Dave's Mini-Guide for Publishing a Book:
Okay first, there's no set way to write or publish a book - this is just me, sharing from my own experience in self-publishing. Every project is different and there are a million different ways to get from Point A to Point B in publishing. This mini-guide is more of an overview of what I've learned so far and doesn't really go into the details or pricing too deeply since it really varies so much from project to project. From a high-level view, there are basically 3 steps to publishing a book:
1. Make the book
2. Print the book
3. Sell the book
Step 1: Making a book
The first thing you need to do in order to get your book published is have a manuscript. I'm not going to sugarcoat it: creating a manuscript is HARD, BORING work. It's a lonely and difficult job, and oftentimes frustrating. However, the skills you gain from creating it are wonderful and it's a great sense of accomplishment to finish a project as large as a book, not to mention the contribution to the human resource pool you are making with your hard work. For example, I learned how to type really fast and put my ideas down on paper quickly, which has really helped me a lot in school. It's also extremely motivating to finish a project like this - not only do I feel like I can do big projects now, but I also feel like I've made a real contribution to society instead of just being a consumer and sitting around playing video games all day or whatever. If you're interested in getting your book or book idea published, then I'm sure you have your own reasons and motivations for doing it, so let's talk a bit about how to actually make it happen.
One of the best ways to learn how to write a book is to look at the structure of existing books. They have page numbering, design layouts, graphics, chapters, and so on. The key here is that they have structure. Because it has structure, this allows you to approach it in such a way that you can work on it bit-by-bit. What this really means to you is procedural progress. So what does that mean? Well, writing a book is kind of like building a brick house - it doesn't just magically appear, you have to put in one brick at a time, brick-by-brick. The same with a book - you write a book one chapter at a time, one page at a time, one paragraph at a time, one sentence at a time. The reason I'm talking about this is that there is a human nature trap you should be aware of - that is, trying to do everything all at once or rather, too much at once (the result being you get overwhelmed after a short period of time and it because a big, huge thing that you avoid). Think about how it works with diet & exercise - people want to go work out at the gym for 2 hours a day after sitting on a couch for the last 5 years. That works for about a day, then you get demoralized and quit, lol.
Pretty much every single author I've talked to has been in this same position - initially they get very excited about their project and will work on it for 8 hours a day, then after a week or two when the motivation dies down, then go for weeks or months without even typing a single sentence. The end result is that their project DOESN'T GET DONE in a consistent manner. It becomes a burden, it becomes work, it becomes something they avoid. The trick here is that procedural progress thing I mentioned - make a plan, then chip away on it every day. For example, if you commit to writing ONE page a day, every day, then in a couple years you'll have 700 pages! That time is going to pass whether you do anything or not! Writing one page a day isn't very hard, but writing 25 pages is! Daily progress in bite-sized chunks is the key to success. Or you can commit to putting in an hour, or even 15 minutes a day. Whatever works for you - something that you'll do at bare-minimum, even when you're tired, hungry, bored, angry, depressed, mad, whatever. The secret key to finishing large projects is simply daily progress, no matter how small. Even one SENTENCE brings you closer to being done than you were yesterday! Don't EVER underestimate minor contributributions...every single piece of progress has value and brings you closer to the finish line, so don't buy into the lie that "it doesn't matter if I skip working on it today for X reason", that's bogus! At least write ONE LINE a day and you will be making progress!
Again this is like the exercise thing - in the beginning, you'll be super-motivated to accomplish your project and will put in waaaaaay more time than usual to work on it, then the feeling of motivation wears off and you'll avoid doing it because all you remember is the huge amount of time and effort it takes. So the key here is to make a realistic schedule and then stick with it. Even if it's only 15 minutes a day, then that's fine! You can do more than 15 minutes a day - if you're having a good day, then put in 5 or 6 or 7 hours, but if you're having a bad day, then be sure to put those 15 minutes in! This applies to fiction, non-fiction, children's books, anything you're going after - steady, daily progress is the real, hidden key to accomplishing big projects! A good friend once told me that complex things are nothing more than simple things strung together, and he's right - if you take it in small chunks, if you do baby steps, the project is far more enjoyable and in no time you'll have accomplished your goal! I can't emphasize this step enough - I know at least 5 or 10 people with great book ideas or partially-finished manuscripts that would make really great finished books, but they just can't seem to finish them! I've had the priviledge of talking to numerous published authors and it's always the same: stick to a bare-minimum schedule and don't quit!
As I talked about above with daily progress, the best way I worked was to set a specific time to work on it and a minimum amount of time. For me the best time was early in the morning, before anyone else in the house woke up and we had to get ready for the day, do dishes, make food, do homework, go to work, etc. etc. Life IS interruptions, so unless you schedule time for it and MAKE time for it, it will just slide by. So either set a specific time, or do it first thing in the morning.
One other tip: blow away distractions. I think the Internet has given me ADD - my computer is filled with IM chat windows, 50 tabs in Firefox, a half-dozen programs open. Multi-tasking doesn't work - single-tasking works. FOCUS on the task at hand and blow away all distractions - clear off your desk and shut everything off but your typing window on your computer, and sit down and get into it. If you can get over that initial hump of "arg this is hard to focus on and I've got all these other things I can check like Engadget" then it's actually pretty easy to get into the "productive" groove. Don't go overboard with getting organized like this guy either, spend 10 seconds closing all of your windows and 30 seconds shoving the mess off your desk. Get a good desk lamp too.
Okay next, how do you actually write the book? We primarily used two software tools with our project: Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign. The two software standards in the publishing world are Quark and InDesign, and InDesign, in my opinion, is the best software ever for layout. Be warned: it's a difficult piece of software to learn! It's not very intuitive and you have to learn a lot of little tricks to get things to work, so definitely pick up a good book or some training (Lynda.com and VTC.com have really good video training packages available). Basically we wrote everything up in Microsoft Word, then transferred the Word content into our Adobe InDesign template for final formatting. The final manuscript was delivered to the printer in PDF format.
Now, this will vary based on your project. If you're working for a large publisher, then you may just have to type up a Word document, then email it to them to have their editor and designers format it up for the book design. If you're doing everything yourself, then you'll be in charge of the process from A-Z. But the bottom line is, you need to (1) get the material, (2) get it formatted per your book design, and (3) export it to PDF or whatever your printer requires. How much of that YOU do depends on your publishing situation.
Step 1 Cliff's:
1. Make a realistic plan and do a little bit EVERY DAY!
2. Set a specific time to do a little bit every day (first thing in the morning is best because no one else is awake to interrupt you), also set a "time leash", i.e. how long you are going to allow this task to take (that way you don't feel like you're just working on this never-ending project)
3. Blow away distractions (spend less than a minute clearing off your desk and closing all other computer windows)
4. Adobe InDesign is really good for formatting books
Step 2: Printing a book
Now that you have a manuscript, you need to get it printed so that you have a physical, tangible product. There's the traditional ways (soft-cover and hard-cover) and newer electronic ways (PDF e-books and Kindle versions). I'll break printing down into 3 groups:
1. Major publisher
2. Self-publishing
3. Super easy publishing
Traditionally as a self-publisher, you would print a certain number of books, then store them somewhere (usually a fulfillment warehouse where they handle shipping). If you're self-publishing, then YOU are on the hook for printing costs and storage costs, and anything else that would incur a fee (for example, shipping costs from the printer to the distribution warehouse, which can cost thousands of dollars). If you're hooked up with a large publisher, then you don't need to worry about anything but delivering the manuscript and possibly showing up for the book tour (if you're doing that).
Getting hooked up with a large publisher can be difficult. Two of the common ways to do this is are (1) submit your book idea, or finished manuscript, to a large publisher, and (2) get signed-on for a project where you make regular submissions (like a chapter every 3 weeks or something). Submitting a book idea can be difficult and you will probably get dozens if not hundreds of rejection letters - it's nothing to get demoralized about, it's just the nature of the industry. Not all projects appeal to all publishing houses nor to each individual editor. They are looking for projects that will sell well and make THEM money, so your book needs a good market to get accepted, typically. Now be warned - even once you're accepted, it can take awhile to get it published. Typically the que is like 2 years for an accepted book! If it's a hot book, it can be bumped up to 6 months, but that's still a pretty long time, which makes self-publishing a very attractive option.
If you're interested in self-publishing, I'd highly recommend spending hours and hours reading self-publishing books and websites. The BEST place in the universe for self-publishing info online is Ron Pramschufer's resources, which include BooksJustBooks.com and SelfPublishing.com:
http://www.booksjustbooks.com/
http://www.selfpublishing.com/
They have a ridicluous amount of great information and services available for self-publishing type of projects and are absolutely wonderful people to work with. It's like the Wikipedia for self-publishing. Some of their services even include custom book layouts and cover designs, so all you have to do is deliver the manuscript! (which great if you're graphically-challenged, but can handle the writing aspect of your book project)
http://www.selfpublishing.com/design/
Regarding self-publishing, I'd HIGHLY recommend reading carefully through this FAQ to get a clear idea of what's going on:
http://www.selfpublishing.com/faq/
This pretty much covers all of the various aspects of self-publishing. The key here is to read, read, read. Getting into publishing is like getting into computers - easy once you know it, but it's a TON of info to learn at first (like processors, ram, overclocking, etc.). Again, if you're working with a major publisher, then you don't really need to worry about anything but delivering your manuscript on-time or just getting accepted if you have a finished project.
There is a great new option for self-publishing if you have a book you want published but don't really want to get involved with spending a ton of money, worrying about how many to order, storage costs, handling orders and distribution, and so on. It's an Amazon service called "CreateSpace". A few years ago, POD printing (Print-on-Demand) got pretty good and has been becoming more and more popular for smaller projects. POD printing is basically like a home inkjet printer, but it actually prints out a finished book, binding and all (although it's not something you'd pick up from Staples or Best Buy, haha - you use a POD service where they have those printers available). Initially the quality was not very good, but the technology has really advanced and is pretty good nowadays. So, enter Amazon CreateSpace: high-quality POD printing + the largest online book retailer in the universe:
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/">https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/</a></a></a>
CreateSpace is pretty much ridiculous: (in a good way)
-zero setup fees (just purchase a single proof copy to verify it looks good)
-black & white or color books (protective laminate coating on the cover)
-free CreateSpace ISBN (makes it available through Amazon.com)
-available in various sizes (pocket, novel, journal, etc.)
-create a cover graphic & PDF manuscript to print, that's it!
-high royalties (way better than major publishers)
-discounted rates for your own personal orders
The two main drawbacks are (1) the type of book and (2) the marketing. First of all, you're stuck with a standard kind of book (white or cream pages, protective laminate coating cover), so if you want a hardcover or something you're out of luck. Not a huge deal for most people (hardcover is very expensive to print anyways). Second, you don't get a marketing team behind you like you do with a major publisher (assuming you get accepted by them). So basically, if you can be happy with the available printing options (which are great for most people) and can handle your own marketing, then Amazon's CreateSpace is a fabulous option. You get hooked up with the largest online book supplier in the world and basically just take the money as orders come in - no setup fees, no printing/shipping/storage fees, nothing - just your royalties from each sale. This assumes that you get to work and market it of course!
Step 2 Cliff's:
1. Hook up with a major publisher and (a) they buy your manuscript or (b) you deliver chunks at specified intervals
2. Self-publish and fund your own print runs (research your target market, do your own marketing)
3. Use Amazon CreateSpace (no setup fees, just take money in - key is simply to send them a finished PDF and then to market it so people know about it and buy it)
Step 3: Selling a book
Now that you have a finished book, you need to sell it. This completely depends on what type of book you have and what your target audience is, and how you're hooked up with the publishing industry (major publisher, self-publishing, etc.). Major publishers will typically do this for you, and if it's a popular book, you will usually go on a book tour and do talk shows, book signings, etc. If you're doing self-publishing or an Amazon CreateSpace kind of thing, then it's totally up to you. You can have the best book in the world, but if no one knows about it, then no one will buy it - it's that simple. Look at the SlapChop...you laugh at the commercial, but they've sold millions of those things! Getting exposure is a huge key to making sales. The best marketing advice I can offer is research, research, research and then get to work! Know who your target market is and plan out ways to get your book to them.
Anyway HTH
Okay first, there's no set way to write or publish a book - this is just me, sharing from my own experience in self-publishing. Every project is different and there are a million different ways to get from Point A to Point B in publishing. This mini-guide is more of an overview of what I've learned so far and doesn't really go into the details or pricing too deeply since it really varies so much from project to project. From a high-level view, there are basically 3 steps to publishing a book:
1. Make the book
2. Print the book
3. Sell the book
Step 1: Making a book
The first thing you need to do in order to get your book published is have a manuscript. I'm not going to sugarcoat it: creating a manuscript is HARD, BORING work. It's a lonely and difficult job, and oftentimes frustrating. However, the skills you gain from creating it are wonderful and it's a great sense of accomplishment to finish a project as large as a book, not to mention the contribution to the human resource pool you are making with your hard work. For example, I learned how to type really fast and put my ideas down on paper quickly, which has really helped me a lot in school. It's also extremely motivating to finish a project like this - not only do I feel like I can do big projects now, but I also feel like I've made a real contribution to society instead of just being a consumer and sitting around playing video games all day or whatever. If you're interested in getting your book or book idea published, then I'm sure you have your own reasons and motivations for doing it, so let's talk a bit about how to actually make it happen.
One of the best ways to learn how to write a book is to look at the structure of existing books. They have page numbering, design layouts, graphics, chapters, and so on. The key here is that they have structure. Because it has structure, this allows you to approach it in such a way that you can work on it bit-by-bit. What this really means to you is procedural progress. So what does that mean? Well, writing a book is kind of like building a brick house - it doesn't just magically appear, you have to put in one brick at a time, brick-by-brick. The same with a book - you write a book one chapter at a time, one page at a time, one paragraph at a time, one sentence at a time. The reason I'm talking about this is that there is a human nature trap you should be aware of - that is, trying to do everything all at once or rather, too much at once (the result being you get overwhelmed after a short period of time and it because a big, huge thing that you avoid). Think about how it works with diet & exercise - people want to go work out at the gym for 2 hours a day after sitting on a couch for the last 5 years. That works for about a day, then you get demoralized and quit, lol.
Pretty much every single author I've talked to has been in this same position - initially they get very excited about their project and will work on it for 8 hours a day, then after a week or two when the motivation dies down, then go for weeks or months without even typing a single sentence. The end result is that their project DOESN'T GET DONE in a consistent manner. It becomes a burden, it becomes work, it becomes something they avoid. The trick here is that procedural progress thing I mentioned - make a plan, then chip away on it every day. For example, if you commit to writing ONE page a day, every day, then in a couple years you'll have 700 pages! That time is going to pass whether you do anything or not! Writing one page a day isn't very hard, but writing 25 pages is! Daily progress in bite-sized chunks is the key to success. Or you can commit to putting in an hour, or even 15 minutes a day. Whatever works for you - something that you'll do at bare-minimum, even when you're tired, hungry, bored, angry, depressed, mad, whatever. The secret key to finishing large projects is simply daily progress, no matter how small. Even one SENTENCE brings you closer to being done than you were yesterday! Don't EVER underestimate minor contributributions...every single piece of progress has value and brings you closer to the finish line, so don't buy into the lie that "it doesn't matter if I skip working on it today for X reason", that's bogus! At least write ONE LINE a day and you will be making progress!
Again this is like the exercise thing - in the beginning, you'll be super-motivated to accomplish your project and will put in waaaaaay more time than usual to work on it, then the feeling of motivation wears off and you'll avoid doing it because all you remember is the huge amount of time and effort it takes. So the key here is to make a realistic schedule and then stick with it. Even if it's only 15 minutes a day, then that's fine! You can do more than 15 minutes a day - if you're having a good day, then put in 5 or 6 or 7 hours, but if you're having a bad day, then be sure to put those 15 minutes in! This applies to fiction, non-fiction, children's books, anything you're going after - steady, daily progress is the real, hidden key to accomplishing big projects! A good friend once told me that complex things are nothing more than simple things strung together, and he's right - if you take it in small chunks, if you do baby steps, the project is far more enjoyable and in no time you'll have accomplished your goal! I can't emphasize this step enough - I know at least 5 or 10 people with great book ideas or partially-finished manuscripts that would make really great finished books, but they just can't seem to finish them! I've had the priviledge of talking to numerous published authors and it's always the same: stick to a bare-minimum schedule and don't quit!
As I talked about above with daily progress, the best way I worked was to set a specific time to work on it and a minimum amount of time. For me the best time was early in the morning, before anyone else in the house woke up and we had to get ready for the day, do dishes, make food, do homework, go to work, etc. etc. Life IS interruptions, so unless you schedule time for it and MAKE time for it, it will just slide by. So either set a specific time, or do it first thing in the morning.
One other tip: blow away distractions. I think the Internet has given me ADD - my computer is filled with IM chat windows, 50 tabs in Firefox, a half-dozen programs open. Multi-tasking doesn't work - single-tasking works. FOCUS on the task at hand and blow away all distractions - clear off your desk and shut everything off but your typing window on your computer, and sit down and get into it. If you can get over that initial hump of "arg this is hard to focus on and I've got all these other things I can check like Engadget" then it's actually pretty easy to get into the "productive" groove. Don't go overboard with getting organized like this guy either, spend 10 seconds closing all of your windows and 30 seconds shoving the mess off your desk. Get a good desk lamp too.
Okay next, how do you actually write the book? We primarily used two software tools with our project: Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign. The two software standards in the publishing world are Quark and InDesign, and InDesign, in my opinion, is the best software ever for layout. Be warned: it's a difficult piece of software to learn! It's not very intuitive and you have to learn a lot of little tricks to get things to work, so definitely pick up a good book or some training (Lynda.com and VTC.com have really good video training packages available). Basically we wrote everything up in Microsoft Word, then transferred the Word content into our Adobe InDesign template for final formatting. The final manuscript was delivered to the printer in PDF format.
Now, this will vary based on your project. If you're working for a large publisher, then you may just have to type up a Word document, then email it to them to have their editor and designers format it up for the book design. If you're doing everything yourself, then you'll be in charge of the process from A-Z. But the bottom line is, you need to (1) get the material, (2) get it formatted per your book design, and (3) export it to PDF or whatever your printer requires. How much of that YOU do depends on your publishing situation.
Step 1 Cliff's:
1. Make a realistic plan and do a little bit EVERY DAY!
2. Set a specific time to do a little bit every day (first thing in the morning is best because no one else is awake to interrupt you), also set a "time leash", i.e. how long you are going to allow this task to take (that way you don't feel like you're just working on this never-ending project)
3. Blow away distractions (spend less than a minute clearing off your desk and closing all other computer windows)
4. Adobe InDesign is really good for formatting books
Step 2: Printing a book
Now that you have a manuscript, you need to get it printed so that you have a physical, tangible product. There's the traditional ways (soft-cover and hard-cover) and newer electronic ways (PDF e-books and Kindle versions). I'll break printing down into 3 groups:
1. Major publisher
2. Self-publishing
3. Super easy publishing
Traditionally as a self-publisher, you would print a certain number of books, then store them somewhere (usually a fulfillment warehouse where they handle shipping). If you're self-publishing, then YOU are on the hook for printing costs and storage costs, and anything else that would incur a fee (for example, shipping costs from the printer to the distribution warehouse, which can cost thousands of dollars). If you're hooked up with a large publisher, then you don't need to worry about anything but delivering the manuscript and possibly showing up for the book tour (if you're doing that).
Getting hooked up with a large publisher can be difficult. Two of the common ways to do this is are (1) submit your book idea, or finished manuscript, to a large publisher, and (2) get signed-on for a project where you make regular submissions (like a chapter every 3 weeks or something). Submitting a book idea can be difficult and you will probably get dozens if not hundreds of rejection letters - it's nothing to get demoralized about, it's just the nature of the industry. Not all projects appeal to all publishing houses nor to each individual editor. They are looking for projects that will sell well and make THEM money, so your book needs a good market to get accepted, typically. Now be warned - even once you're accepted, it can take awhile to get it published. Typically the que is like 2 years for an accepted book! If it's a hot book, it can be bumped up to 6 months, but that's still a pretty long time, which makes self-publishing a very attractive option.
If you're interested in self-publishing, I'd highly recommend spending hours and hours reading self-publishing books and websites. The BEST place in the universe for self-publishing info online is Ron Pramschufer's resources, which include BooksJustBooks.com and SelfPublishing.com:
http://www.booksjustbooks.com/
http://www.selfpublishing.com/
They have a ridicluous amount of great information and services available for self-publishing type of projects and are absolutely wonderful people to work with. It's like the Wikipedia for self-publishing. Some of their services even include custom book layouts and cover designs, so all you have to do is deliver the manuscript! (which great if you're graphically-challenged, but can handle the writing aspect of your book project)
http://www.selfpublishing.com/design/
Regarding self-publishing, I'd HIGHLY recommend reading carefully through this FAQ to get a clear idea of what's going on:
http://www.selfpublishing.com/faq/
This pretty much covers all of the various aspects of self-publishing. The key here is to read, read, read. Getting into publishing is like getting into computers - easy once you know it, but it's a TON of info to learn at first (like processors, ram, overclocking, etc.). Again, if you're working with a major publisher, then you don't really need to worry about anything but delivering your manuscript on-time or just getting accepted if you have a finished project.
There is a great new option for self-publishing if you have a book you want published but don't really want to get involved with spending a ton of money, worrying about how many to order, storage costs, handling orders and distribution, and so on. It's an Amazon service called "CreateSpace". A few years ago, POD printing (Print-on-Demand) got pretty good and has been becoming more and more popular for smaller projects. POD printing is basically like a home inkjet printer, but it actually prints out a finished book, binding and all (although it's not something you'd pick up from Staples or Best Buy, haha - you use a POD service where they have those printers available). Initially the quality was not very good, but the technology has really advanced and is pretty good nowadays. So, enter Amazon CreateSpace: high-quality POD printing + the largest online book retailer in the universe:
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/">https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/</a></a></a>
CreateSpace is pretty much ridiculous: (in a good way)
-zero setup fees (just purchase a single proof copy to verify it looks good)
-black & white or color books (protective laminate coating on the cover)
-free CreateSpace ISBN (makes it available through Amazon.com)
-available in various sizes (pocket, novel, journal, etc.)
-create a cover graphic & PDF manuscript to print, that's it!
-high royalties (way better than major publishers)
-discounted rates for your own personal orders
The two main drawbacks are (1) the type of book and (2) the marketing. First of all, you're stuck with a standard kind of book (white or cream pages, protective laminate coating cover), so if you want a hardcover or something you're out of luck. Not a huge deal for most people (hardcover is very expensive to print anyways). Second, you don't get a marketing team behind you like you do with a major publisher (assuming you get accepted by them). So basically, if you can be happy with the available printing options (which are great for most people) and can handle your own marketing, then Amazon's CreateSpace is a fabulous option. You get hooked up with the largest online book supplier in the world and basically just take the money as orders come in - no setup fees, no printing/shipping/storage fees, nothing - just your royalties from each sale. This assumes that you get to work and market it of course!
Step 2 Cliff's:
1. Hook up with a major publisher and (a) they buy your manuscript or (b) you deliver chunks at specified intervals
2. Self-publish and fund your own print runs (research your target market, do your own marketing)
3. Use Amazon CreateSpace (no setup fees, just take money in - key is simply to send them a finished PDF and then to market it so people know about it and buy it)
Step 3: Selling a book
Now that you have a finished book, you need to sell it. This completely depends on what type of book you have and what your target audience is, and how you're hooked up with the publishing industry (major publisher, self-publishing, etc.). Major publishers will typically do this for you, and if it's a popular book, you will usually go on a book tour and do talk shows, book signings, etc. If you're doing self-publishing or an Amazon CreateSpace kind of thing, then it's totally up to you. You can have the best book in the world, but if no one knows about it, then no one will buy it - it's that simple. Look at the SlapChop...you laugh at the commercial, but they've sold millions of those things! Getting exposure is a huge key to making sales. The best marketing advice I can offer is research, research, research and then get to work! Know who your target market is and plan out ways to get your book to them.
Anyway HTH