Publishing a book can be a fun, but often daunting task. First time publishers and authors often have many questions and the steps required to do it the right way can be confusing. My goal is to help guide you through the process and ensure that you are well-informed so that you make sound decisions. The part of the process I’ll cover below can work for you whether you plan on producing simple eBooks on KDP or you have bigger goals. If you want to publish a book, ideally, these are the steps you will take beforehand. These can be done before you ever finish writing your book, actually. And the better prepared you are before you publish, the better chances your book will have for success.
If You Want to Publish a Book it Pays to Be Ahead of the Game
As I mentioned, whether you just want to put out eBooks, or dream of seeing your work in print so you can hold it in your hands, these are things that will set you up for success. Why? Because they are the foundation of your book marketing strategy. They also help save time and energy when your pub date rolls around.
Know Your Goals and Your Audience
First, you’ll need to decide what your goals are for publishing. This is because your goals will help determine your strategy and give you an idea of the budget you will need. When I speak of budget, I mean your financial and emotional budget. This includes your time and energy.
Determining Your Publishing Goals
Do you want to produce shorter eBooks with the intention of writing them often, on a large scale? This strategy works well for How-To books, and genres like YA, Fantasy and Romance. Is your book just meant for family and friends, and to get your story out there? Do you want to publish a book to establish your authority in an industry and build your career?
These will all require different levels of work, and therefore different budgets. This is why it’s important to know your publishing goals in advance. Determining your publishing goals will help you know what to expect.
Know Your Audience
Determining who your audience is can help you( and publishers) gauge the marketability of your book. It also helps to know who your audience is so that you can market to them. A broad and general audience is much harder to market to than a smaller, niche audience. Knowing your audience will also require some research. You will also need to answer some questions about your audience, such as:
- Why will they buy your book?
- Where will they most likely buy your book: bookstore, website, Amazon, speaking events, etc.
- Where is your audience expecting to find your book? What are the spaces your audience lives in?
If You Want to Publish a Book But Don’t Know How
Many aspiring authors want to publish a book but don’t know how. They don’t know where to start. Where you start and how you publish your book can be determined by your publishing goals. That’s why that step is so important. If you don’t know where you are going, it’s hard to create a roadmap. Once you know your publishing goals, and your audience, you can decide which approach to publishing is best for you.
Luckily, there are several modes of publishing and several routes you can take when you want to publish a book!
There are print on demand publishing options, such as KDP and Ingram Spark. This means they will print your books and distribute them by the order. You can also go your own way and contract the printing in bulk(you pay for copies up front) and make your own distribution plan.
Other options when you want to publish a book are finding a hybrid publisher, which means the work of printing and distribution will be done for you, under an imprint. Under this model, you are still paying to publish. But keep in mind, those costs should be disclosed and the process transparent.
When it comes to not paying out of pocket to publish a book, you will need to try to get picked up by a traditional publishing house. These can be anything from small presses and imprints, to larger publishing companies. This will require you convincing them that your book is worth publishing and there are various scales of compensation for you as the author.
Ultimately, it depends on your goals and your abilities. But if you’re planning on self-publishing, you can read more about what to expect here.
Use Your Knowledge and Build Your Marketing Plan
Now that you know your goals and your audience, you will use this information to develop a branding strategy and marketing plan. And yes, even if your goal is publishing via a traditional route, you will still need a branding strategy and marketing plan. These days even the big, traditional publishers often expect you to do some, if not a lot of, the marketing work.
If you want to publish a book, and dream of it being successful you need a marketing plan. Having a solid author brand will help too. These days, you’re selling yourself as much as you are selling your book. So plan on:
- Doing research on your audience
- Creating a marketing strategy
- Building your author brand
Knowing your goals, understanding your audience, and doing the work to create a marketing strategy will all serve you when it comes time to publish your book. These are the foundational pillars of publishing success!
You can find many more detailed posts on the subjects of book publishing, marketing, and author branding on my blog page. Use the search bar to find specific topics. Is there something missing you would like to see me cover in detail on this post, or in general? Let me know in the comments on the original post!
