The Self-Publishing Process - Help For Writers · The Self-Publishing Process Critique(s)/Feedback...
Transcript of The Self-Publishing Process - Help For Writers · The Self-Publishing Process Critique(s)/Feedback...
The Self-Publishing Process
Critique(s)/Feedback
Developmental Editing
Author Bio, Dedication,
AcknowledgementsCover Design
Typesetting
Proofreading
Ebook Formatting
Ebook Conversion
Printing POD
Physical Stores
Author Check
Digital Distribution
Digital Stores
Mar
keting
Physical Distribution
Copy-Editing
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Introduction
Are you on the verge of self-publishing your book but aren’t sure where to start?
Hopefully this guide will help!
We aim to give you a summary of each stage of the self-publishing process and
let you know how we can help you if you need it.
Not all the stages apply to every book. You might decide to put out your book
as a digital-only release, in which case the steps relating to printing and physical
distribution won’t apply to you.
The steps highlighted in purple are the ones we can help with. We understand
that you’re probably on a limited budget and might not be able to afford to get us –
or anyone else – to do all these things for you. That’s fine! It’s up to you to choose
what you want to do yourself and when you need a hand. We’re just here to point
you in the right direction. After all, you’re a writer, not a marketer or a typesetter or
an editor or a graphic designer. You want to free up your valuable time to write, and
that’s where we can help.
www.helpforwriters.me
07814 153560
Director
Help For Writers Ltd
Critique(s)/Feedback1
Have you asked a few friends and family members to cast an eye over your book
before taking it further? Most writers do, which is a great start.
But can your friends and family be totally honest with you? There will always
be some who just want to encourage you, and they won’t point out any major
flaws in your work. Others may try so hard to be helpful that you feel inundated by
suggestions and aren’t sure where to turn next.
The more input you can get at this stage, the more work, time and money you’ll
save further on down the line. Share extracts with a local writers’ group, use online
beta readers and find as many ways as possible to get a variety of opinions about
your work.
Remember to give something back
Whether you’re trying to get input from a
real-life writers’ group or people you’ve
connected with online, it’s important to
remember that they’re writers too, and their
own work is their top priority. Don’t go barging
in demanding help – give something back by
offering to provide feedback on someone else’s
work. If you put in the effort to become part of the
community, hopefully you’ll find a welcoming and helpful group of writers
to give you constructive criticism!
How we can help
We provide a critique service where we give an opinion on
aspects such as style, tone, plot, characters, pacing, etc.
‘But I haven’t finished my book yet!’ I hear you say. You’ve got plenty of feedback on
your manuscript, you’ve taken it all on board and you’ve made some major revisions.
You’re about to go through it with a fine-tooth comb looking for spelling mistakes.
There’s still a lot of work to be done – after all, you haven’t even got a cover image
yet! How can you think about marketing your book?
You need to start your marketing right at the beginning. You might even have
started already, in which case, more power to your elbow! The process of promoting
your book will last right up to the book launch – and beyond. While you’re finalising
this draft, start to create a ‘buzz’ and get your potential readers excited about what’s
coming. Now is the time to grow your following, both online and in the real word, and
generate interest in your forthcoming book.
Marketing2
You’ve already published a book …
If you’ve published books before, great! You have
a readymade fanbase to tap into, and you already
have a lot of information about which marketing
methods and channels work for you and your
audience. Use your previous books as a springboard to
promote this one.
How we can help
We can give you a helping hand and take the pressure off with our
marketing service. We’ll have a chat with you about your book and your
plans, and together we’ll decide what help you need and draw up a
personalised marketing plan for you.
Don’t wait until you’ve got the finished product in your hand – get the
ball rolling straight away!
Developmental Editing3
Developmental editing is sometimes called structural editing. A developmental editor
will look at your manuscript as a whole, covering areas such as plot, characterisation,
themes, voice, dialogue, pace and flow. They’ll look at the ‘big picture’ and how
everything fits together, and should also pick up on major inconsistencies and
inaccuracies.
Developmental editing is complex and time-consuming. It also usually results
in a significant amount of rewriting, so make sure you have this wrapped up before
moving on to copy-editing or proofreading.
Look for an editor who works in your genre. They
know what keeps a reader from putting the book
down, and can help make your book one of those
can’t-put-down books.
With the ease of finding editors online, you’re not
limited to someone based in your country – but make
sure their first language is your language. We don’t just
mean English; do you write in UK or US English? Everyone’s
familiar with differences like ‘colour’ and ‘color’, or ‘tap’ and ‘faucet’, but did
you know that punctuation is different as well? There are lots of other subtle
grammar rules to consider, so do yourself a favour (or favor) and choose an
editor who is fluent in your book’s primary language.
Are you ready?Now is the best time to write a synopsis. Don’t forget that a synopsis is
different from a blurb! It should be about one A4 page long and contain
all the major plot points – including spoilers. A synopsis should describe
what happens in your book.
Writing a synopsis is a great way of picking up on plot holes or
things that don’t make sense. You can correct these issues before
sending your work to an editor, saving them time and you money!
How to find the right editor for your book
Don’t be afraid to ask editors for references. You could ask the referee about
their experience working with the editor, if deadlines were met, if the final cost was
as quoted, how the editor improved the book, and if they have worked or would work
with them again.
Working style is also important. Are you looking for someone who will take your
book, edit it and send it back to you? Or are you looking for someone who will walk
you through every step and consult with you about changes and recommendations?
Most editors know how much communication and involvement they like to have, so
if you have a strong preference one way or another, discuss this with them to see if
you’re a good fit.
You and your editor are a team with the goal
of making your book the best it can be. It’s
essential that you work well together, so
choose someone you like and with whom you
have a ‘spark’. If you don’t like the way they
communicate with you or the vibe you get
from them, keep searching.
Personality matters
Author Bio, Dedication, Acknowledgements4
While you’re still editing your book, think about what you need as well as the main
text. All the stuff that goes at the front is referred to in the trade as ‘preliminary
matter’ or ‘front matter’, and there’s a lot that can go here – especially if your book
is non-fiction and has lots of illustrations and tables – but there are some things in
particular that you might want to think about including.
The following list is just a guide – not every book has a foreword or a preface, for
instance – but if you do include them, the pages should appear in this order:
• Title page (title of the work, name of the author, publisher’s name – we
recommend you set up your own ‘micro-publishing’ company for this purpose)
• Imprints page (publisher’s name and address/website, publisher’s logo, date of
publication, publishing history, copyright information, ISBN)
• Dedication
• Foreword (written by someone other than the author)
• Preface (written by you, the author)
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
Remember that these pages will also need to be checked for spelling, punctuation,
accuracy and consistency, so don’t leave them to the last minute! This is particularly
important if you’re creating an ebook only, and not a hard copy. Because you’re
dealing with a digital file instead of a printed one, it’s easy to forget about these
conventions, but once the file has been formatted as an ebook, it takes extra work to
insert more pages and will cost you time and money. If they’re rushed, you may not
have time to get them professionally proofread or give them due attention yourself.
Cover Design5
While you’re getting your work edited and making sure you’ve got your preliminary
matter together, it’s also a good time to think about your cover design. By this time,
you know where the book is going: the main themes, the characters, the atmosphere
you want to convey and the key scenes. If you start work on the cover design now,
it’ll be ready along with the rest of your book.
A good cover design is an important factor in making your book stand out on the
shelf, particularly online, where images are smaller and usually viewed as thumbnails.
You need to catch people’s eye and make them want to pick up your book!
If you’re struggling for inspiration, have a look at some of your favourite books
in the same genre. Pop into your local library or bookshop and check out the relevant
sections there, as well. Which books catch your eye and why? What do you like about
the covers?
Think about the subject matter of your book and the mood you want to convey.
Jot down the important points so that you can let the designer know the kind of thing
you have in mind.
• Remember that thumbnails are tiny. Don’t try to cram too much detail in.
• Think twice before going against genre conventions. If you don’t want a
clichéd cover, that’s understandable. You want to stand out, right? But if the reader
mistakes your book for a different genre they’ll feel misled and disappointed, and
they might not read much of it, which means you’ll get paid less if they’re on
Kindle Unlimited. They might even leave negative reviews.
• Make sure your title works. It’s surprising how many people fall madly in love
with a title and refuse to listen to any negative feedback. Listen to fans of the
genre and find out what they think about your proposed title before you commit.
And make sure the cover design sits well with the title. There’s no point in having
the cover send out a different message from the title.
• Don’t forget the spine and back cover. They need to be designed as well!
Don’t leave the back cover to the last minute and then fail to pay proper attention
to it. A typo in the blurb or endorsement would be … well, perhaps ‘disaster’ is
stretching it a bit, but we’re pretty sure your heart would drop into your boots
when you spotted it. The design of the back cover and spine can make all the
difference between an amateurish- and a professional-looking book.
Our top tips for a stand-out cover design
How we can help
We can provide either a basic or a
deluxe cover design. If you already
have a high res image that you
would like to use, then the basic
package might be suitable for you.
If you’d like us to create a cover
design from scratch, the deluxe
package would be a better fit.
Our director, Catherine Dunn, is a
qualified copy-editor and proofreader and
a member of the Society for Editors and
Proofreaders (SfEP), the UK industry body.
She undertakes all our copy-editing work
personally and will work with you to make
sure your book is as good as it can be.
What exactly is copy-editing?
Lots of writers say their book needs ‘proofreading’ when what they really need is
copy-editing. So what is copy-editing and how is it different from proofreading?
A copy-editor checks spelling, grammar and punctuation, just like a proofreader
would. However, they will also make sure that your writing is clear and fit for
purpose – that the style is suitable for your intended audience and that it reads as
well as possible. The copy-editor will flag up any ambiguities and anomalies for your
attention, suggesting possible solutions, and will make sure your work is consistent.
They won’t just check the story itself; they’ll also copy-edit the preliminary
matter, tables, graphs, illustrations, footnotes, endnotes, bibliography – everything
that comes between the front and back covers! They’ll query errors of fact, misspelt
names, numbers that don’t add up, incomplete references and a host of other things.
They’ll even flag up any potential legal issues, although the final responsibility for
these rests with you.
Where developmental editing looks at the big picture, copy-editing looks at the fine
detail. Along with cover design, this is one of the most important things you can do to
get your book ‘public-ready’.
Copy-Editing
How we can help
Friendlier than she looks ... we promise!
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How is copy-editing different from proofreading?Proofreading happens after your book has been
typeset for print. The proofreader looks for errors,
including those introduced by the typesetting
process and those that are only obvious after the
text has been typeset, but their brief is to intervene
as little as possible, because changes at this stage
cost time and money. If you are producing your book as an
ebook only, and not a print version, you’re better off asking for a ‘proof-
edit’ rather than a proofread.
Ebook Formatting7
An ebook is a different beast from a traditionally printed book. The reader can change
the text size, the margins, and even the font on the display. When you’re getting a
book ready for print, all these things are crucial. But if the reader can change the
appearance themselves, how does that affect the way you need to format your work
and what can you do to make the conversion to ePub and MOBI formats as smooth as
possible?
• Keep it simple. When formatting an ebook, less is more. Almost all the formatting
is stripped out during conversion, so there’s no point doing anything fancy. By
keeping everything as simple as possible, you reduce the risk of introducing
anything that will be too distracting to the reader. After all, you want them to focus
on what you’ve written, not on what it looks like.
• Remove rogue spaces. Don’t use double spaces after full stops. You might have
been taught to use them at school, but when converting a file to ebook formats
they make the job tricker and the text can look gappy. You should also remove any
spaces from the beginnings and ends of paragraphs. (Hint: if you click the ‘Show
non-printing characters’ button in Word, it will make that job much easier!)
• Turn hyphenation off and don’t force line breaks. Even if you don’t like where a
line breaks, remember that if the reader changes the font size, the line breaks will
shift anyway. If you add a hyphen manually, there’s a danger that it will end up
stuck in the middle of a line at random, looking like a mistake. Similarly, don’t try
to correct widows and orphans.
• Don’t include page numbers. Ebook files don’t have universal page numbers,
but some devices allocate page numbers depending on the reader’s settings. They
usually tell the reader how far along in the book they are – ‘Page x out of y’ or
‘43% completed’. This also means that page numbers in your table of contents are
irrelevant. Don’t worry! The table of contents will link to the relevant places.
• Don’t use the tab key. If you
opt for indented rather than block
paragraphs, use the ‘First line
indent’ tool in Word to set the
indentation.
• Use page breaks when you start a
new chapter. Don’t just keep hitting
‘Enter’ until a new page appears.
• Use Word’s ‘Styles’ palette to
organise your body text, chapter
headings, subheadings, displayed
quotations, etc.
Our top tips for ebook formatting
How we can help
If you’re feeling unsure about formatting your book ready for ebook
conversion, give us a call or drop us a line! We will happily give you a
hand. If you think it will take you a long time to ‘tidy up’ your manuscript,
why not pass the job over to us to save yourself the hassle?
Ebook Conversion8
You’ve formatted your manuscript and it’s ready to go. Now you need to convert it
into a format that’s compatible with e-readers. What are these formats and how can
you convert your book?
Amazon Kindle e-readers use the MOBI file format. All other e-readers use ePub
files. Although some authors opt to release their book on Kindle only, we recommend
you make it available in as many stores as possible so that you can reach a wider
readership around the world.
How we can help
We will make sure your
book is converted to ePub
and MOBI formats. No
more fiddling about with
conversion programmes;
no more frustration with
getting the formatting and
specifications just right.
Author Check9
A vital part of the process and not to be overlooked! Of course you’ll want to check
what your book looks like on your own e-reader. If you spot any errors in the file that
were introduced during the conversion process, we’ll make sure they get sorted out
before your book goes on sale in stores.
Friendly warning!We don’t proofread your book for typos
or punctuation errors unless you’ve
specifically asked for our proofreading
service. So make sure you’ve gone
through it with a fine-tooth comb before
you send the manuscript to us
for conversion.
Digital Distribution10
It’s time to send your book to online stores!
How we can help
We’ll distribute your book to over 60 stores
worldwide. Why limit yourself to just one or
two stores when you could have an even wider
readership?
Now you can start selling your books! When the store pays us,
we pay you – we don’t take a percentage of your royalties and we
don’t set minimum payouts, so whatever you earn is yours.
Typesetting11
If your book is destined for hard copy printing, you’ll need to get it typeset.
This means getting it to look exactly as you want it on the printed page, and it’s
sometimes referred to as ‘book design’. It’s very hard to do this successfully in Word;
we recommend Adobe InDesign as a good typesetting software.
Doing your own typesetting?If you’re doing your own typesetting,
our top tip is to pick a book you like
the look of and copy its style and
layout. Remember: readability is key!
Readers are quite conventional when it
comes to the internal layout of books –
conventions tend to exist for a reason.
So now is not the time to get all wacky and
way-out with your font choices. And try to
resist the temptation to make line spacing and
margins narrower to reduce the page count and save
money. It makes the book harder to read and you run the risk of it
looking and feeling ‘cheap’.
How we can help
We can typeset your book in Adobe InDesign. Along with a good
cover design, this gives your book a professional edge which will
make a good impression on everyone who picks up a copy. Who
knows – they could be an influential agent!
Proofreading12
In the traditional publishing process, your book would be proofread after typesetting.
The proofreader’s job is to do a final ‘quality check’ of the text, images and layout.
They’ll check for consistency and accuracy, but they won’t edit your work in the same
way that a copy-editor will.
The ‘proof copy’ is the proofreader’s chance to see exactly what the book looks
like before the actual print run takes place. They may have a physical copy of the
book just as it would come off the press, or they may work on a pdf copy.
Bear in mind all the work that the typesetter has done. The book is largely fixed
at this stage, and even a small change can have drastic knock-on effects, so the
proofreader will only intervene with good reason.
How we can help
As we mentioned before, our director is a qualified proofreader
and a member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP).
Catherine undertakes all our proofreading jobs personally and will
work directly with you to make sure your book gets the final polish
you’re aiming for.
Printing POD13
After typesetting, your book will go down one of two
routes: either a print run or print-on-demand
(POD). The difference between these is that
with POD, books are printed as and when
customers place their orders. Someone can
go into Waterstones or onto Amazon, order
your book and the store will send their
order to a POD company, which will print
the relevant number of copies (even if it’s
just one) and send them to the store for the
customer to collect (or, in the case of Amazon,
directly to the customer).
A straightforward print run has a less complicated
supply chain. You send the typeset file directly to
a printing company and they run off X number
of copies for you. They get delivered to you
and you sell them yourself or use them as
you see fit, e.g. as promotional giveaways.
Going down this route may have a
lower per-unit cost, leaving you with more
profit from each sale. The down side is that
you won’t have your book available through
the big high street stores. They only have
shelf space for a relatively small number of titles.
However, you may have luck getting local independent
bookshops to carry some copies, which you can replenish if
needed. It does mean that you’re responsible for storing and
distribution, and you may find yourself with leftover stock.
or
Physical Distribution14
The final link in the chain – getting your book into the hands of your readers.
If you’ve chosen to use POD, you’re ready to roll. People can go into their local
bookshop and order a copy, or simply get out their smartphone and place an order
online.
If you’ve had a traditional print run, you’ve probably got a few boxes of books
sitting at home somewhere waiting to get out there and find their fans. You may be
wondering what to do with them, how to sell them, or just how to get them out of
your way! After all, don’t forget that free giveaways can be a very useful marketing
tool. Here are some of our ideas.
What to do with your hard copies
• Sell them through your own website. Make sure you include your web address
in all your online communication – email signature, social media, etc. And tell your
readers why it’s important for them to buy directly from your site. They’re your
fans; they want you to get the best possible return on your work.
• Sell or give them away at your launch party. An obvious place to have lots of
hard copies knocking around!
• Send them to reviewers. Reviews are
vital in helping you build your reputation
and sell more copies. Don’t forget that
reviewers often have a mountain of books
to get through, so it may take them a
while to get to yours. Do your research
and make sure they’re interested in your
genre before you send a copy. Don’t
forget bloggers and YouTubers as well as
the more traditional media outlets.
• Send them to other influencers.
Agents, local media contacts ...
influencers don’t have to be big in
the world of books. If your book deals with a particular topic, think of people
connected with it. The more niche the field, the more likely they are to sit up and
take notice.
• Contact your local bookshop – more than one, if you have them. You might
find that they’re keen to promote local authors and may even help you arrange a
launch party or book signings.
• Use them for signings. If your local bookshop isn’t helpful, look for other places
to hold signings. The library, a nearby café, the neighbourhood hall or community
centre ... if there are any creative events taking place in the area, you may be able
to get involved, perhaps tying your book signing in with a workshop or talk.
• Plan giveaways and competitions.
You can use these to generate interest
among your fans online. Why not ask
people to share photos of your book in
different locations?
• Get creative with your promotional
ideas! What about setting up a mini
treasure-hunt? You could leave a
handwritten message inside a copy of
your book, put it in a local café and
see what happens. Repeat a few times
and you might even get local media
interested in the ‘mystery’. That’s just
one idea plucked at random – you can
probably think of something much more exciting!
We hope you feel enthusiastic about getting your book out there and full of ideas
about how you’re going to promote it. We can’t wait to hear from you!
In the meantime, if you have any questions about the self-publishing process or about
how we can help, visit our website, drop us an email or call us.
www.helpforwriters.me
07814 153560
Limited Company No. 10008322. Company registered in England & Wales.
All that’s left to say is ... good luck!