Steps to Self-Publishing

Steps to Self-Pub

In my last post I warned about driving while under the influence of writing. Now, I'm going to talk about the steps I followed in to getting a book onto book shelves.

A little disclaimer: these are the steps, and the order, I've used. It isn't necessarily the only correct sequence, and it's not necessarily what I would recommend. It's just how things have played out. And my book, while on virtual shelves is not yet on physical, so there may be learnings yet to come.

Because I'm also using bricks and mortar stores to distribute my book, I have encountered more complexity than other self-pub writers. However, I wanted to use real bookshops because:

• I wanted to see how the process worked
• I really like seeing my book for sale!

Set out below are the steps I took. I will go through these in more detail in the next series of blog posts, as some are quite involved.  But in the meantime if you're wanting more content, try Head or Heart by Nina Harrington. There is also a lot of information on the web - provided you have the time to search for it.  To make it easier for me (and for you) I have pinned a lot of self-pub resources to my pinterest board. Feel free to have a rummage.

from wikimedia commons

Pre Release

1. Get a tax number - an EIN or ITIN
2. Increase social media presence
3. Source editor
4. Purchase or design the cover art
5. Complete the editing
6. Plan marketing strategy
7. Copy edit
8. Proofing
9. Format print proofs (if doing a print book)
10. Source distributor and printer (if selling to bookstores)
11. Source marketer/publicist
12. Develop the Advance Information Sheet (AIS). An AIS is a summary of your book. Here is the AIS for Inner Fire and here is a brief summary of what it should contain.
13. Formatting for e-book
14. Finalise on pricing, distribution and platforms for e-books
15. Build pre-release buzz. Finalise which platforms you'll use. Begin pre-release advertising.
16. Release

Post Release

1. Quality check your product
2. Advertising
3. Press release
4. Interviews
5. Enter competitions/blog tours
6. Special offers or further advertising
7. Prepare for next book

And that's it! So far, anyway. I might add more steps as I get further into the process.