8 Steps to Self-Publishing a Book

While there is no denying that self publishing a book is simpler than ever, it’s also true that successful publishing isn’t as hassle-free as we think it is. That is because to ensure everything goes well, authors need to be familiar with the art of how to publish a book yourself.

In the past few years, billions of books have been self-published, so the competition is already fierce. If you want to learn how to publish my own book, we’ve got your back.

To help you out, we’ve asked some leading industry experts to share the steps to self publishing a book. Without further ado, let’s dive deeper.

How to Self Publish a Book?

While book publishing is an intricate procedure, the process of how to publish a book can be summed up with just a few steps. To be precise, here are the steps to self publish a book.

1.    Writing the Book

The journey to how to get a book published begins with penning your book down. There is no denying that this is the foundation of your book and impacts the entire course as an author or a person interested in writing a book. Waking up daily and pouring in your hard work to write a book isn’t a piece of cake. But it’s the first step to learning how to self-publish a book.

If you’re clueless about where to begin or what to write about, you can reflect and come up with an idea and proceed accordingly. You’ll first need to pen down a few sample chapters to eventually get on track.

2.    Book Editing

After the writing stage is wrapped up efficiently, you move on to the next phase of publishing your own book, which is the book editing phase. Before your manuscript is turned into a masterpiece, it requires editing that serves as final touches.

There are various types of editing that entail different styles of editing depending on what the manuscript needs. To determine the type of editing needed, you’ll need to evaluate your manuscript. Here are the most common types of book editing:

• Developmental editing
• Copy editing
• Line editing
• Structural editing

3.    Work on Book Design

Whether you opt for online book publishing or choose to go for any other route, some designing is needed before publishing books. There are two aspects of designing when self publishing a book—the interior and book cover.

·       Interior Book Design

While this surely isn’t the most exciting part of the procedure, it is a must to ensure the inside of your book looks professional for book publishing. For that, professional formatting is required, but make sure you follow the standards so that every element of the book is arranged correctly, improving overall readability.

·       Book Cover Design

A book cover is the first thing readers see when they set eyes on your book, so that’s your time to make the first impression. That’s why your book cover design has to be unique and needs to stand out from other books. If you aren’t sure what design you should go for, you can take some inspiration from others. Take a look at books of the same genre, and try to look at some common elements in the design.

You can also get in touch with a professional book cover designer who can use their expert skills and creative mind to ensure your book cover isn’t just appealing but also resonates with the contents.

4.    Book Metadata

Book metadata can seem like a complicated concept, but it’s actually pretty simple and comprises essential information describing your book. This information includes:

• The title
• The subtitle
• Author name
• Book description
• Book price

Besides the above-mentioned ones, there are also other data that fall under book metadata.

5.    Time for Publishing

If you haven’t already thought about it, now is the time to decide how you will share your story with the world. There are various platforms that allow you to self publish your books, and each has diverse features that can benefit you.

When making any decision, it’s vital to consider the options you have and get familiar with every platform and its features. Doing so will help you determine which self publishing platform is best for your requirements.

Keep in mind that the choice you make will impact the audience and will dictate which masses your book will be available to. For instance, a platform offering global distribution can imply higher sales as a bigger audience will have access to your book.

6.    Consider Distribution

Previously, one of the biggest obstacles self-published authors met was book distribution. Writing their book would take them weeks, months, or even years. After going through the stages of editing, designing, and printing, they would be unable to get it into libraries and bookstores.

However, thanks to different platforms, you can have access to the best channels to distribute your book nationally and all across the globe. Therefore, be mindful when choosing how and where to distribute your book.

7.    Marketing

After you’ve published and distributed your book effectively, you will need to figure out how to guarantee it catches the eye of the public. When you are caught up with tasks like writing, editing, designing a book, etc., you can easily forget about marketing. Most times, authors start stressing about marketing when they near the publication phase, and that can be a huge mistake.

Although this is one of the last things you need to cater to before your self published book thrives, our experts recommend focusing on marketing while writing your book. We don’t mean you should dedicate your entire time to that, but you need to start making efforts as early as possible for the best results. As a result, the sooner your marketing strategy is employed, the better the results.

8.    Sell Your Book

Once your book has been published and effectively marketed, you might think you’ve reached the end of the process. However, it isn’t; you are forgetting the most important part. It’s the final stage where your books sell and get the attention they deserve.

You probably think this is when you just relax and sit back, but you can’t be laid back as your book sells copies. As an author, you need to have an idea of every sale it makes, which is why you need to monitor it closely. This bookkeeping is also valuable for monitoring the profits and how much will go into your pocket.

So, don’t get lazy at this stage; you need to be aware of the numbers.

What Are the Best Practices for Self-Publishing a Book?

Although we’ve shared a comprehensive guide for publishing your book, you may still find yourself wondering, “How do you self publish a book?” What we mean is that you may need a few tips to help you get this right, which is why we’ve compiled some of the best ones for you.

They are as follows:

·       Focus on Book Editing

Editing is the polishing your manuscript needs before it is presented to the world to read, which is why there can be no compromise on this. To make sure every inch of your book is perfect and there are no flaws or mistakes in the writing, you need to invest in professional editing.

As mentioned, there are different types of book editing, so you need to have a skilled expert who knows what they’re doing and can wisely decide what type is required.

·       Buy an ISBN

An International Standard Book Number(ISBN) is an identification number for each edition of a book that is recognized internationally. This number is similar to other product numbers that uniquely set them apart from others. It’s like a special code that helps keep track of books in the publishing industry.

The ISBN consists of a series of numbers that are divided into different sections, each providing specific information about the book. The sections typically include the country or language group identifier, the publisher identifier, and the book identifier.

By having an ISBN, books can be easily distinguished from one another, even if they have similar titles or authors. It helps with inventory management, sales tracking, and library cataloging. Publishers, booksellers, and libraries rely on ISBNs to efficiently organize and categorize their books.

It offers integral information about your book to labels, booksellers, retailers, etc., as you publish it. In simpler words, the ISBN is a crucial tool that ensures accurate identification and tracking of books in the publishing world, and it’s needed to sell your book.

It helps make the book industry run smoothly and keeps everything in order. Therefore, if you want to publish your book, you will need to purchase your own ISBN.

·       Nail the Book Cover Design

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: your book is judged by its cover, and it is an indispensable marketing tool. With a wonderful design, your book will outshine the rest and gain plenty of attention from the audience.

That is why you shouldn’t leave any stone unturned to make sure the design is perfect and aligns with what it contains.

·       Opt for Global Distribution

Distribution is just what your book is going to rely on, and you need to ensure it reaches a wide audience. Therefore, it’s wise to choose platforms that provide global distribution for your self published books. In addition, you can also communicate with other distributors for that. This will impact your overall book sales and be widely beneficial.

·       Market Your Book

The idea that you may publish your book and everyone will find it by chance isn’t realistic if you are not a well-known public figure. One strategy to help people find your book online is to make sure your book’s metadata is as good as it can be, but for your book to flourish, you still need to promote it.

Marketing techniques, book reviews, book exposure, social media promotion, and many other methods can be used to achieve this. For optimal results, make sure to organize your book marketing strategy and prepare your book promotion before you publish your book.

Bringing your book to the shelf and publishing it to the world is one heck of a task, but once you follow this guide and these useful tips, you can make the most of it.

Share your story by mastering the art of self publishing a book. If you still require assistance, you can always collaborate with reliable firms, such as Oregon Book Clinic, that offer these services and more.

Oregon Book Clinic is an award-winning company offering authors and interested individuals the opportunity and ability to pen down books and eventually publish them with expert help. Access to their services will allow you to ensure your book is as flawless as it should be.

Get in touch with them to get started.