock and part of the template. This can be done quickly. If you wish to have a custom book cover then that would take more time to create the artwork and would be more expensive to do so. You then have to choose the paperback or hard cover style to work with. Typically, the paperback is the most popular and the hard cover is a little more expensive.
The next step would be the book layout. This process deals with the size of the page you want or need to make you’re a smaller size but with more pages or a larger size with less pages. There are usually 3 sizes you deal with such as 5×8, 6×9, and 7×10. These are the most popular and most used for print on demand companies. They are simple and easy and fast to print and ship out to the customer. This process is the final process in getting to print or eBook. The same person can adapt your book for print or eBook within this process.
Print on Demand
Print on Demand has become the engine by which the entire self-publishing industry is built upon. Technology has made it possible for these companies to print one copy of a book instantly and ship directly to the customer less expensively and faster than we have ever seen. The internet of course has allowed all of this to happen as it has. The corner bookstore is all but gone, with only a few stores left in the book market. Whether this is a wrong or right thing it is a fact that more and more people are buying books online without leaving the house and the book is delivered directly to them. This is great for the Author, the customer, and the Print on Demand company.
It is truly a win-win-win situation for all involved. However, there are certain things to look out for and consider when signing with or using a Print on Demand Company. Today you can get your book self-published for a pretty low cost, all things considered, and your book can be into hundreds of platforms that sell your book and pay you form the sale. When you sign with a company in many cases, they offer printed books within their pricing structure. The only problem is that what do you do with all those books. That is one thing you have to look at.
Another is the length and exclusivity of the term of the agreement. Many make you sign a 2 year or longer agreement that you will use only them for the printing and shipping. Along with that they will charge you a monthly or yearly fee to maintain that relationship. Many will not allow you to shop your book or sell it on any other platform. This may sound good in the beginning however, after a while you could be making more progress being free form those constraints.
There are some as the Kindle Direct Publishing which is part of Amazon. It is free of charge with no signing agreement and it allows you to sell on many platforms. It has become the most popular and probably the best business model for Authors. The Author can receive from 60% to 70% of the book sale. For the Author this means that not having to do anything and they still receive the majority of the book sale. This also means that you are free to shop your book to other publishers for royalties and you are free to shop your book to agencies for Tv Movies, Film, Documentaries, cable TV, producers and directors, screenplays, and much more. It is the best, in our estimation, opportunity for the Author to succeed with their book.
Making Your Book a Great Book
Making your book a great book is what it is all about for the more serious writer and Author. Most writers are writing their first or second book and they do not the experience or the education directly related to writing. The editing process is more important for those who wish to have a book that flows properly with a smooth readability, content that makes sense from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph and page to page. This is what makes a great book comparing that to a quick process book.
The Author that takes the time and effort make their book the very best it can be will always be the more successful Author with many offers to that affect them for many years to come. Yes, it is more expensive and takes more time however, the results that can come form are life changing.
Authors and writers are able to write their creative works in a few weeks or a few months a few years. Some can take 10 years or more to write a novella or a book on the times we live in. It may be a fictional writing that requires years of research or dramatic piece for a screenplay or script. Any book of any kind that wants to be the best it can be will take that time and effort to do so.
If this is the kind or writer you wish to become just remember, it takes that kind of sacrifice, that kind of dedication, and that kind of perseverance to write the great book of all time. That really is what every writer wants to do, write the great book that opened minds, changed social environments, told a story that changed a person’s life. This is the dream of every writer. To write something that engages millions of people in a very positive way, to write a book that will be remembered for decades to come, to write a book that changes the world forever. That is every Authors dream no matter how small or large the story, so please do your best to be the best.
Author: Jeffrey Benson
CEO / Mars Rising Publishing
