The steps to publishing a book are extremely simple. This is why you’ll often hear people advise against paying a vanity publisher. All they do is charge you exorbitant fees for something you could do yourself in less than an hour.
In general the steps are to:
- Open an account on a publishing platform of your choice (KDP.Amazon.com, for instance).
- Upload your book files.
- Publish the book.
Each site will have their own way of doing things, of course. But if you know how to read and you are willing to follow instructions, putting your book on the market can be done for $0.00. That’s right, absolutely free.
But Should My Book Be Edited First?
In theory, yes. However, there are plenty of people who skip this step, unfortunately. They simply write their first draft and then publish it. If your instinct is to get your book edited first, you’re on the right track! You inherently understand that quality is important. People generally don’t want to waste their money on a book that the author hasn’t invested in.
While there is no such thing as a perfect book, it helps to invest in professional editing and design services as you’re able. If you’re working on a shoestring budget and don’t have anyone around you who will volunteer to do the work for free, just be prepared to produce a lower quality product and for the consequences of that (poor sales, low-star reviews, etc.).
For help with this, you’ll want to connect with professional editors on sites like VoloPressBooks.com, The-EFA.org, or ACESEditors.org.
Here is a general order you can follow:
- Write the book
- Do at least one round of self revisions.
- Submit to alpha readers and apply their feedback.
- Hire a professional for a manuscript evaluation and apply their feedback.
- Submit to a developmental editor for professional grooming.
- Submit to a line editor for professional grooming.
- Submit to beta readers and apply their feedback if there are still any major plot / content issues (not tiny things like punctuation or spelling errors).
- Submit to a copy editor for professional cleanup.
- (after typesetting and cover design are completed) Submit to a proofreader for a final check for errors that may have slipped through.
With a little time and elbow grease, you can save yourself a lot of money.
If you’re still looking for guidance on how to best move forward with your project, schedule a book coaching session today.
