Pacing Yourself as We Transition into Self-publishing
Wednesday Writing Weekly #80
In traditional publishing, you may focus on getting an agent and not much beyond that. Why? Because that is a huge feat! But your book is only just in the door. At that point, someone doesn’t take your book, shake your hand, and magically print your manuscript then and there.
When working with an agent, you can expect a few months or a year or so spent pitching your manuscript to publishing houses and the highest bidder. A year or more will be spent working with the publishing house’s editors, planning, scheduling, and marketing. From getting your agent, publication can be 1-2 years away at the very least.
So, if you pick self-publishing, you might think you don’t have to go through all that. But what it I told you; that’s not exactly true?
The Rush of Publishing
Many people pick indie publishing because it puts their book and publishing plan in their hands. You get to decide what you want to title your book, what the cover looks like, when it comes out, and where it is released. This is exciting but now that all that power is in your hands, do you know how to use it?
Between clients I’ve worked with and author friends I’ve cheered on, I see a lot of authors push themselves to release their books quickly. It is one part excitement and potentially one part guilt because they may have promised their audience that their book will be done at a certain time. While there is nothing wrong with this, you need to make sure you know what to expect when creating your plan on how and when to finish your book.
What Does it Take to Self-publish a Book?
What do you think of when I ask you, what does it take to finish and self-publish a book?
You might think, “I have to write, edit, market, and then release the book!” Some people might forget about marketing, and others might think all this can be done quickly. But let’s think about all the different steps.
I’ve seen many indie authors try to do it all at once. They set a deadline and start advertising about their upcoming book while still writing or just beginning their edits. They give themselves a hard date and try to do the edits, marketing, cover art, formatting, proofreading, beta reading, and scheduling all at once. Once they get closer to their deadline, they may feel their project picking up speed as they realize just how much they have to do and then release day comes and a reader points out an error in the book. Or even worse, they realized they’ve uploaded the wrong file to their distributor and the entire release day is thrown into ruins.
It happens! And if it has happened to you or if it happens in the future, that’s okay! I always say, expect the unexpected because oh boy, we know that to be true in the writing and publishing world.
How Do We Fix Planning Our Books?
When you are working on a book, you’ll need to consider a few different things. At the end of your deadline, there is a lot to get done. I recommend building a schedule to make sure you are never doing too much at once. Who says your book needs to come out next month? This season? Or this year?
The first step is to pick a reasonable deadline. Ask yourself, do I want my book out in October because I’ve done everything I can and it is ready to go, or is it because I am excited and can’t wait to share it and I hope I have everything done by then? If it is the latter, you might want to reevaluate.
When planning what to do for your book, take into consideration just how many steps there are. This can be different depending on you and your work but let’s try to keep things simple:
Write the book!
Edit the book (multiple times)
Send the book to trusted beta readers.
Find and plan a cover artist and designer.
Receive beta readers’ feedback and make edits.
Continue editing (whether with another round of beta readers or a professional editor once your book has gone through a few rounds of your own. This is different for everyone.)
Proofread and finalize your manuscript.
Format your book and finalize the design and cover.
Test out both digital and physical products.
Create a marketing plan: cover reveal, advertisements, giveaways, release date, etc.
Upload your book to distributors and begin setting up presales.
Market until the book comes out!
Do you see how much work this is? I am begging you not to try it all at once!
As you start to approach writing and self-publishing a book, my biggest recommendation is to view each step of the process as a single stage. It may be tempting to push for an earlier release and try to do many steps at once, but that is where mistakes can happen. Also, this is not a process you want to rush! Rushing means less editing time or less time spent marketing your work before it comes out. Both things are crucial and deserve their time to shine.
Otherwise, after putting all your hard work into this one book, you might be hurting it in your push to the finish line.
What About Publication Deadlines?
A note about deadlines.
Am I saying to get rid of deadlines? Absolutely not! Deadlines are your friends to keep everything moving. But be sure to consider these steps as individuals as you are planning. Give marketing a few months to breath. Don’t forget your rewrite time after you receive beta reading feedback. Every step is important.
Conclusion
Everything I’ve talked about in this article can go any which way. You can be a competent editor that doesn’t need to hire anyone so half of this advice does not apply to you. You can be many books deep into publishing and have your own process down (and I would love to hear it!) and you know how much time you need for each step. Maybe you just want to run the gauntlet and see if you can do it all in a short period of time. There are no crystal-clear “this is wrong” or “only that is right” answers here. I love hearing about the different ways writers approach these challenges and I also love hearing how it works out for you all in the end.
Just like writing or editing, there are many different ways to do these things. I hope you find my tips helpful and let’s roll up our sleeves to get into self-publishing tips next week!