How To Publish a Book: 8 Steps to Self-Publishing

By Sarah Harris

You’ve spent countless hours poring over your manuscript, crafting each sentence with painstaking care. The characters have become like old friends, their stories ingrained into the fabric of your being. Now comes the daunting task – but don’t worry, learning how to publish a book isn’t as difficult as you might think.

Self-publishing a book has gone mainstream, throwing open the doors for aspiring authors to share their work without the gatekeepers of traditional publishing. With a savvy strategy and some startup costs, you too can make that lifelong dream of publishing a book a reality. In this guide, we’ll walk you through straightforward steps on how to publish a book like a pro.

PRO TIP: Reach out to the book printing experts at Print Bind Ship to self-publish your book!

How to Self-Publish a Book in 8 Steps

Self-publishing a book can be relatively straightforward. We’re breaking down the most important steps so you’ll know exactly how to how to write and publish a book.

1. Choose Your Publishing Path

One of the beauties of self-publishing is having the freedom to choose exactly how you want to publish your book. Typically, you have two options. You can either opt for self-publishing vs. traditional publishing.

With self-publishing, authors maintain complete creative control and higher royalties but take on all costs for editing, production, distribution, and marketing themselves. Traditional publishing involves having a company buy the rights to your book – they cover editing, printing, distribution, and some marketing costs, but authors have less control and typically earn lower royalty rates.

With self-publishing, there is no gatekeeper – anyone can self-publish their own book. However, authors must have their manuscripts accepted for publication by an established book publishing company if they wish to go the traditional route. Getting accepted by a reputable publisher is highly competitive and can take extensive time.

If you do decide to opt for a traditional publishing route, it’s worthwhile to try reaching out to numerous book publishers – both local and national companies.

2. Prepare and Edit Your Manuscript

Before publishing, make sure your book manuscript is 100% up to par. To ensure top-notch quality, it’s a good idea to hire a professional editor to provide full developmental editing, copy editing and proofreading. Editors can help tighten prose, fix up plot holes and smooth out any inconsistencies. This will ensure your book reads flawlessly.

It also never hurts to get more than one opinion. Consider asking trusted friends or family whose opinions you value to review your book and provide any feedback.

3. Format Your Book Files

With your polished manuscript ready, it’s time to format the text for publishing or printing. If you’re working with a publishing company, they’ll usually take care of this for you. However, if you’re self-publishing a book you’ll need to make sure that the finished product suits your work well.

It can be helpful to work with a book printing company that has experience helping authors self-publish their own books. Print Bind Ship, for example, will work with you to advise on the book’s trim size, layout, fonts, chapter heading styles and page numbers to ensure that it will look great as a finished product.

4. Design Your Book Cover

Your book cover is the first thing potential readers see, so it acts as a crucial marketing tool for your book. To create an effective cover, research designs in your genre and choose imagery and typography that reflect your book’s theme and tone. Keep the design simple yet eye-catching, ensuring it’s legible even as a thumbnail for online stores. It’s also important to include essential information like the title and author name.

It can be extremely helpful to consider hiring a professional designer for a polished look. When you do have a book cover design set, make sure to get feedback from potential readers before finalizing your choice.

5. Add a Book Description or Summary to Captivate Readers

Writing a compelling book description or summary is crucial for attracting potential readers. If you’re working with a professional publisher they may help you with this stage but if you’re self publishing, you’ll need to draft it yourself.

Remember to keep your book description concise, focusing on the main plot, themes, or key takeaways. Use engaging language that conveys your book’s tone and genre, and consider including a hook or cliffhanger to pique curiosity. Highlight what makes your book unique, and if possible, include positive endorsements or reviews.

Your description should give readers a taste of your book without giving away too much.

6. Select a Self-Publishing Platform

With so many self-publishing services and platforms out there, choosing the right one is crucial. A self-publishing platform will function as a home base for getting your book out into the world, so you want to make an informed decision.

Some popular self-publishing platforms include Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, and Barnes & Noble Press. Each has its own strengths, royalty rates, fees, and distribution channels. Make sure to compare them thoroughly.

Another option when self-publishing print books is to utilize print-on-demand (POD) services. With POD, your book files are sent to a printing facility, but actual copies are not printed until each order is placed by a customer. This allows you to avoid the upfront costs and risks associated with conducting a large traditional print run.

Recommended: Ultimate Guide to Print-on-Demand Books

7. Upload and Publish!

Once you’ve finalized all the details it’s time to start uploading your manuscript and cover files to turn your work into a real physical book. Begin by uploading your files to your chosen self-publishing platform. The exact process may vary depending on the service you’re using. For print-on-demand options, simply upload your files and your book will be ready for sale.

Once orders start coming in, the platform will print and ship books directly to customers. This method allows you to start selling without the need for upfront inventory costs. Remember to review your uploaded files carefully before finalizing to ensure everything looks perfect in the final product.

8. Begin Marketing Your Self-Published Book

After going over how to publish a book, hopefully you by now you can pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself with a job well done. However, your work is far from over. Now comes the fun part – actually getting the book into readers’ hands.

Start by building your online presence. Create a website, dive into social media, or start a blog to connect with your audience. Reach out to book bloggers and reviewers – they’re always hungry for fresh reads. Don’t be shy about offering a few free copies to get those early reviews rolling in.

And hey, don’t forget your local community! Chat with indie bookstores, libraries, and book clubs. You might just land a reading or event that kickstarts your book’s journey to stardom.

3 Benefits of Self-Publishing a Book

As mentioned, when it comes to how to write and publish a book, you can either opt for the traditional route or self-publishing. Let’s go over why it makes sense for some writers to shift to self-publishing over working with a professional publisher.

1. Greater Earning Potential

Self-publishing a book means there is no large-scale publishing firm taking a huge percentage of your earned profits. Of course, they take those profits in exchange for promotion, printing and distribution, among other tasks, but these are duties you can handle and accomplish yourself, especially if you also offer digital versions of your books that don’t require printing to begin with. 

2. Greater Creative Control

If you truly have a vision for a story but are worried that a publisher may taint that image by forcing you to make drastic changes, that’s one of the main reasons to learn how to publish your own book. 

Self-publishing means you’ll maintain creative control, keeping the rights to your characters and storyline and avoiding being forced to alter anything based on an external publisher’s desires. Those publishers may also drop authors who say things they don’t like in public or on social media. 

3. Greater Accessibility

By signing with a traditional publisher, it can take anywhere from nine to 18 months for your book to be available at retail, but through self-publishing, you can submit your final draft to a printer and have a shipment of books ready within days. 

If you opt for print-on-demand services, there’s no waiting at all. Customers can order your book whenever they like and get a freshly printed copy sent to them quickly and efficiently.

How to Make Your Own Book: Partner With Print Bind Ship

Learning how to publish a book opens up a world of possibilities for aspiring authors. From writing and editing to cover design and marketing, this journey empowers you to bring your story to life on your own terms. While the process may seem challenging, remember that each step brings you closer to your goal of becoming a published author.

The digital age has made self-publishing more accessible than ever, allowing you to reach readers globally. As you navigate this path, stay passionate, persistent, and open to learning. Whether you’re crafting a novel, a memoir, or a how-to guide, the skills you gain in learning how to self-publish a book will serve you well in your writing career. So take that leap, share your unique voice, and join the ranks of successful self-published authors. Your book is waiting to make its mark on the world!

If you’re looking to make your own book contact Print Bind Ship. We specialize in book printing, print on demand books, book fulfillment and more for both self-published authors and publishing companies alike!

Get in touch for a quote on how to publish a book!

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