To break down the book publishing process for you, in this blog post we will give you a step by step guide on what the book publishing process looks like.
As a new author, the simple thought of getting your book published can seem intimidating, especially if you have heard about the book publishing process in interviews given by famous authors.
To break down the book publishing process for you, in this blog post we will give you a step by step guide on what the book publishing process looks like.
Next time you approach a publisher, you can face them with confidence as by then you will be well informed about the book publishing process and can even correct them if they advise you otherwise.
3 Steps to the Book Publishing Process
Step 1: Create the Book
The first step in publishing a book is to create the book. This means that once you have decided on what kind of publishing works best for you and you have found the right publisher, you will either edit the book yourself after taking your publisher’s advice into consideration or use their in-house editorial service to have your manuscript proofread and edited.
Next, you will select a design for your book including the front cover and the back cover of the book. All books, regardless of which format they get published in, have a front cover. With some formats, like paperback and hardcovers, you would also need a back cover and an ISBN. An e-book can have an ISBN as well, but this is not absolutely necessary. The book also needs to have an interior design. This is called formatting. During formatting the look and feel of the book will be finalized, like font styles, images, etc.
After finalizing a design for your book, your publisher will send the book for printing. Depending on what kind of publishing you have opted for, the number of copies in the first print will vary. Normally, authors who decide to self-publish their book go for a small number of copies (200-1000). But this too depends on the self-published author’s budget. If they have the capital to pay for more copies, the number can be increased to 2000-10,000 copies. Critically acclaimed authors can publish as many as a million copies in a single batch for worldwide distribution.
Printing on demand services are also very popular. Most self-published authors will use this so that they don’t have hundreds or even thousands of their books stocked away somewhere in their house or elsewhere. Printing on demand means that the book will only be printed when someone orders your book though a retailer. One of the biggest retailers that works like this is Amazon.
Step 2: Sell the Book
Of course, it goes without saying that once the book has been printed, you would now want to sell it so that others can read and appreciate your writing.
Selling a book is not as easy as setting up a stall outside your house, calling out to the people passing by to purchase your book. It has to be done in a dignified manner.
‘Promoting, Marketing and Distribution’ are the three key terms that you must bear in mind when selling your book.
Your book has to be creatively marketed, professionally distributed and passionately promoted to meet your sales target.
And while we cover in detail the book distribution process in a different blog post, let us briefly look at what some of the marketing and promoting strategies are:
Most authors and their publishers choose to market and promote the book through effective advertisements and publicity events. These include:
· Early bird discounts
· TV and radio interviews
· Celebrity endorsements/ reviews
· Book launches
· Book reads
· Book signing events
· Meet and greets with fans
Step 3: Licensing of Rights
Now that your book is being sold in bookstores or online, it becomes mandatory for you to license the rights of your work in all its formats (printed, e-book, audio book, etc.).
For this, you will need to look back at the contract you and your publisher signed at the start of your book publishing process and establish who owns the licensing rights to the book, and if it is a shared ownership and in which percentages.
This step is crucial to your publishing journey because pirated copies of your book can still be sold to the public and you would want to make sure that you have the legal rights to collect all royalties and revenue generated from the sale of your work.
For more information on the book publishing process and our self-publishing services, contact us.
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