How to Self-Publish a Book

Today as a writer, the potential to publish your work is easier than ever, but you need to know how to self-publish a book. Even the most talented of writers go undiscovered by publishers, but the self-publishing option can be more effective and allows for more control. Getting started can be daunting, but once you know how to self-publish a book, self-publishing becomes easy and especially rewarding. Things to take into account include: your editing process, design, digital versus print, and how you plan to market your work.

The advantage (and disadvantage) of going through a publisher is their staff of seasoned editors. When you opt for self-publishing a book, it is of utmost importance to edit your intended work. Once something goes to print, there is no taking it back. This will impact your reputation as a writer, and therefore, is not something to be taken lightly. Thankfully if you don’t have a resource at your immediate disposal, hiring an editor is not a difficult process. Online resources like EditorWorld or Wordy allow writers to upload work and have their staff of editors review it for a small fee.

Designing and formatting your book before it’s sent to print is also a crucial step in the process to self-publish a book. Think of yourself as a consumer and determine what prompts you to pick up a book at the bookstore that you don’t know. More often than not, the spine is the first visible element. If you catch a potential reader with your spine, they will then check out the cover, and hopefully flip to the back cover. Color, font, and imagery will make or break your sales. Being able to synthesize your plot and not give too much away is also important. People are visual and wish to be intrigued.

Before submitting your book for printing, have a few people look it over. Sometimes you are so close to the project that you won’t see obvious issues or typographical errors. Make sure you have these individuals look at the booklet in spreads, so that they can see what pages are next to each other.

This can help them see if it makes more sense to have other pages next to each other. Or you may have added page to the booklet, which has shifted which pages will appear next to each other.

As for your physically printed run of books, our team at Publishing Xpress is extremely helpful in assisting authors in making decisions about size, shape, binding type, and quantity based on the author’s wishes and/or financial restrictions. We can help you through the whole technical process of how to self-publish a book.

After all is said and done, and the printed work is in hand, marketing it is what will really create success. Get out there and talk to independent bookstore owners about selling your work and make your presence known on blogs, message boards, and various social media outlets to self-publish a book. Self-publishing is very demanding, but the outcome can be extremely gratifying if you’re willing to put in the time and effort. Once you have mastered all these tips, you will know how to self-publish a book. Contact Publishing Xpress today with your work to get started!

Once you are ready to self-publish a book, check out our online pricing calculators. Input all of the specifications for your book and instantly get a price. All of our book printing options are incorporated in the calculators to make it easy to change variables to see the impact on the final price of your book. And don’t forget to check out our many 5-star Google reviews!