Many new authors believe their book is ready to publish when they’ve written the last page. But that’s not the case. There’s a whole list of to-dos you’ll need to prepare yourself for, from editing and brand preparation to developing your marketing strategy and completing the tasks required to publish your book according to professional standards. This is all part of your self-publishing timeline and can take up to a year to complete.
Below is an overview of the general phases of your self-publishing timeline so you know what to expect and how long it really takes for your book to be ready to publish. Please note, your publishing timeline isn’t linear because many phases will overlap or happen simultaneously. Really, you just want to plan enough time to reach your goal publication date.
The Phases
One: Evaluation. The editing process begins
Two: Research and positioning.
Three: Publishing details covered.
Four: Marketing strategy, branding, book design(interior and cover)
Five: Preparing to launch
Six: Launch day and beyond
A general overview of your self-publishing timeline will look something like this:
- Editorial – up to a year
- Positioning – 3 months
- Packaging / Design – 3 months
- Publishing Imprint – 1 month
- Printing and Distribution – 1 month
- Pre launch (ARCs and Reviews) – 3-6 months
- Book Launch Plan- the last stages
- Marketing Roadmap – ongoing after phase 3
1. The First Step in Your Self-Publishing Timeline: Are You Ready to Start the Process?
In your first month you’ll be getting things in order to make sure your book will be as marketable and successful as possible. It’s this time that you’ll not only be deciding your budget, but your process and preparing yourself and your book for the next steps on your self-publishing timeline. It’s so important to get off to a good start!
Where Does Your Manuscript Stand?
The first thing I assess with my clients is if they’re ready to begin the publishing process. Being ready means you have a full manuscript (ideally vetted and edited), and a book cover—or you’re ready to begin the cover design process.
Part of my process as a publishing consultant is reading your book and evaluating it. I do this because I need to know if your book is ready for print. In addition, this is where I’ll help determine your potential audience and begin developing a plan to brand you (or your book).
Just a note: It helps to use beta readers before you start the publishing consulting process because this can speed things along and shorten your self-publishing timeline. But whether you seek the publishing help or not, I highly recommend you make use of beta readers and, of course, at least a professional copy editor (depending on the state of your manuscript) long before your planned launch day arrives.
This is Also the Phase Where Important Decisions are Made
Along with evaluation, this is the phase of your self-publishing timeline where you’ll begin to think about how much you want to spend when all is said and done and how big and how fast you want to go when it’s time to introduce your book to the world.
However tempting it may be to rush to print, too quick of a timeline is a red flag. Publishing takes time. Depending on the state of your manuscript and your goals, we usually plan for a year to publication. Also, although this is broken into phases, it won’t necessarily be a linear process, as I mentioned. Much of this happens simultaneously, but generally, certain aspects of the process require a specific amount of time.
2.The Second Phase on Your Self-Publishing Time: Research and Positioning
The second phase of your self-publishing timeline is dedicated to research and positioning. This is where you will do the work to determine your book’s genre, your audience, and the other research that makes your book discoverable and appealing to your readers. Without this crucial research and work your book may never be seen. This step in the process takes about three months and determines important marketing strategy decisions such as:
- Your comparable titles
- What genres/subgenres your book fits into
- Your ideal reader
- Keyword and category research, and sales and distribution platforms such as KDP and IngramSpark
- BISAC codes
This is also when you can more easily lock in your desired (but reasonable)publication date.
NOTE: At this point, the editing process has hopefully begun, and may be ongoing throughout much of your self-publishing timeline.
Remember, the goal is to start the editing process as soon as you know where your book stands because the editing phase will potentially take the longest and you don’t want to be stuck with a book that isn’t up to par and a looming publication date.
If you’d like to know more about preparing your manuscript for editing, you can read about that here. You can find out more about the type of editing you may need and the projected timeline for each, by reading this Monkey C Media post.
3. Next Up: The Stuff Required to Publish Your Book to Professional Standards
This next step in your self-publishing timeline is not glamorous work, but it’s essential in order to publish your book according to professional standards. This means your book will be available for purchase just like any traditionally published book and will have all the hallmarks of traditional publishing such as proper ISBNs, registration with the Library of Congress, and more. This phase can take a month or more.
- Library of Congress: The Library of Congress is where you’ll file for copyright of your book. So you’ll need to know the process for that. Note, that you won’t actually file the copyright until your book is published, but you don’t want the process to hold up your self-publishing timeline.
- ISBNS: Those all important barcode numbers you see on the back of books. ISBNs are necessary to sell your book and contain information such as the format and edition number as well as your book’s metadata so that retailers can order and track your book.
- Distribution Options: Where do you want to sell your book? Who do you want to distribute it, and how? You’ll have options such as KDP and IngramSpark (and more) that will ensure your book is available to individuals as well as retailers and libraries.
- Publisher Details: Create imprint, DBA(doing business as) name, logo, etc.
4. Ongoing in Your Self-Publishing Timeline: The Crucial Marketing Stuff
In this phase, which is ongoing and usually happens simultaneously with other phases of your self-publishing timeline, the important marketing details are hashed out.
Remember, although I’ve split this into phases to demonstrate how the publishing process comes together, there is often overlap. This ensures that everything is ready in time for your desired publication date. For instance, the editing phase may continue through much of the process. You also may be working on marketing and branding details while wrapping up publishing details tasks.
This crucial phase of your self-publishing timeline takes anywhere from three to six months and is where you’ll be most focused on the following:
- Strategizing packaging: Your book needs to follow industry standards and also have the right feel and look. Trim size, binding, cover treatment, paper weight and color, all affect how people receive your book.
- Book cover design: You will need a professional cover, spine and back cover for your book. We recommend that you hire a professional book designer like Monkey C Media. A graphic designer is not necessarily a book designer. And there are standards that need to be followed in order for buyers and reviewers to get excited about your book. I provide a checklist to my clients to use before finalizing the cover to ensure all is good.
- Back cover copy: I recommend a copywriter for this process; well-written back cover copy is a critical part of creating a professional book and making it appealing to readers.
- Other marketing materials: Marketing copy, graphics and images. Branding. Headshots and author bio, etc. Setting up and branding social accounts.
5. Making Sure Final Boxes Are Checked and Beginning to Wrap Up the Publishing Process
By this time, the editing phase will be complete and your book will(barring unforeseen delays) have been formatted. Also, the trim size and cover treatment will have been determined, and the cover designed to industry standards and ready to print.
By now, you’ll be ordering your proof. This is the test printed copy you can hold in your hands, really get a feel for, and decide if you want any last minute changes. Your self-publishing timeline is coming to a close and all the little details need to be wrapped up and on-track. This phase lasts from about 3-6 months as well, but simultaneously with other phases.
In your self-publishing timeline, this is where you’ll need to make sure you’ve got a marketing schedule in order. Because this whole process is leading up to that.
You’ll get to start sharing the good news! You’ll also want your launch plan dialed in before your book is actually for sale. Hopefully, you’ll have marketing materials such as high quality images of your book cover ready. Because, at this point, you’ll want to start enticing people.
You’ll also be working on the following:
- Planning a book launch party
- ARCs and getting reviews
- Building your book launch team
- Proof review
- Any final edits
6. After Launch Day: The Marketing Blitz Phase of Your Self-Publishing Timeline
Your self-publishing timeline continues immediately after your publication day! This is when you should have your book in your hands. It’s out in the world and you want everyone to know it. These first few days and weeks following your publication date are crucial to your book’s success. Did you know, new releases that have less than 40 reviews tend to get less exposure on Amazon? Thus, the premarketing BEFORE your book ever comes out.
You’ll want to start promoting your book with fun posts like cover reveals and sneak peeks. Your book launch party has happened (if you’re doing one) or it will be scheduled. This is when you’ll be sending out newsletters and brainstorming other marketing ideas too.
You’ll also now be able to claim your books and officially call yourself a published author!
Now is the part of your self-publishing timeline where you can do the following:
- Amazon Author Profile:Making sure your Amazon Author Profile is all up to snuff is pretty essential. Your keywords will have been chosen and approved and your book description should be in top shape. You can also add your headshot and author bio here. There’s even space to add other photos to really fill out your profile.
- GoodReads: GoodReads is an excellent site for your book to be discovered! On GoodReads you can review other books, add them to your reading list and answer FAQs so your fans can get to know you better. GoodReads also allows links to your blog—and I highly recommend doing so!
- Your Social Channels: Part of your self-publishing timeline includes figuring out which social channels you want to focus on and where your audience is waiting. Of course, being on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and every other possibility out there can be overwhelming. But if you’ve just focused on a few after doing some research, and made them look polished and professional, regularly posting and engaging will play a part in your audience growth.
Don’t Worry, Everything Comes Together in the End
To reiterate, your self-publishing timeline will not necessarily be linear and that can become a source of stress for some authors. But, if you hit delays or snags in the process, it’s not the end of the world because those setbacks are baked into the timeline. That’s why it’s important to allow yourself enough time to do it right and make sure everything is on point by your planned publication date. And, as you may have noticed, the work continues after launch day. It’s an ongoing process, but if you chip away a little at a time and remain focused and dedicated, you’ll be fine.
Being an author is a business, and publishing is a journey. Remember, you want a sustainable plan, not a fast one!
If you’d like to share your self-publishing experience with other readers, feel free to leave a comment!
