Before digitalization publishing, a book was an arduous and difficult process. You had to find a publisher, they would need to approve your book, and you had to write according to their guidelines if you wanted to be accepted. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that your book will be well received or appreciated. Indeed, publishing even a bad book was way too much trouble. Nowadays it’s a different story, and you can even self-publish which is great. That being said there are some drawbacks to the system.
Since it’s an even playing field there is this vast sea of content, so if you don’t have any online presence as an author, there is a good chance your book will get lost among all the other self-publishers. In other words, it’s easier to publish but harder to get noticed. Still, if you are determined and preserver, one of your works might get the attention it needs and if it is well-received your prior publications will get noticed as well. So, here is a quick guide on what you need to do in order to self-publish.
Writing a book
Obviously this is the first step, but it’s important to mention that you should not write or publish, just for the sake of it. Think hard before you start writing. Why do you want to do it? What is it that you wish to say? Who will benefit from your message? Are there other works with the same agenda and how is your work different?
Basically what is the unique value proposition of your book and why you feel people should know about it. Once you have your goals, you can start writing and ensure your content aligns with those goals.
Get feedback prior to going live
One thing you need to know is that you are not an adequate person to judge your work, and knowing how to take constructive criticism can significantly improve your work. This is especially important if your book contains opposing points of view in dialogs. You can write for hours but these are still your thoughts, having someone to bounce off the ideas will make for more compelling arguments on both sides. More importantly, when someone reads your book they can tell you whether a certain section is confusing, or to rephrase certain sentences and so on. If you are writing for others you will need an outside opinion.
Finishing touches
Finally, once your work is done you should hire an editor to review it, or you can do this as a part of step two and go back and forth with him or her, while writing. The editor will also help you with sentence structure and grammar which are things you can easily overlook. Also, you will need someone to design a compelling cover to increase the chance of getting noticed. Finally, you can set an account for self-publishing like Kindle direct and use it to get your book out there and hope for the best.
