Steps to publishing a book

If you're considering self publishing, the following is a list of steps to publishing a book from start to finish. You can either complete these steps yourself or hire a book production like GoodBooks to complete these tasks for you.

Determine first who your reader is. Who have you written the book for? It helps to have an image of your typical reader, so you can gear the book exactly to them. Why should they read your book? What are their needs, how does your book solve their problem? What appeals to them?

Write the content. Start the research, compile your ideas, set up a schedule for writing what you want your reader to learn from you.

Editing: review your manuscript, check for consistency and style.

Proofreading: check the text for grammatical and spelling errors.

Book layout: the interior design of the book should be seamless; its entire purpose is to make absorbing the content easier.

Book cover: The cover, on the other hand, should be designed to entice the reader to buy the book. Divide this into two: design and editorial. Design includes an image on the front to attract the reader, the right font, and appropriate colour.

Make sure you also choose the right title, an author bio and sales copy for the back.

Print preparation: once layout is completed, the file needs to be sent to a printer in the right format. Some printers accept high resolution Adobe Acrobat files, others, files from a desktop publishing program. Some POD publishers will even accept Microsoft Word files.

Contacting a printer: Depending on which print method you choose (see How to print your book), you can contact a printer to discuss quantity, price and timelines.

International Standard Book Number (ISBN) registration: Register your book with your country's government and obtain your book's unique number. (see ISBN search number)

Barcode: Once ISBN is obtained, these numbers are used to order an EAN barcode for the back cover.

There's more...
Think of how the book will be promoted, and where it will be sold. …the start is writing your book, so get started!

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