Dear Independent Author,
Thank you for contacting Right Touch Editing. Your book project sounds interesting and we’d love to work with you on it. There’s one thing, though, that we really want you to understand:
You are a publisher.
Of course, you’re also an author. That’s likely how you think of yourself, and that’s okay.
But if you’re going to self-publish your book, that means you’re also a publisher.
That seems obvious, doesn’t it?
What’s not as obvious is that self-publishing means you are creating a business. Publishing is the business of turning a manuscript into a finished product.
It costs money to publish a book. Perhaps some tasks will cost only your time and skill, like writing, hiring different professionals, and promoting your book. But it’s still a cost.
And if you’re paying people to help you publish your book, you probably want to earn back what you’ve spent and maybe even make a profit.
That means you’re going to want to sell your book.
The quality of your book is the sum of the quality of the work that goes into it. The work starts with your writing, the information and art you put in.
The process doesn’t end there, though, and that’s something many new indie authors don’t understand.
Writing a book is just the first step in publishing a book.
The steps you follow after writing will also affect the quality of your product.
Goals
You’ll also need to consider your goal with the book. Is it to sell lots of copies, make enough money to break even, or build your audience enough that you can take the risk to write a second?
Few first books make a profit, especially self-published books. But if your goal is to be a writer who makes a living selling books, the goal of your first few books might be to find and grow your audience, building demand for more books. People who discover you with your third or fourth book often go back to buy all your previous books. Those who bought your first book help new people buy your second and third. Sales grow with time.
Maybe your goal is to promote your business or expertise. Sometimes called a back-of-the-room or brand book, this is a book you sell to build trust with your potential customers. It’s a marketing tool. You’re demonstrating your expertise or your unique way of solving their problem. You want people to think about you and your message to create demand for what you sell.
Maybe you’ll sell your book after a presentation or at a booth. Maybe you’ll give away copies to targeted groups to get the word out. Your speaking fee may even include the event host purchasing copies of your book for all attendees—at a reduced rate, of course.
Your goal guides what your final book will look like. It guides the budget you create for publishing the book and the price you sell it for. These things are your lodestar when you start hiring people to help you publish your book, as they guide you on when to choose a cheaper option.
Editing
There are several levels of editing, including developmental, or structural, editing; stylistic, or line, editing; copyediting; and proofreading. There’s also book coaching, beta reading, fact-checking, and more. All of these will help your work convey what you intend it to, clearly and persuasively.
Which levels of editing you need is best determined by you and a professional editor who has seen your manuscript and understands your goals.
Designing
Indie authors need to consider what their final product will look like. A coffee-table art book with full-color photos and elegant text on glossy paper will cost a lot more than an advice book with black-and-white images or no images, no index, on cheap paper in paperback format.
Book design includes more than the cover art, it includes everything that comes between the covers: the front and back matter, body of the book, illustrations, interior decorating, and more.
If you’ll print the book, design will also include trim size (size of the book block and sometimes of the pages), format (e.g., hardcover, paperback), paper, number of pages, printing style (e.g., digital), and so on.
With digital books, you’ll be concerned with the apps that readers will use to read your book. You’ll also think about how images and typefaces will render on the screen. You’ll consider navigation, tagging, and more.
Designer Debbie Berne has a new book, The Design of Books, that will help you understand all that goes into book designing. (Watch for my book review coming soon!) Understanding the basics will help you hire a book designer who can create the book of your dreams.
Marketing
I spent a year writing my book, The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors. For another year, the manuscript was reviewed, revised, edited, laid out, proofed, indexed, and otherwise prepared to be sold. I did all the revising, then worked with a copyeditor, proofreader, and indexer to finalize the book.
It was a lot of work. But the most exhausting work? That was the marketing I was doing before, during, and immediately after the book was published. And I had a publisher to support me.
Indie authors have to create their own marketing machine. You need reviewers to review your book ahead of publication. You need your readers to know early on that you have a book coming out. You need awareness of and interest in your book at launch time and for a long time afterward.
You are more than capable of completing this work yourself, although it can be a heavy lift. Without a detailed, professional-level plan it’s really hard to get anyone’s attention.
At least consult with a book promotion professional about what a good plan for your book looks like and then follow it. Do something every day to promote your book. And if you can afford it, purchase tools and advertising space and/or hire a professional to help you.
Wrap-Up
For a high-quality book that meets your goals, you need to pay attention to the entire publication and sales processes, and you need to be prepared to invest time and money.
With a limited budget (who doesn’t have limits?), you’ll need to negotiate the quality on one or more of these steps. Be intentional in your balance between goals and budget.
And keep in mind that publishing professionals are just that: professionals. Their services cost money, just like any other service. It’s not okay to ask them to take payment in royalties. This is your risk to take, not theirs.
That’s the sad truth of running a business—it’s a risk that depends on many variables, not all of which you can control. You identify your goal, create a plan to get there, monitor and manage your progress, and correct course as necessary.
The better defined your goal and the better your plan, the better your chance of success. Business is a continual journey that creates a living for you.
Publishing is a business.
And you are a publisher.
Your partner in publishing,
Erin Brenner
Don’t navigate the publishing journey alone. Partner with Right Touch Editing to ensure your book reaches its full potential. Contact Erin now to get started!
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