- Your Manuscript
- Is your manuscript ready?
- Has it been edited?
- Does your text require illustrations?
- Publishing Avenues
- Traditional Publishing – When a Publishing House publishes your book.
- Indie Publishing – When a small press publishes your book.
- Self-publishing – When you publish your book.
- Writing Competitions
- When part or all of your story captures a judging panel and lands you a contract!
- Literary Agents / Agencies
- A literary agent is a middleman between yourself and a publishing house. It is their job to sell your book. They are not essential in the publishing process, but they can come in handy. Ask yourself if you would like one.
Each avenue offers you different degrees of control over the publishing process.
TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING
- If considering this route, search for the prominent publishing houses and assess whether your manuscript would fit in with the types of books they publish.
- Go to their submissions page and follow the process.
- Keep in mind that many big publishers don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts, they require literary agents.
INDIE PUBLISHING
- If considering this route, search for small presses / publishers and assess whether your manuscript would fit with their collection.
- Go to their submissions page and follow the process.
- Keep in mind that many small presses expect some sort of payment. Some will require you to buy your own books and pay for marketing.
SELF-PUBLISHING
If considering this route, there are many steps to follow, and you should start by asking yourself a few questions:
- What is your marketing plan? Many self-published authors make the mistake of sidelining marketing. Marketing cannot be overlooked, and you need to develop a strong marketing strategy – if marketing is not your thing, find someone else to do it for you, it’s that important!
- Has your manuscript been edited and proofread? An editor will give you feedback on your manuscript, while a proofreader will correct any textual errors. This can all be done by the same person/company, but proofreading is the last step in the writing / editing process.
- Who will design your book? Do you have a book designer? (A book designer puts the text and illustration of your book together and will give you a digitally finished product). Is your illustrator also your book designer?
- What do you want your book to look like? Consider size, dimensions, bleed, interior, page type, font etc.
- Does your book require illustration? Do you have an illustrator? (An illustrator is an artist who creates graphics based on the text of your book).
- Is your book a print book, an e-book or both?
- Which platform will you publish your book with? What are their requirements?
- Have you purchased your ISBN and Barcode? An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) gives your book a unique identity and helps publishers, bookstores and libraries keep track of their stock and sales. A Barcode is a scannable code that allows booksellers to automatically capture your ISBN and book price (if encoded.) In Nigeria, ISBNs are purchased from the National Library Website.
Once you have answered these questions, you can begin with the publishing process.
- TIP: If you are writing a book that is image-heavy, create a storyboard and make it accessible to your illustrator. A storyboard gives you an overview of every page of your book. Make sure your illustrator / book designer / typesetter / printer is aware of the technicalities of ‘Bleed’ settings.
- TIP: Remember your book also needs: a cover page, a back cover with a blurb, a copyright page, and a title page. You may also consider adding dedications, acknowledgments, a preface (if necessary), extra info about the author / illustrator, or endorsements.
Once your digital copy is ready, save it as a PDF. (Keep in mind that some self-publishing platforms will require you to upload your cover file as separate from the inside pages of your book. So, you may be submitting two PDFs instead of one).
Go to your chosen self-publishing platform, follow the prompts and upload your digital copy. I would advise finding a tutorial before you begin the uploading process – this can save you much time and headache. Share any tutorial you watch with your illustrator / book designer / typesetter.
Before you hit publish, make sure you’ve read articles / watched videos on how to make your book stand out and appear in searches on your chosen platform.
Hope you found this post useful! And remember, if you need any support whatsoever, let Bookbow know!
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