Hey there. Welcome to Nothing but the Words. I’m your Author Coach, Candice L Davis.
Last week, I was talking to a coaching client. He’s a dynamic speaker, a master in his craft and a business owner.
So he’s been writing his book and doing a great job. But as we were wrapping up his coaching session, he asked me, “So what is the publishing process?”
We definitely talked about the process of publishing his book back when we first started working together. But that’s been a few months now. And he’s been complete focused on the writing process.
He knows what his next steps are, but he hadn’t really thought much about the publishing process.
It was a good reminder to me that most authors don’t go through that process every day.
So I want to talk in this episode about how to publish your book.
There are two different paths to publishing. In traditional publishing, you submit your book to a publisher and try to land a deal. That’s definitely a viable option for some authors.
But the vast majority of my clients choose to self-publish for a couple of reasons.
First, it’s not easy to sell your book to traditional publishers. And second, it can take a couple of years for your book to be published if a traditional publisher buys it.
Again, there are valid reasons to go the traditional publishing route, but that’s a topic for a different episode.
Let’s talk about self-publishing.
With self-publishing, there are no gatekeepers. There’s no one who can tell you no, you can’t publish your book.
This has somewhat leveled the playing field, especially when it comes to representation. Since its inception, traditional publishing has failed to do enough to give a voice to anyone outside of the majority.
With self-publishing you can tell your story, you can document what you believe is worth documenting, and you can share your knowledge without getting permission from anyone.
So how do you do it?
Self-publishing—the way I coach my clients to do it—could really be called independent publishing. You’re not doing everything yourself. You’re publishing independently of a traditional publisher, but it’s not a do-it-yourself project. You’ll work with the necessary professionals.
But the industry calls it self-publishing, so let’s stick to that term.
These are the basics of self-publishing.
Writing
Hire a coach
Editing
Pay a professional copy editor
Registration, Copyright, ISBN, library of congress.
Buy your barcode, get an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) or at least 2 if you’re doing an ebook, and submit your book to the Library of Congress.
Bowker.com
Cover Design
Hire a designer who has done books. Professional templates are also available
Interior Layout Design
Ebook and print. Hire a designer who will do both a print version and ebook version. Or buy a high-quality template that does both.
Designers are available at different price points. So if you don’t want to budget for a full publishing services package, you can find freelancers who might fit your budget on sites like upwork.com and fiverr.com.
Upload to a book publisher
Print on demand
Amazon KDP, Lightning Source, overseas printers (color, images, hardback, specialty orders
Order a Proof Copy
Proofread
Finally order your copies and or upload to other places
Unfortunately, there a lot of publishing services companies that, in my opinion have unethical or unprofessional practices, so do your due diligence. I always recommend getting recommendations from people whose books look really good if at all possible.
A lot of authors will credit their designers in their books, so you might find someone that way.
When you’re shopping for a self-publishing service provider, I recommend a few things.
Take a close look at books they’ve published. Make sure they look professional enough to stand next to any book in a bookstore.
Publish under your own company not as a part of the publishing services imprint.
Own your book. If they won’t give you your book files so you can upload them to any seller or printer, stay away. You should be publishing your book under your own Amazon or Barnes and Noble or other bookseller accounts so you can always access your accounts and the payments go straight to your bank account.
Avoid paying royalties. Pay the upfront fee, which usually starts at about $1200 for a full-service package. That’s it. Once you’ve paid that fee, the publishing services company should NOT be making more money every time you sell a book. Traditional publishers make money when you sell a book, but they don’t expect you to pay 1 dime for the cover, or editing, or design. They pay for all of that. If you’re self-publishing, your publishing services company upfront for those services, they shouldn’t be making more money off you on the back end.
The self-publishing process does have a lot of moving parts. There can be a lot of back and forth between you and your editor, you and your designers, and it can take some time. But it’s not hard. And if you can do it on any budget.
I hope you’ve found this episode helpful. If so, I’d really appreciate a great review from you on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcast. Reviews really help more people find the podcast, which helps me keep making it.
Thanks for listening to Nothing but the Words, I’m your author coach, Candice L Davis, and I’ll see you next time.