Sunday, September 29, 2013

Your Non-Fiction Self-Publishing To Do List



To write and self-publish a book, just follow these 20 steps and you’ll be successful. Of course, the details behind each step make all the difference, but I think just having an ordered overview will be of assistance to you.

1.                  Conceive of an idea for a book. Think big!

2.                  Test the idea by writing articles or blog posts related to the topic, to see if you get a favorable response.

3.                  Float the idea to trusted colleagues, close family members, and valued friends and ask for feedback, questions, or support.

4.                  Explore the competition: Who else has written a book like yours? How did it sell? What will differentiate your book?

5.                  Sketch out an overview of the book. Start identifying chapter titles and then fill in bullet points as to what each chapter will cover.

6.                  Begin to research the materials for your book, including conducting interviews, finding relevant statistics, etc.

7.                  Create a schedule to write your book so that a good idea doesn’t go to waste. Be ambitious, but be reasonable. Can you write daily? Every other day? How much time will you put in?

8.                  Once the book is finished, edit it yourself.

9.                  Then hire an outside book editor, especially one who specializes in your genre or field.

10.              Explore who you will use to publish your book and determine which formats you’ll release it in. For instance, will you do e-book only? E-book and print-on-demand? Paper book (trade paper or hardcover?)? Audio version? All of the above?

11.              Get your cover designed and draft copy for the book jacket or back cover.

12.              Apply for things like ISBN, CIP Data, Copyright, etc.

13.              Develop a marketing/advertising/publicity plan budget.

14.              Explore who you might hire to assist you in some aspects of publicity, marketing or advertising.

15.              Develop a Web site..

16.              Launch a blog.

17.              Create social media pages, such as a Facebook fan page.

18.              Set a publication date that gives you enough time to do pre-launch publicity and pre-release orders.

19.              Seek out testimonials and endorsements for the book.

20.              Publish the book and work hard in hopes of getting lucky!

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2013

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