Writing and publishing a book is never easy. While quite a lot of people are endowed with the skills to write books, few get it right when it comes to publishing their works. What are the steps you need to take to publish your book fast.
Recently, I witnessed the ordeal a friend went through to publish her book. I realized that much of the stress could have been reduced by observing just a few things. This made me conclude that to get any job well done you need to know what it takes. In other words, you need to count the cost, otherwise you fail. That is why I have opted to lay some fundamental steps that will help you to get along.
Publishing a book to some people is the greatest success of their lives. No successful author wants to write a book and not have it published. Also, no successful publisher wants to publish a sub-standard book. In fact, publishers want to publish books and other materials that will raise the reputation of their publishing house.
You see the deal? As passionate as you may be about what you have written, your work will get to nowhere if you don’t find a reputable publisher who will love it.
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Thus, to get your book published easily, you will be targeting not just what you think your audience will love to read, but also, what any publisher will want to publish. Here now are some steps you need to follow to get your dream book published.
1. Decide On A Subject
Before you put a word on paper, spend adequate time clarifying your book’s concept. Thoughtfully pick your subject, identify your target audience, and develop your book’s approach.
An author, who starts writing a book before adequately developing its concept is like a house painter who starts painting before properly preparing the surface.
Your book may be academic: for such books, the subject is clear. It may be motivational, fiction or stories: for such books, you need to decide what particular thing you want to write about.
In choosing the subject, you need to be concerned about what your target audience is interested in reading as well as their level of understanding and reading habits. You could write a wonderful book that will never be read by anyone!
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Deciding on the subject of your book is a key step. You can’t skip this stage and still be dreaming for success. Skipping this stage and going right ahead to other things may not earn you the master piece you dream of.
2. Decide The Book Content
This is an essential step especially for multiple edition books. For books that have a first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth editions, etc., you really have to plan on how to manage the content. Plan the content to unfold to add new content as subsequent editions are published.
The reasons why most authors now consider other editions of the same publication is because of changing times which necessitate update of knowledge. By so doing, your book will meet the needs of people in all generations.
An Economics book published in the early 20th century for instance, may lack new concepts or updates on existing ones. It becomes necessary therefore to plan revised editions of such academic books that will integrate updates on the subject. However, there are single editions books. The advice to writers is to consider changing times and adapt the content to be relevant in the next 10 or more years.
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Ensure that your book is loaded which material that meets the needs of your target audience. Take your time and do a good job. You could do this by checking the books already written, which address the same subject. Then, you go on to do better.
3. Prepare Your Book Manuscript
A book manuscript can be any stage of a book. Some authors create an outline and start filling it in. In most cases, a ‘finished manuscript’ would be the completed version of the book. A rough draft, a final draft and even an outline can be a book manuscript.
Naturally, it goes without saying that your final draft should be perfect in terms of spelling, grammar, and punctuation. It’s important to show the reader that you are a professional and know what you are doing in regards to the language you used.
For the same reason, you also want to make sure you follow the proper format for manuscripts. It’s what editors expect to see, and anything else is a distraction that could hurt the chances of your book getting read.
To ensure a smooth publication process, it is important that you ensure the text and figures of your manuscript are complete. Once you have a manuscript, your publishing process is going to be much easier. Closely linked to your manuscript is your book guideline. It gives you the various stages you need to follow to have a fine manuscript and eventually a master piece.
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Also pay attention to the style of writing. Good books are books written to meet the expectations of the target audience. If your target audience is busy and/or impatient persons, they won’t like a book crowded with so much material on one page. They will prefer fewer words on a page, with easy-to-understand English and shorter sentences. But this will be different if you are writing say, a poetry book. So the long and short is to adapt your book to considering the target audience.
4. Decide On The Illustrations And Colors Of Your Book
For children’s books, illustrations are a must. What makes children’s books appealing are the illustrations they contain. Seriously, you will have difficulty getting children read your book if it lacks catchy illustrations and drawings, especially, if the children are primary targets.
For academic books, you have to decide too on how to place your diagrams. Make sure your diagrams are easy to understand and strive for expert diagrams.
On the other hand, for books targeting adults you have to choose your colors carefully while bearing in mind that different colors appeal different to different people. Colors have deep concealed meanings that affect our thinking and rationale. They have symbolic meanings that change amongst different cultures and countries. Before you even begin a design you must choose the appropriate colors that are effective in re-enforcing the brand, message and overall tone.
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Make sure you don’t use many colors in your book as you may confuse your readers on what moods you are trying to convey. So, let the colors you use corroborate the message in your book.
5. Publish And Promote Your Book
When all the aforementioned things have been put in place, then comes the time for you to layout your book and get it ready for publishing. And during publishing, make sure that you or someone from the publishing house is on hand to check last minute mistakes, especially those that have to do with the layout.
Remember, it is the final manuscript that is sent to the printer. After printing has been done, make sure your book is available for purchase from a multitude of big-name retailers. Meantime, keep a first printed copy of your book to hold in your hands. Take a moment to enjoy the feelings that come with being a published author!
All the while as you follow the steps to publish your book, make sure that you are simultaneously pursuing ways to promote your book. If it is a self-published book, then the job of promoting it may be in your hands, but on the other hand, if you have a publisher, then they will be charged with the responsibility to promote your book. See how to sell your self-published book.
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By and large, here are a few final things to consider before you jump into a long-term book writing project:
- Why do you want to write a book?
- Do you intend to publish your book?
- Will you self-publish or will you try to land an agent?
- Do you have a platform or an audience? If not, should you start building one while you’re writing?
Once you are able to answer these questions, then it is time to set out to write and get your books published.
Some have finished a manuscript and others are already published, but many more dream, talk, and think about completing a full draft and seeing their name on a book cover. Some already have a book in the works while others have several half-finished drafts floating around. Some can’t even get started. They have too many ideas to choose from, or they are waiting for the right idea. I am sure with this article you can now go ahead and become a published author.
I enjoyable reading this blog it was very informative, actually there are so many methods i have used to publish my ebooks, but my favorite is wordna.com, although i first create copy protected pdf on my computer before, publishing there is very easy and transparent.