So you’ve finished writing your book—perhaps a lifelong dream—and now you want to get it published.
Where do you go from here?
You poured your heart and soul into the writing, and I hope you also spent countless hours editing and revising.
Any seasoned expert will tell you: All writing is rewriting.
Certainly the writing alone took months, maybe years. But you did something few people ever do: You finished completing your manuscript.
Now what?
Maybe you’ve done your homework on the do’s and don’ts of publishing a book, but you’ve found so much conflicting advice that you’re overwhelmed.
How do you decide your next step?
I’ll give you my best advice from 40+ years in the publishing business.In this post, you’ll learn:
- The 8 steps to publishing a book
- How to pitch agents
- How to self-publish a book
- How to publish a children’s book
- How much it costs to publish a book
- Real talk on publishing a book
In simple terms, you have two options:
1—Traditional publishing
or
2—Self-publishing
Which is best for you?
As one who has written and had published nearly 200 books since the 1970s, let me try to help you decide.
I’ll start with definitions so you know what you’re actually choosing.
Traditional Publishing
In this scenario, a book publishing company offers you a contract for the right to publish your book. The publisher owns the copyright and you earn royalties from sales.In exchange, they pay for everything from editing, proofreading, typesetting, printing, binding, cover art and design, promotion, advertising, warehousing, shipping, billing, and more.Traditional publishers take all the risks.
If a “publisher” requires any money from you—even a minimum number of copies purchased—they are not a traditional publisher.
They might refer to themself as a co-op or a hybrid publisher, and they might even insist that they accept some submissions and reject others, but they are not traditional publishers.
Note that even if you get a publishing deal, it’s never hands-off. You will still have to share in marketing and promotional activities.
What Are The Pros of Traditional Publishing?
- No out-of-pocket expenses if your manuscript is accepted.
- Greater exposure.
- Advance royalties. Most publishers offer an advance payment against royalties (which are yours to keep, regardless of sales), though amounts widely vary.
- A team of professionals undertakes the editing, proofreading, and designing of your book.
- Another team spearheads the marketing and promotion.
What Are The Cons of Traditional Publishing?
- I won’t sugarcoat it — landing a book deal is rare. Thousands of wannabe writers flood agents and publishers with proposals every day.
- It can be a slow process — from nine months to two or more years from signing a deal to actually releasing the book, let alone the time it can take to find an agent and for the agent to secure a deal.
- You may have creative input but little control over the process. Traditional publishers take all the financial risks, so they reserve the right to final decisions on everything from the cover and interior design to the title, pricing, and promotion. While many of these things are negotiable, your only recourse in a stalemate is to withdraw the book. They want to keep you happy, of course, but they get the final say — on everything.
- Too many writers overestimate the potential income. While you read about seven-figure deals and multi-million dollar bestsellers, these are as rare as lottery winners. The vast majority of books don’t make up the royalty advance and thus, never pay more.
What is Self-publishing?
Regardless what services or suppliers you use to have your book printed, this option is rightly referred to as self-publishing.
Why? Because everything is on you. You are the publisher, the financier, the decision-maker, and the creator.Everything listed above under Traditional publishing falls to you. You decide who does it, you approve or reject their work, and you pay for it.
The term self-publishing is a bit of a misnomer, however, because what you’re paying for is not publishing, but printing.
So, the question becomes, why pay to be printed if you could be paid to be published?
What Are The Pros of Self-Publishing?
- Anyone can do it. Your end product can now look much more professional, and your price per book is much more reasonable than it once was. Print-on-demand technology now allows for low-cost printing, so you can order as few as two or three books at a time for the same cost per book as you would pay if you were buying hundreds.
- You determine the publishing timeline. It’s possible to publish almost instantly online.
- You control the editing process.
- You have creative control over the cover and interior design.
- You set the price.
- After expenses, the profit is 100% yours.
What Are The Cons of Self-Publishing?
- Anyone can do it. The market is glutted, as literally thousands self-publish daily.
- Everything falls to you, from page numbers to fulfilling orders. If you don’t do it, it doesn’t get done.
- Lower visibility and exposure. Though local bookstores might display your book on consignment, few others will — regardless what distribution companies promise. They may expose it to thousands of stores in an online calendar, but they’re not handselling it into those. Some experts say only 5% of all published books actually reach bookstore shelves.
- Self-publishing predators promise the world and often deliver very little. Do your homework. Get recommendations. Ask questions.
Whichever method you choose, there are a few steps that every author must take to get published.
8 Steps to Publishing a Book
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Finish your first draft
Obvious? Yes — but few people ever achieve this.
-
Come up with a great title
Start with a working title, but don’t finalize it until your first draft is complete.
-
Get feedback and editing
Separate yourself from the competition and make sure your book is the best it can be. Agents and publishers reject manuscripts that need too much work.
-
Get a great cover
Your book’s cover is your most important marketing tool. Your publisher knows what sells. If you’re self-publishing, invest in a professional designer.
-
Write a strong book description
A good cover makes readers curious enough to pick up your book. Your book’s description will seal the deal.
-
Format your manuscript
Poor formatting makes you look like an amateur, so do this right. Check out the recommendations in my guide, How to Create Your Manuscript.
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Create a launch plan
Your launch plan helps to build excitement and sell as many books as possible once it’s released. Your publisher will help with this, but they won’t do everything.
Prepare Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) and reach out to your email list, your colleagues, and any influencers you know to ask them to submit reviews to Amazon or Apple Books during launch week.
-
Market your book
Your work doesn’t stop after your book is published – it’s only just begun. Have a plan that will help you promote your books on an ongoing basis.
Some say writers can make a lot more money by self-publishing. They argue that rather than settling for just a 15% or so royalty of the sales by a traditional publisher, they enjoy all the profits.
The problem with this logic is that it too often underestimates what it costs to self-publish.
The likelihood is that the “profit” per sold book, often at best, equals about the same as a traditional royalty.
The drawback then is that as a self-publisher, you have vastly less experience promoting, advertising, marketing, selling, delivering, and billing than traditional publishers do.
Besides the fact that this is a full-time job that will likely rule out your having the time to write another book, with rare exceptions, traditional publishers sell many more copies than self-publishers do.
That said, self-publishing may be your choice under certain circumstances. Such as:
- You’ve exhausted your efforts to land a traditional deal. That doesn’t always indicate that your writing is inferior. It could merely mean that your audience is limited, making your book a less viable business proposition for the publisher.
- Your book is of interest to hundreds of people, as opposed to thousands. I self-published a couple of volumes of my father’s poetry, because it was of interest to several hundred friends and relatives but not to a mass market audience of thousands required by a traditional publisher.
- You’re a college professor or in some similar occupation where you must “publish or perish,” but your area of expertise is so esoteric that your books would not likely be commercial successes on a mass scale.
In truth, there are many reasons you might opt to self-publish, so the issue becomes whom you can trust as a supplier for all the services you’ll be paying for.
That’s where you need to do your homework. Talk to others who have self-published to see whether they felt ripped off, over-promised, over-charged, etc.
Many vanity or subsidy or hybrid self-publishing suppliers have beautiful websites, rave reviews, and examples of beautifully produced books that will make your mouth water.
They’ll use terms like, “If we accept your manuscript…” when the truth is, many such firms would print anything you sent them as long as your check was attached.
They’ll offer all the services I listed above, but if you decide not to take advantage of those, you’ll pay less but also wind up with an inferior final product.
That’s why too many self-published books look self-published:
- Amateur art on the cover.
-
- No editing or proofreading.
- Little thought to interior design or even typeface (many use sans serif type, while traditionally published books mostly use serif type).
- Many use the word “by” before the author’s name on the cover, which you rarely see with traditionally published books.
- Some self-published books don’t even spell Foreword correctly, but rather spell it Forward or Forword or even Foreward. And many use the British spelling of Acknowledgments, adding another E for Acknowledgements.
But those are the least of the potential issues.
With careful planning, studying, and comparing, you should be able to self-publish your book for much less than the $10,000 or more that many of these companies charge for their “premium” packages.
How Much Does it Cost to Publish a Book?
As mentioned above, if you go the traditional route, your publisher will cover all related costs.
You’ll save time and energy — and also avoid a steep learning curve.
If you’re self-publishing, you’ll pay out of pocket. Your costs can vary widely depending on the types of services you need, your genre, and more.
Plan to set aside at least $3,000-$5,000 for everything.
You can find estimates for professional services here, as well as real publishing expenses from professional writers.
How Do You Publish a Children’s Book?
If you dream of becoming a children’s author — or of publishing children’s versions of your adult books — the process is similar.
But there are enough differences to make it worthwhile to learn specifically about the children’s book market and how to publish a children’s book. It’s highly competitive, largely because four-color illustrations are the most expensive printing there is.
However, the market is growing quickly and it’s highly rewarding. Learn how to create literature for kids and submit it to publishers.
Are the Odds Against Traditional Publishing too Great?
Few traditional publishers accept unsolicited manuscripts, but that doesn’t mean they don’t consider new writers and their work.
They accept submissions from agents — who are always on the lookout for the next great book or author — or from writers recommended to them by one of their current authors.
I’ve been coaching writers for decades, so I’m well aware of the confusion, the desperation, and the frustration you may be feeling.
Pursuing a traditional book deal takes:
- Time — You can feel tempted to give up without the right knowledge and support.
- Persistence — You must become comfortable learning to politely follow up when you don’t hear back right away and to keep moving forward.
- A thick skin — You will have to learn to handle rejection with grace and not take it personally.
- An open mind and willingness to be coached — Based on feedback you receive, you may have to make revisions to your draft.
Which is why I wrote this roadmap to the publishing process.
By the end, I want you confident and clear about which route to choose when publishing your book—and you’ll know the steps to take.
How to Decide Your Publishing Path?
We’re in the busiest and noisiest era in publishing history. It has never been easier to get printed, and never harder to be traditionally published.
But don’t let that discourage you.
Acquiring an agent or a publisher to take a chance on you or your manuscript does not happen by accident. It requires time, focus, and excellence.
Begin by considering:
- What genre or category is your book? The genre you choose determines your target audience, your potential agent, and even which publishers to pursue.
- Are your genre and premise popular? As in any industry, there are always trends to consider. Vampire romance may be on the way out, for example, while historical fiction could be having a moment (Note: I’m not saying this is true!) The best way to know? Carefully read what agents are looking for as you research.
- Who is your target reader and why will your book sell? And resist the temptation to say it’s for everybody. Naturally, we put that much effort into writing something and we wonder who wouldn’t want to read it? Truth is, that kind of thinking waves a red flag of amateurism to agents and publishers. Successful, even mega-bestselling, books don’t appeal to everyone. They are written to specific audiences, and if they cross over to other markets (as, for instance, the Harry Potter Young Adult titles—which have become vastly popular to adults as well), that’s a bonus.
- Do you have a platform? If that’s a new term to you, it simply means the extent of your influence—how many people are interested in what you do. This is one of the first questions an agent or publisher asks. With the variety of social media and blogging vehicles available today, building a following and interacting with potential readers has never been easier.
How to Pitch to Traditional Publishers
If you’re a nonfiction writer you’ll want to submit a manuscript outline that includes a brief, one- or two-sentence synopsis (summary) of each chapter, plus three sample chapters.
A first time fiction writer is expected to submit a complete manuscript for consideration.
How to Publish a Book: Landing a Traditional Publishing Deal
1. Edit Like Your Writing Life Depends On It, Because It Does
The most important step as you begin is to become a ferocious self-editor. Even if you choose to self-publish, the quality of your writing is determined by this.
Acquisition editors (first readers at publishing houses who decide whether your manuscript is worth showing to their bosses) and literary agents tell me they know within two minutes or as few as two pages whether your manuscript is worth pursuing.
That may not sound fair, but it’s the hard truth. If you wished they would have stuck with it till you got to the good part, next time start with the good part. 😊
All writing is rewriting. Put your best foot forward by learning to aggressively self-edit until you’re happy with every word.
If an agent decides to take you on and/or your manuscript is accepted by a publishing house, it will still go through editing there.
But your goal is to make it the best you know how so it will get past those first readers—potential agents or acquisition editors.
2. Determine your genre
You need to know where your book will sit on bookstore shelves and how it will be categorized in online marketplaces like Amazon. This lets your ideal readers find you and tells Amazon how to promote you.
Knowing your genre is also critical when you start pitching agents, because not all agents represent all genres. If you send your memoir to an agent who’s only interested in business topics or romance, you’ll get an automatic rejection.
3. Find An Agent
Landing an agent can be just as difficult as landing a publishing deal, because they are every bit as discerning regarding a manuscript’s (or an author’s) potential.
The advantage of an agent (which makes them worth their 15% of whatever you make) is that they serve as your manuscript’s cheerleader.
Agents know the business, the industry, the players—who’s publishing what and who might like what you’ve written.
They shop your manuscript to publishers and advocate on your behalf. Having landed an agent is a credit in itself.
It shows that you and your writing have already survived serious vetting.
Some (but not many) traditional publishers consider unsolicited or unagented manuscripts, but if you can land an agent, that’s your best bet.
Having an agent can make your life a lot easier. They can:
- Coach you on refashioning your proposal
- Help you understand the publishing process
- Handle the business side so you can stay in your creative lane
Once you’ve researched and compiled a list of agents who seem to be a good fit, follow their submission guidelines to a T. (Google literary agents.)
4. Write A Query Letter
A query (question) letter is designed to determine whether an agent or publisher might be interested in your manuscript. It’s your first impression—your initial sales call.
Make it stimulating and intriguing.
You’re not selling your writing just yet; you’re merely asking to get in the door.
Position yourself as a colleague, not a fan. Make it short and to the point, preferably one page, and send electronically.
Include:
- Your elevator pitch: a one-sentence summary of your book’s premise, called this because it’s what you should imagine saying to publishing professionals between the time you meet them on an elevator and when they get off.
- Your synopsis: a one-paragraph summary that goes beyond the elevator pitch and tells what happens and how things turn out. For nonfiction books, explain what the book is about and what you hope to accomplish with it. For fiction, explain the basics of your book.
- Your target audience and why they’ll buy your book. Don’t oversell.
- Your personal information—what qualifies you to write this book. The kind of platform you’ve built. The address of your blog. Your contact information.
Before you hit Send, proofread your letter. Then proofread it again.
While up to a half dozen typos in a 300-400-page manuscript are of little consequence, any typo in such a short document will make you look like an amateur.
Have a friend or relative proofread it with fresh eyes.
5. Write your proposal or send your manuscript
These are the documents agents want.
If you’re writing nonfiction, your proposal is often the only document they require before asking to see your manuscript.
If you’re writing fiction, agents will request either a partial or a full manuscript.
Every word should pique an agent’s interest—your goal is an invitation to send your entire manuscript.
Briefly but completely describe the details of your manuscript. Leave nothing out.
For nonfiction, include every issue you cover and the basics of what you’ve said about each.
For fiction, synopsize every chapter.
Proposals can contain any number of components, including:
- Premise
- Elevator pitch
- Overview
- Target audience
- Chapter synopses
- Marketing ideas
- Endorsements
- Your analysis of competing books, and where yours fits
- Up to three sample chapters
The average proposal can range from between 10 to 25 pages. Keep it as tight as you can without leaving out anything crucial.
Which is best, a query or a proposal?
As a rule, a query letter precedes sending either a proposal or a full or partial manuscript. But check potential agents’ submissions guidelines on their websites
Some want to start with your proposal. Show them you’re thorough and willing to work.
How to Self-Publish a Book
The best way to set yourself apart, besides ferociously self-editing your book, is paying for a professional editor.
The biggest mistake many self-published authors make is spending more on design and marketing than on professional editing and proofreading.
A great looking book with a terrific cover and lots of promotion will die a quick death in the market unless the editing and proofreading are also evident.
Resist the urge to hire a relative who majored in English or even teaches English; book editing is a unique discipline.
The last thing you want is a handsome product that reads like the manuscript made the rounds of the traditional publishing houses, was rejected, and had to be self-published.
Writing quality sets you apart in a saturated marketplace.
Amazon is by far the biggest player for self-publishers, so it’s worth your while to learn how to publish a book on Amazon.
Engaging a Self-Publishing Company vs. Doing It Yourself
Many companies offer all the services you need to self-publish, but some are more trustworthy than others. It takes a lot of success—and sales—to recoup the costs of such services.
You may run across the term “hybrid publishing,” referring to different pay-to-publish methods, but the bottom line is that it’s still self-publishing.
As I’ve said, you are the publisher. You pay the bills.
My friend Jane Friedman’s helpful article, What is a Hybrid Publisher?, explains this in detail.
In short, hybrid publishing companies claim to combine the best of a traditional publishing house with a self-publishing model. But beware.
Many of these are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Again, do your homework, get references, compare pricing.
The more popular platforms to “publish” online:
- Amazon Createspace: a print-on-demand option also prints paperback copies ordered on Amazon.
- Kindle Direct Publishing: you can publish an ebook online available for purchase on Kindle and Kindle Apps worldwide via Amazon.com.
- iBooks: you can publish a book to the Apple iBooks store and distribute it anywhere on the internet.
Other considerations for self-published titles (unless you’ve hired someone to navigate this process):
- Create an online page for yourself as an author.
- Format and upload your manuscript for the internet.
- Purchase an ISBN (International Standard Book Number, a 13-digit unique identifier).
But hear me:
Please exhaust all efforts to be traditionally published before resorting to self-publishing.
If you are fortunate enough to have your manuscript accepted by a traditional publishing house, they assume all the financial risk, so it costs you nothing.
Should you choose self-publishing, the cost varies greatly. You can “publish” virtually free online if you don’t engage an editor, proofreader, or designer.
Self-publishing actual books can range from between $1,500 and more than $10,000, depending on how many services you require or which company you hire.
My Opinion on How to Publish a Book
I’ve made it my life’s work to coach writers to get their work to a level where they can market it to traditional publishers. Even if you choose self-publishing, you want your writing up to that standard.
A great starting point? My 21 Ferocious Revision Tips Checklist can turn you into an aggressive self-editor and give your writing the best chance to impress industry gatekeepers.
Regardless whether you choose to compete for a traditional publishing deal or self-publish, give everything you have to your writing.
Hone your craft. Read everything you can get your hands on about the craft.
Your reader deserves it.
And so do you.
