You wrote your book. Now what will you do with it?

People often come to me with their book ideas, which I love to hear about. But! I love even more what happens when they’ve finished a book and they’re now trying to figure out how to publish it. Today’s blog post includes the questions I typically ask these writers next, and some things I always ask them to think about.


Are you hoping to publish traditionally? 
If you are hoping to publish your book with a traditional publisher, I would recommend the following:

• Check out the following resources: The Writers Market. The 100th edition is the most recent one I've been able to find, but this resource still has lots of great information about the process and what kinds of publishers and agents are accepting work from what kinds of authors. As with anything, I would highly recommend you do your own research into finding the very most current submission guidelines for each publisher. 
• The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman. I honestly would recommend this book for anyone hoping to make a career of publishing their books.

If you are hoping to publish traditionally, you have a lot less control of your timeline, as there are a lot of factors that play into when your book gets published, including if/when a publisher will pick up your book. I would recommend that you start querying your book now, and get your blurb and your pitch perfected as soon as possible.

I would also urge you to remember that every no (or no response) is still one time you’ve put yourself out there, and that’s huge. Celebrate yourself. Remember that traditional publishing has changed a lot, as everything changes, and unless you hit it big, you’re likely going to have to do much of your own marketing. I would be prepared for that.


Are you hoping to publish independently?
If you are hoping to publish your book independently, there are some things I would like you to think about. First, you can make a lot more money per book sale than you likely would going through a traditional publisher. BUT! Many traditional publishers can get you more sales than you will get on your own, so unless you're willing to work really hard to get those sales, or unless you continue publishing multiple books you'll probably make less money overall. 

Independent publishing also allows you to decide exactly what you want for your book, and you can have your hands in every aspect of the process. But! That also means that publishing independently can be a lot more work. You're not finished just because you finished writing the book.

If you are looking to publish your book independently, I would recommend reading through the following books:

• The Truly Successful Author by Maria Secoy
• My Book Launch Planner by Mandi Lynn and Stone Ridge Books
• The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman

I would also recommend you think through the following questions and answer them according to what you envision for your book.

Do you want to publish through IngramSpark, Amazon, or other?
If you're publishing independently, there are many places you can go through. The two I see most commonly (and that I have used) are Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and IngramSpark. Having used both of them, I would say that either will be great. In my experience, KDP allows you to make the highest percentage off your royalties, but IngramSpark makes it a bit easier for book stores to find your book and order it. As of right now, IngramSpark also has the best options for dust jackets if you're hoping to publish a hardcover book.

Do you want a free ISBN or to purchase your own? An ISBN is like a serial number for your book, and it's what allows distributers to find and order your book. To publish your book for sale, you will need to have an ISBN. Both KDP and IngramSpark allow you the option of going with the free ISBN's they provide for you. As an independently published author who has gone with this option, I will tell you that these free ISBN's work just fine and still allow your book to be distributed. However, if you purchase your own ISBN through Bowker (United States), you​ have have control over where you can distribute and sell your book. To me, that control is worth the price. An individual ISBN through Bowker is around a hundred and twenty dollars, but if you plan to publish multiple books, or multiple versions of a book, you can buy your ISBNs in bulk. There are a few bulk options you can purchase, but I like to get the 10 ISBNs for around two hundred and fifty bucks.

To sell your book, you will need to have a barcode. If you went with a free ISBN, you can get a free barcode for your book automatically. This can also happen if you purchased your ISBN but leave the barcode area blank. If you purchased your ISBN, do you plan to purchase your barcode? The cool thing about purchasing your barcode is that you can get it with the price on it like the books you'll find in a bookstore. This can be helpful in getting bookstores to buy your book.


How do you plan to handle your copyright?
When you write a book, if you can prove that you wrote it, your work is technically already copyrighted. However, just because your book is technically copyrighted doesn't mean that you'll never face the challenge of having someone try to steal your work and pass it off as their own. To add an extra layer of protection, I always register my books with the Library of Congress (United States). They give you a certificate once your work has been processed through the system, and it gives you a bit more legal back up if you should ever need it (and I hope you don't!) I personally go through LegalZoom to register my copyright, and it typically runs be about a hundred and seventy bucks per book.


Here are some more things I would highly recommend you really think about before you move forward with your book:

What do you envision for the book? When you picture the book in your mind, what do you see? 

Do you want to publish your book with a hardcover? Paperback? Ebook? All three? Remember, the more versions of a book you have, the more people you can reach, as all readers have their format preferences. However, each version of the book will need its own ISBN.

What size do you want your book to be?

Do you want to do the graphics and illustrations and cover design yourself? Do you want to hire someone to do this? If you do it yourself, I would recommend taking the time and energy you'll need to make it look professionally done. If you plan to hire someone, I would recommend really looking into that person before paying them to work on your book. Make sure it's someone you can trust, and that will meet the vision you have in your head.

How much do you want your book to cost? Ebooks are typically quite a bit cheaper than paperback books, and paperback books are almost always much less expensive than hardcover books. Prices may also range depending on genre, so definitely shop around a little bit and see how your book compares to others on the market.

Have you thought about hiring someone to edit and format your book? If you plan to do this yourself, I would highly recommend finding someone who will meet with you and walk you through it on the first go. If you plan on hiring someone, again, make sure it's someone that you can trust. 


I format all of my own books, and I have helped other indie authors to format their books. Here are some formatting questions I ask that gets them thinking about things most people don't really think about:

Do you have a preference for what your copyright page says? You can easily find examples of what to include in your copyright page by looking at other books that have been published. The basics include the year that the story was finished being written, the year it was first printed, and that you as the author own all rights to the book. This page often includes the ISBNs for the different versions of the book.

Dedication? Most books have a dedication page where the author gets to say who the book was written for. What would yours say?

About the author section? The "About the Author" page often has a picture, and can include things like how many books the author has published, what they like to do, their writing/work experience, etc. One thing that I love that I've seen in this page in recent years is the inclusion of what you can expect from the author's writing.


What do you envision for your book launch? This will likely be another post, as there are a lot of things that can go into this. But I like to get authors thinking about their book launch as soon as possible. I like to get them thinking about what they expect and hope for the days/weeks after their book's release. If they would like to run promotions, set up a book signing, etc. 

I would also recommend to any author to be thinking about what your marketing will look like. I highly recommend starting before your book is published and create an online presence by creating a regular post schedule. This doesn't have to be every day. I typically post twice a week: Once on Wednesday with bookish things, and once over the weekend with my blog post. Find what works for you, but I would definitely recommend marketing online. These days, that's likely where you will generate the most of your sales.

I hope this post was helpful to any of you out there trying to figure out what to do with the wonderful book you've written. I absolutely adore this process, and I'm passionate about helping indie authors get their work out there. If you have questions or would like to get in touch, reach out. 

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