Milestones To Self-Publish Your Book

The journey to getting your book self-published can be a long and treacherous one. By breaking down the different things that you have to do to get there you can help to see more clearly the things that you have to do, and as you reach each milestone, you’ll be able to celebrate your progress and see ever more clearly the final finish line that means you have published your book.

So what are the milestones you need to set up and achieve to ensure self-publishing success? Let’s take a look at some of them:

Understanding that it’s a business

When you self-publish your book, you are effectively setting up a publishing business, and it is essential to treat it as such. Being businesslike about your book from the outset will put you in the right frame of mind to make it as successful as possible. So get organized, be practical, have deadlines and working hours and make decisions with a ‘business hat’ on rather than an emotional one.

Setting up your publishing platform

Every self-published author needs to establish themselves in the marketplace firmly. You are the only person that is responsible for marketing your book, so you need to make sure that you have a robust platform from which to do so. Before you self-publish, you need to explore all different types of marketing and make sure that you have a solid plan in place.

Getting your manuscript into publishable condition

To make sure that your manuscript is presented to your reader flawlessly and professionally, you need to get it edited and proofread by a person whose job it is to do just that. No matter how many times you’ve read it and checked it yourself, and no matter how great your grammar or spectacular your spelling, nothing beats having a talented editor read through your manuscript and give you their feedback before it goes to print. The same, of course, goes for book cover design. Your book will be judged by its cover, and if you don’t take the time to have a professionally designed cover made you could end up putting readers off. You don’t have to fork out massive amounts of money for this either; there are plenty of cost-effective ways to get a cover - just don’t design it yourself, unless you are a book cover designer that is!

Getting it listed

Navigating the various databases to list your book can be a little bit confusing, but it is crucial that you make an effort to get your book as listed as widely as possible. So if you get confused, ask for help, don’t shy away from sorting this out.

Understanding print on demand and organizing distribution

Digital printing is a great way to make sure your book is widely available to the public. Print on demand services are ideal for self-published authors and can ensure that you don’t have to spend lots of your budget printing out books that no one is going to buy. You’ll also need to have a plan to get your book to buyers - investigate different types of distribution and decide what works best for your book.
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These self-publishing milestones are essential to research and plan for to make sure that your self-published book is a success. Is there anything we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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