Picture this: you have finally written the book you had always dreamt about writing. It contains the perfect ratio of fantasy and romance, with your favorite found family trope blended in carefully, but immaculately, but now… you’re stuck. Because what’s next in line is publishing, and although writing is very much your forte, publishing is anything but. However, fear not, we’re here to help!

Here are three tips on how to publish a book:

Your final draft is NOT your final draft.

Hire an editor. You might think your writing is perfect, but do NOT end up publishing what you think is perfect, because but that is a recipe for disaster. It is very likely that you might have looked over some spelling or grammatical errors, and that is okay, because your editor will fix it for you.

There are a plethora of editing types, for example, copyright editors will correct your spelling and grammar mistakes, while a comprehensive editor critiques your work, your sentence flow, and assesses whether the language you have used is appropriate for the audience. It is up to you to choose which editor will suit you best.

The Cover Matters, and the ISBN too

Design (or hire someone to design) your book cover and get an ISBN. We all know the phrase “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” but honestly, and I mean honestly, how many times have we done the opposite? A pretty, minimalistic cover might not be what J.K Rowling chose for Harry Potter, but in this day and age, it is very appealing.

At least to us. An ISBN, which stands for International Standard Book Cover, is essentially a numerical form of identification for a commercial book. It is a unique set of numbers and is a requirement for every publisher.

Get on Printing!

So now you have the final draft of your book, and the perfect cover art to match its title. What’s next? Printing it, of course! There are many ways you can do that, for example if you are publishing your book through Amazon, your books print-on-demand, that is, only when someone buys it does the book get published. This might be the safest option, but then again Amazon will take a big chunk of that transaction (an estimate is 40% of the revenue, plus the printing cost itself).

You could also ask a printing company to print your book for you, who would be more than happy to do it.

So there you are! I hope some of your anxiety has subsided. Self-publishing a book is a feat in it of itself, but if done correctly, works wonders. But for now: may the force be with you.