Monday, March 18, 2024
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Step By Step Process to Write Your Own Book And Get Published

Have you always dreamt of publishing your book and turn it into a bestseller in the market? While the idea of getting your book published may seem fascinating, however, the real work that it requires is as dry as dust. Well, to save you from the distress that goes into approaching a traditional publishing house, we suggest you opt for self-publishing. It is because getting your book published by a traditional company is hard as your precious time goes into finding an agent who might not be interested in reading what you have.

Here, we have listed some facts about book publishing that will kindle your spirits to start writing your first book if you still haven’t yet.

What Is Self-Publishing A Book?

In simple terms, self-publishing is an act of publishing a book without any involvement of a third party or a traditional publishing company.

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Usually, in traditional publishing, an author must pay all the editing, drafting, designing, and marketing expenses. But, self-publishing opens the doors for authors to do all these things at their own pace.

In self-publishing, the author is solely responsible for writing, editing, formatting, and designing their book.

Why Is Self-Publishing Better Than Traditional Publishing?

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In traditional publishing, one always has to worry about the paperwork, big publishing houses, and red tape. Then, even if you get published by the company, you lose many decision-making rights regarding your book. And on top of that, there’s less creative freedom whenever there is a third party involved.

On the other hand, self-publishing has its sweet advantages for writers who want to thrive in their writing career.

Here are some advantages that will always convince you whenever you doubt self-publishing with traditional publishing.

1. Creative Freedom

In traditional publishing, there is always a set of terms and conditions laid out by the publishing house for the authors that they must follow. On the contrary, when you self-publish a book, you become the whole publishing process owner, starting from writing to marketing the book. As a result, this gives you the full creative freedom to work on your own.

2. Better Royalty Rates

Studies have found that indie authors earn more per sale than those who publish books with traditional publishing houses.

Unlike self-publishing, traditional publishers set your royalty rates, which are as good as getting peanuts. Now, why would anyone want to be paid in peanuts for their hard work? Isn’t that unfair for every writer?

In self-publishing, you earn the maximum profit on each book sold, and more gain ensures better investment in the promotion of your book.

3. Price Control

Self-publishing offers you to set affordable price rates for your book and get the maximum profit. On the other hand, if you put a higher price for your book in traditional publishing, the company will keep a big chunk of profit with themselves and pay you the bare minimum.

For example, if you keep $50 for a self-published book, you can provide a certain percentage of discount to the readers and keep the rest of the amount with yourself. But, in traditional publishing, even if the company gives discounts, they will take most of the profit and leave you with a small portion of the sales amount.

3. Networking With Fellow Writers

Your network is your net worth!

Self-publishing opens doors for networking opportunities to new writers that later become an integral part of your book’s marketing process.

As a writer, it is essential to go out there and interact with people from the same industry who have established their names in writing. Their insights and learning will always come to your help whenever you need it.

Besides, your book could also help you earn money without having a desk job.

How to Self-Publish a Book?

Many people doubt their books, not getting the targeted sales or any exposure that could be achieved by a traditional book publishing process. But that’s not necessarily the actual truth. You can self-publish a book and still become a bestseller author.

According to sources, the very successful movie, Eragon, was adapted from the original novel, which Paolini self-published and later re-published by Alfred A. Knopf after Carl Hiaasen discovered it.

The children’s book “Peter Rabit” was self-published in 1901. Self-publishing has been working for years!

According to research, people are turning down the big publishing companies and opting to self-publish. Remember that self-publishing a book requires more work, but the creative freedom you get as a writer is unbeatable.

So, how do you self-publish your book?

Self-Publishing: Step By Step Guide To Write And Publish A Book

How to Self Publish a Book-infographics-alignthoughts

1. Choose Your Genre

It’s essential to have clarity about what you want to write. So the first step requires you to figure out the subject and topic you would like to explore while writing a book. Having a strong emotional bond with your storyline is vital when you’re writing; otherwise, you’ll lose interest and end up never finishing your book.

These are a few questions that can help you evaluate your area of interest.
  • What are the books or stories that inspire you?
  • Your definition of a sensational story?
  • What fuels the fire inside you?

Always write about something that tugs the chords of your heartstring. Because at the end of the day, if you’re not satisfied with your own story, how can you expect others to be?

These are some of the genres you can explore whenever you’re starting your writing career:
  • Self-Help
  • Comedy
  • Fantasy
  • Romance
  • Dystopian Series
  • Crime/Mystery
  • Historical Fiction
  • Horror
  • Non-Fiction

2. Get to Writing

To write a story, you have to start writing one first! So, waste no time and start putting your dream into action. If you’re a working professional who wants to self-publish a book, you can utilize your lunch breaks or the weekends as a cue for yourself to work on your writing project.

You don’t have to fret about the book title before you write a story, as you can decide that later as well. Start writing and let the creative juices flow.

How to begin writing your book before getting it published?

  • Drafting the outline of the book first is always a wise way to start writing at first.
  • After that, conclude on Chapters.
  • Make rough sketches for character names and titles.
  • Set daily word count goals so that you don’t have to deal with writing slump.
  • Set weekly deadlines.

3. Get Someone’s Opinion

We know that the first draft of anything is never perfect. It would be best if you know how you can change your draft before publishing it. We suggest giving your draft to a trusted outside source and receive feedback from them.

To get an idea about what fits better in your book,  listen to what others have to say. Outside feedback is an excellent way of getting fresh perspectives on your story from readers’ shoes.

As a writer, you’re either unreasonably hard on yourself or jaded in vision. It’s common for a new author to be too connected with their story that they might forget they are writing the book for their readers.

4. Hire an Editor And Graphic Designer

Don’t judge a book by its cover!

We have heard about this phrase but do we follow it? No! We, humans, are wired in a way that, if something looks aesthetically pleasing, it grabs our attention instantly. Hence, designing an attractive book cover plays a huge role in grabbing the attention of potential readers.

And more the attention, the more significant is the possibility of attracting sales for your book.

Therefore, Self-publishing means that you might have to spend some money out of your pocket to hire an editor and graphic designer.

Freelance editors and graphic designers can be found online on the following websites:

  • Facebook
  • Craiglist
  • Upwork
  • PeoplePerHour

Some freelancers charge on an hourly basis, while some have base pay. You can choose whatever suits your need.

5. Find The Best Platform To Self-Publish A Book

The most popular platform to publish your book is the KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), as it is free and easy to use.

Authors earn up to 70% royalty money from every book sold. You can even publish your book in digital or PDF format on Amazon for free.

There are also other self-publishing platforms for books:

  • iTunes
  • Barnes&nobles
  • Lulu
  • Kobo
  • BookBaby

Apart from these publishing platforms, there are other websites too, explicitly dedicated to writers:

  • Goodreads and Twitter to build a community of both readers and writers.
  • Wattpad is for getting insights about what genre is in trend.
  • Webtoon comic will give you an understanding of how to deliver character dialogues in your story.

6. Select Your Platform

As we discussed in the previous point, doing proper research about the platforms you want to publish your book on is a logical ground to select the final platform.

Go through each of the self-publishing websites and make notes of all the benefits and terms and conditions. Evaluate the one that is providing the maximum benefits and go for that.

7. Format Your Book

Now that you have decided about the platform, the next step is to format your book accordingly and publish it on your chosen platform!

Most importantly, you have to format your book according to the distributor sites’ requirements.

For most self-publishing platforms, they prefer to accept books in PDF format rather than Microsoft word.

Most importantly, these distributors can ask for specific pieces of information like the title, author name, bio, description, categories, and other related info so that they can accurately place you in search results. It helps with things like keywords and makes it easier for potential readers to find your book online.

8. Time To Market Your Book

After following all the above steps, you have to get yourself noticed for your books to sell! And to make it happen, social media is the best tool to build authentic followings.

Get yourself a beautiful cover and some graphics to post online to capture people’s attention! If you’re a busy bee, you may as well hire a social media manager who is an expert at managing accounts.

You can even hire Marketing managers and consultants, too, for expert advice. And if you’re tight on budget, take the help of google and research on your own about the different ways to market yourself, your book, and your brand. We have also heard that nothing beats the power of word of mouth marketing.

Marketing is one of the most critical ways to outreach yourself. Hence, network with fellow writers and discuss your book with them.

Just let people know that you have a book available. There are many tools at your disposal. Use them according to your needs.

A Few Simple Ways To Market Your First Book:

  • Use social media marketing channels like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.
  • Sell it for free to your friends, family, and co-workers.
  • Email marketing.
  • Ask for book reviews for friends and families.
  • Build relationships with other writers.

A Word From Alignthoughts,

The steps to self-publishing your book aren’t as challenging to follow as it may seem. People make it sound too intimidating, but it’s not that tough to figure out once you understand the whole process.

Sure, it takes a lot of work, time, and money of your own, but don’t you think you’re worth the investment?

You have to know that you’re worth it and that your story is worth telling.

There’s a presence of creative freedom in writing and publishing your book, which you wouldn’t have otherwise. Although some people might go for a traditional company, the editing and cover creation costs are less in self-publishing.

However, when you self-publish, and your book becomes a bestseller, you’ll be the one to taste the profit and the fruits of your hard work.

Key Takeaways On Self-Publishing A Book

  • Self-publishing is a process where an author does all the publishing-related work without any third party’s involvement.
  • Unlike traditional marketing, self-publishing is a better option to go for as it provides you with benefits like creative freedom, better royalty rates, price control, and networking opportunities.
  • Choose a genre that you’re passionate about to write.
  • Immediately start writing once you have figured out your genre. Remember, the first draft wouldn’t be that good, but it’s vital to begin writing first to let the creative juices flow.
  • After finishing writing your first draft, get constructive feedback about your work from friends and family to make changes in your book accordingly.
  • Hire an editor and designer who’ll be responsible for all the designer and editing related work. You can find freelance editors and designers on Facebook, Craiglist, Upwork, and PeoplePerHour.
  • Choose the best platform to publish your books like KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), iTunes, and Barnes&Noble.
  • In self-publishing, authors can earn up to 70% royalty money on each book sold.
  • Self-publishing platforms prefer to accept books in PDF format than Microsoft Word.
  • Lastly, utilize social media as a tool to market your book. Also, never refrain from attending networking events for writers to help you immensely in the marketing process.

Why should I go for self-publishing?

Self-publishing gives you the power to control your creativity, royalty rates, decision-making, and price of your book that a traditional publishing company doesn’t provide to their writers.

Where can I self-publish my book?

There are many self-publishing websites available online, like Kindle Direct Publishing, iTunes, Barnes&Nobles. You can also do further research and see what fits your needs.

How do I market my self-published book?

You can take the help of social media platforms to market your book. For example, Instagram is a great platform to build a community that will love and read your work. But don’t forget to regularly engage with your readers as you are also your book’s brand.

With these steps in front of you, are you going to publish with a company or go solo? Do you have a book idea already? Which distributor is best for you? Comment down below!

Rikki Parker
Rikki Parker
Rikki is a blogger and writer who is all about self-empowerment, positivity, and growth. She loves writing and inspiring people. She also writes on her personal blog and runs a YouTube channel. Helping other people drives her, and Rikki loves doing it full-time!

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