Writing books can be very exciting. You may have written professionally for quite some time now but just stepping into the world of writing a book.
The fact that you have gathered up the courage to write a book is amazing because not only does it take a lot of patience but also comes with a lot of challenges when it comes to publishing. While book publishing can be stressful, and there are lots of ways one can publish, we are here to help with some awesome tips to make the road towards your dream a little less bumpy.
1. Self-Publish or Get a Publisher
The first decision that you have to make after you have your draft in your hands is whether to publish the book by yourself or traditionally, or go for a small press or a large publisher.
While self-publishing will give you complete control over how you want to publish your book, you will have to be responsible for all the costs and marketing.
If you opt for a small press, small teams will work closely with you which will make the publishing process smoother and faster. However, you will have less control and also gain lower royalties too.
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2. Editing is Crucial
No one wants to read a book full of typos and synopses, and reputed authors never publish unedited drafts anyway. Unless you have already signed the book contract, you need to find someone to organize your manuscript. If you don’t have the training to become an editor yourself, you’ll need to hire a professional editor to do the work.
You might think you have no mistakes in your writing since you have revised it several times. However, letting someone else go through your work is extremely necessary for ensuring no mistakes. This is because when you have written something, you are likely to overlook a lot of flaws, and given the fact that you have been working with your book for so long, you may easily miss out on minor mistakes.
However, a new pair of eyes will pick up any error more efficiently.
3. Seek Opinions from Others
Your story is definitely amazing to you. But you haven’t written the book for yourself. So before you put it out in the market, you must let some people read and rate it. In that way, you can make any changes required and know how others actually enjoyed your story.
If you are thinking about where to get feedback for your book, you can easily ask your family or friends. If you aren’t too comfortable doing that then you can opt for the following.
- The Critics Circle is a great place to get feedback. They not only allow you to take notes on your books but also help improve your skills! For more information on the Critics Circle, see this post.
- The writing community is also helpful. Many of these communities have built-in critic circles, but check their forums to see if anyone is looking for a critic partner, or if you’re lucky, offer free reviews.
- The Beta Reader is the third way to get detailed and candid feedback from people who are interested in your book. In context, most authors use beta readers after editing something themselves and before giving the book to the editor. You can read this post to find out more.
4. Title it Right
The book title tells a lot about the book. So it is important to choose the right title for your story that isn’t too complicated to remember yet describes the story in a few words.
Keep your title short and simple. Consider the number of bestsellers with one- or two-word titles these days. The title of your book, That’s [Something], is a timeless approach for good reason. It conveys ideas quickly and is easy for the reader to remember.
Make it attractive. Another advantage of short titles is that they naturally create plots. If in doubt, apply a little more.
Don’t just copy from someone too close. It’s good to use proven formulas, but you need to make sure that the title doesn’t sound as familiar as people think.
5. Maintain a Good and Consistent Format
Your book will not look good if you use different font styles and sizes in different places. Having inconsistent margin alignments will also make the book look awful. Make sure you are inserting proper fonts, alignments, page and chapter numbers, and titles in the right way.
You can use various methods of book formatting. For example, you can opt for free book formatting tools such as Apple Pages and Kindle Create. You can also use paid software like Vellum which can format your book layout the way you want. The best thing about this is you can have a trial version to see if you like it.
Another option is hiring a professional typesetter. This approach is more expensive, but it guarantees a clean interior design – vital if you’re publishing your book since you don’t want the content to be poorly spaced or squeezed into the cover.
6. The Book Cover
Even though the saying goes “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, people do judge a book a lot by the cover. If the cover is not lucrative enough or the material feels too cheap, readers will walk away.
Eye-catching but elegant
Whether you choose a cover based on photos, illustrations, or typography, the cover should be interesting enough to grab the reader’s attention, but not so cluttered that it looks overwhelming or unprofessional.
Genre-Based
Conscious readers or not, look for certain cover design elements in their favorite genres, and yours should also conform to (at least some) of those conventions. For example, romance novels tend to use illustrated covers and colors red, pink, and purple. Horror movies, on the other hand, often use dark colors and disturbing photos to signal their content.
Adjusted According to the Publishing Medium
If you’re publishing an ebook by yourself, your cover should be exactly that-the cover-because it’s what every reader sees. However, if you want to print a book, you also need to design the spine and back cover.
7. Make Your Book Description Interesting
The description of your book is another important factor in getting people to buy your book. Fortunately, it’s easy to tweak the description to increase sales. The basics for writing a powerful explanation are:
Hook reader with the heading: Whether it’s a dramatic statement, a quote from an ardent review, or the actual opening line of your book, your headline should immediately captivate your readers.
Introducing plots or key ideas: But don’t add them all together. Briefly explain the main conflicts, or if you have written non-fiction, write down the core concepts you cover.
Leave them wanting more: End with more coveted questions, twist clues, or complete cliffhangers. It makes it impossible for readers not to preview your book (just because they are skeptical of making it).
8. The Launch Plan
Before you publish, you have to have a great launch plan that works. You should keep in mind that the first few days of your release are the most important. Your plan should be to make readers aware of your book and create gossip around it. Here are different things to make your launch plan a success:
- Ask friends, family, and collaborators to talk about your books on different platforms. As more people talk about it, chances of you grabbing customers will also increase.
- Mailing lists and websites are very powerful when it comes to promoting products. By this, you can have people sign up for your book even before the release!
- Gather as many reviews as you can. As we have mentioned earlier to let others read your book before you publish, these reviews will be helpful once you release your book. You too wouldn’t want to buy a book that has zero reviews.
- Throw a virtual book launch party. Use your social media as well as a website to launch your book. You can go live and talk about your book. Ask your friends to share the posts. In this way you can engage with the readers more which in turn will increase customers.
9. Publish Your Book
Your book is now finally ready to be published. You will be pleased to know that self press of books is very easy. Amazon and other retailers will walk you through the upload process. As long as the material is ready, the problem will not occur.
This is what you would expect in turn:
- Enter a title, book description, and keywords/categories
- Upload the manuscript as an EPUB file
- Add a book cover (JPG, TIFF, or PDF)
- Set the price of the book and click Publish.
10. Market Smartly and Efficiently
Now that your book is published, it’s time to market to the fullest to get as many customers as possible. For marketing better, there are a few tips you may take into account:
- Do more blog tours and connect with writers. Guest posts to promote your book aren’t just for your launch plans! Stay in touch with relevant blogs, especially those of other authors who want cross-promotion, after launch.
- Customers can always get a better price unless your book is always free. If the download is slow and there has been no pricing action for some time, try this next.
- Have third-party marketing services help you promote your book. These agencies are professionals and have a higher chance to gain you more customers than you can by yourself.
To Wrap Up
Publishing a book can be very hectic and requires a lot of planning, and is much tougher for a first-timer. But with these tips, you can easily make your dream of becoming an author come true in no time. All you need is patience and persistence. Know that this process is not short and easy. But once you’re done, it will be worth it!