Every writer aspires to become the author of a best-selling book. However, in today’s world, achieving this goal without the assistance of a publishing agency has become a challenging task.
Getting the attention of a publishing company is not an easy task. One has to nervously send draft after draft, waiting anxiously for a response that could be negative. It is important to stay positive in the face of denial.
There are various ways to publish your book, which is an entirely different topic. But once you have decided to self-publish a book, there are some other decisions to make. For instance, you need to determine whether you will make e-books or print copies. Will you use a local printer and designer or any other platform? If the answer is yes, then which platform will you opt for? Do you want to print a bulk of books and hope they will sell, or do you prefer printing according to the orders?
The whole process is overwhelming.
However, the good news is that you don’t necessarily need to work with a publisher to achieve your dream of becoming a published author. With self-publishing, you have the freedom to write, edit, publish, and sell your book on your terms, without having to wait for approval from gatekeepers. Let’s break into the process without waiting any further.
Steps To Self-Publish A Book
Here are some simple steps to assist you in publishing your book. However, if you find self-publishing to be a daunting task, you can contact any of the NZ Book Publishers to provide you with great assistance in this process. Let’s begin to learn the steps of self-publishing.
- Compose A Marketable Book
Entrepreneurs conduct market research to validate product ideas. This involves analyzing competing products, assessing their strengths, and weaknesses, identifying untapped niches, and determining the ideal customer.
An author might laugh at the idea of conducting market research but a great author knows the importance of understanding the audience which makes the selling process smooth.
Uummmm…. You must be thinking about what the procedure of market evaluation is. Let us guide you. Even if you have written books before or you are writing from scratch these techniques are going to assist you in the best way.
- Identify Your genre
This is very crucial to know before writing your book. Your writing style varies from genre to genre. For instance: if you are writing a book for children your writing tone would be different as compared to any murder mystery storybook. Genre will help you to understand your audience and how you have to write a book according to them.
- Understand Your Competitor’s Positioning
Positioning is the overall business strategy, values, and messaging that is pitched to the audience. Check on your competitors in your genres and try to understand what can set you apart from them. What are the main factors that can grab the reader’s attention?
- Explore The Best-Sellers
Knowing the best sellers in your genre category can assist you in getting some clues about your target audience. If you already have a plan in your head for your book after knowing the interest of your audience you can make changes to it. Understanding the nature of your audience can help you sell in bulk.
- Edit And Proofread Like A Professional
Similar to a publishing house you need to edit and proofread your book before publishing. Your book needs to be polished and refined before it reaches the readers. You might not be an expert editor like publishing houses have but that doesn’t mean you cannot. There are several tools available that help you check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Make sure to thoroughly proofread your content before the printing process. You can ask your friends or any family member that you think is good at editing and proofreading to help you.
- Craft An Appealing Book Cover
You may not judge a book by its cover but most people buy a book only because of its astonishing cover. Your book cover reflects the inner content of your book. Most people get attracted by your book cover and decide to purchase it.
- Select A Platform For Your Self-Publishing
A self-publishing platform is a tool that can help you convert all the elements of your book into a physical product and distribute it to retailers and buyers. It’s worth noting that the self-publishing company you choose will influence your distribution channels. Therefore, it’s crucial to start considering how you plan to sell your books online. Some of the platforms that you can use to publish your books are Lulu, Shopify, Amazon, etc.
- Formatting Of Your Book
At this stage, you will be putting the last finishing touches to your product. You will have to ensure that your book has all the elements that a professional book must have. Publishing house efficient tools that help them to format a book. Your formatting tools depend on the publishing tools but the final product would be the same.
- Launch Your Book Like A Product Launch
If you desire to climb the success ladder then your step is to plan a product launch. You don’t have publishing experience similar to other professional Book publishers, but you have conducted detailed research to know your audience. Make sure that your book is formatted and your sales channels are all set up for customers to make their purchases.
The Bottom Line
So, this is a complete guide to the self-publishing process. If your first book launch is not as successful as you hoped, don’t get discouraged. It’s rare for authors to become successful with their first publication. It is crucial to pay attention to your social media presence. This will help you connect with a larger audience and receive feedback on your work. With each subsequent book release, you can continue to engage with your audience and learn from their feedback on social media. We hope this informative blog will help you in self-publishing.
Best of luck with your self-publishing process.