How to Write a Book and Get Published: A Comprehensive Guide

For a majority of the people, writing a book is no less than a fantasy but bringing such a fantasy into practice can jeopardize one’s hopes. Other than the preparation of the manuscript, the publishing world may appear like a puzzle that is impossible to solve. However, there is also good news; such a task can be accomplished with proper planning and it is possible for a novice to accomplish such a task. Whether you are looking for a traditional publishing route or want to follow the path of self-publishing, this guide is going to take you through each of the steps in the right order.

This is a complete guide providing you with various activities required in order to commence writing a book, how to write fast, efficiently and effectively, and what should be done after completing a written work concerning its publication and marketing. In no time, you will not only be able to pen down what you want but will also make sure that the book reaches the masses.

The First Steps in Writing a Book

Discovering Your Story or Concept

Deciding upon the topic of the book you wish to write is the first step in the process of writing any book. Whether in the form of a work of imaginative writing, a work of memoirs or a work of nonfiction, looking for an interesting idea is important. Some approaches to help you find your story are:

Reflecting on personal experiences. What up to now, unique or big life events, could become an exciting story?
Finding gaps in the market. What is a topic or story that is not covered too much or what is the unique spin you would want to put on a specific topic?
Tapping into your passions. So, what do you really care about? In most of the cases when you choose a wed that you are really delighted at, weaving will be the least of the problems.

Setting Goals for Writing

One of the essentials in writing a book is to develop achievable targets. Without deadlines or a roadmap, it’s easy to lose focus. In this shot, you can outline how you broke down your goals by self querying.

How many words per day or week do I want to commit to writing?
By when do I want the first draft to be ready?
How much time can I allocate for writing on a daily or weekly basis? It’s quite difficult if not impossible to ignore something completely when a plan is in place. Most writers find it helpful to plan each day a portion of words to be written or pencil in periods of time for writing in a calendar.

Creating an Outline

Before you start writing, it may be helpful to create an outline first, in order to give your book some structure. In the case of fiction, such an outline could include plot points, character arcs, dramatic high points and such. In case of non-fiction, it could be about simply what topics each chapter is going to cover and bullet points of what should go below each header. Outlining is therefore beneficial in terms of planning, as it acts as an itinerary that makes your work more productive.

Writing the First Draft

Start Writing!

Now comes the exciting phase—putting all those thoughts down on paper (or any surface). I want to advise you, however, that your first draft does not have to be polished. Rather, you need to give yourself license to simply write without correction or critical self-reflection. Get the words out! So here are a few pointers you might remember at this step:

Write every day: It does not have to be thousands of words, several hundred every day or several thousand every week will do, the only important thing is to be consistent.
Do not correct while writing the first draft: The first draft is generous. It does not have to be polished. Such activities come later.
Avoid being a perfectionist: If you do not write, you cannot edit. So give yourself permission to be sloppy in your writing and to brave revising it at a later stage.

Handling Writer’s Block

For many writers, fitting the words onto the page is very frustrating and met with the blank wall of anticlimactic emptiness which is writer’s block. In case you find yourself in this situation, consider:

Moving to different places: If possible, try writing something else in another place- a cafe, library, outside park;
Taking short breaks: Doing something else helps; when you return to your work, the grand view will be there, and most likely will surprise you.
Freewriting: Write anything and stop for 10 minutes straight and you do not care if what you write makes sense or is even relevant. This can sometimes clear the fog out of the brain where it is concentrated and sore from producing too much.

Revising and Editing Your Book

Taking Time Between Drafts

After you have finished your first draft, it is critical to take a break. Resting for a few weeks can let you come back to the text and see it with fresh self. Read the short piece again once you are prepared to make amendments and tend to the macro first – the outline, pace, storytelling.

Self-Editing

Let your manuscript rest for some time, and then resume with writing additions regarding:

Story structure: Is the storyline coherent? Have they included any gaps?
Characterization: Are your characters convincing? Are they believable?
Speed: Are there lags or rushes in the narration at some junctures? Once the content has been heavily revised, it is time to refine grammar, punctuation and general content flows. It’s best however, to restrain oneself from doing them until the whole work is complete.

Getting Feedback

There are multiple places where one can publish his or her novel but even after writing and editing, publishing a book without seeking constructive criticism is a futile endeavor. They can:

Start a peer review process: You can enroll in the writing block to have other people review and make suggestions on how better your book can be.
Enlist a beta reader: These are hate reading women with reciprocal feedback on your storyline, pacing, and characters.
Engage an editor: In the case of self publishing, it goes without saying that one has to employ a qualified editor in order to make the work stand upto industry standards.

Exploring Publishing Options

Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing

All roads of getting readers to your book leads to self publishing and traditional publishing. Self publishing has its advantages on the other hand as does traditional publishing. Everything on every side depends on what one wants.

Traditional Publishing

In conventional publishing, you forward the manuscript to any of the publishing houses (mostly via a literary agent). Further, if such a publishing house shows keen interest then it is responsible for incurring the expenses for the manufacturing and marketing of the book. However, this approach is highly demanding and may be quite long.

Benefits: No resources needed at the start, professional retailers, editors, and the willingness to work on soap-box advertising, and easy access to a wider audience.
Disadvantages: Longer timelines, lesser percentage of royalties and control over the illustrated work.

Self-Publishing

In self-publishing, you are free to control every facet of publishing the book which range from writing the book, cover design, formatting the book to marketing the book. The disadvantage is that you will be the one who fully pays for the cost of production and promotion.

Benefits: Total mastery on what to include in the book, quick publication processes, high percentages of royalties and immediate readers after publication.
Disadvantages: Initial investment, risk of sales and distribution, and difficulty in attracting attention.

Finding a Literary Agent

As you follow the steps for conventional publishing, the primary ground that you usually cover first is securing a literary agent. In supporting authors in publishing, literary agents play such a role as submitting books, contracting with the publisher, and giving counsel on the procedures. You can search for one like this:

Helpful active agents: Almost all literary agents focus on active or searching for writers in their areas of interest. Authors should take care to know which types of agents represent them.
Draft an engaging query letter: A query letter is the first contact any agent receives from you with regard to your proposed book. It is therefore important that the letter is professional yet captivating. This should be a synopsis of your book, a summary of who you are, and why you think the agent’s active participation would benefit you.

Self-Publishing Platforms

If you feel that traditional publishing is not for you, there are self-publishing options through sites such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), IngramSpark, and Smashwords. Such sites offer uploading of the manuscript, provide the option of how the book will appeal to different devices, and marketing it to the key wholesalers.

Designing Your Cover and Formatting

The professional marketing of any self-published book relies on the book cover design and internal formatting. Readers could be scared off by a very bad looking cover hence it’s better to commission the services of a graphic designer in creating an appealing book cover. For the same reason, formatting of the manuscript is done to prepare it for publishing whether hardcopy or an ebook.

Promoting and Marketing Your Book

Building an Author Platform

An author platform is something that should already start being built even if your book has not yet been published. This includes:

Developing an author site: An author’s website is effectively the one soul online paragraphs of a dear author.
Engaging an audience through social media: Social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are essential when seeking an audience or interaction with fellow authors.
Starting an email list: Creating an email list gives you the ability to directly contact your audience with details of the book launch, book offers, etc.

Creating a Book Launch Plan

An effective launch can propel a book towards a timely grasp of its target market. Some techniques to keep in mind are:

“Launching in style” party: These are attitudes which most first-time authors or both physical and virtual events will spark interest and fanfare.
Using giveaways: Free and/or discounted copies can also be sent or offered to a select number of the target audience before the book hits the shelves, in exchange for their reviews.
Book reviews and features like those of bloggers or influencers can also help. Try to get book critics, social media bloggers, and influencers to write a review for your book or promote it on their platforms.

Collecting Reviews

Reviews are likely to determine how well a book does, especially among self-publishing authors. Grab the attention of potential readers, book promoters and book appreciators such as bloggers and ask them to review the book on amazon, goodread and social media.

Conclusion

It is possible that to write a book and then to publish it seems to be a challenge of big proportions particularly for you but in reality with proper organization and fighting for the cause, it is possible. Any process you may follow to make your dream of being an author a published one brings you closer to this goal, right from the ideas of your story to the marketing of the book. Regardless of whether you go the traditional publishing route or take the self-publishing road, the most important thing is to always keep moving forward, don’t forget to learn from every single second of the journey, and most importantly do not quit on the dreams of writing.

FAQs

1. How long does it take to write a book?

The amount of time it takes to pen a book is extremely dependent on several factors such as the size, the type of the book and also the writer himself. Some texts take a couple of months to write while other ones may take some years.

2. How much does it cost to self-publish a book?

The amount that can be spent on self-publishing also varies, and could fall between a few hundred dollars and a few thousand dollars, depending on such services as: editing, cover design and format designing. Some expenses can be reduced by undertaking some work on your own but it is better to pay professionals for the work for better quality.

3. Do I need a literary agent to get published?

To assure that the book will be picked up and published by an established publisher, it is often a requirement that the author has a literary agent. Publishers belong to the agents, which allows the agents to employ the publishing chain without stress. For self-publishing, the reverse is true and no agent is needed.

4. Can I make money by self-publishing?

For sure! A lot of writers make good money out of self-publishing books, particularly by selling to e-reader markets such as kindle. For most authors success so much relies on the marketing of the book and the readership the author creates.

5. What are the most important marketing strategies for a book launch?

Possible owners of these directly include the authors or, to ascertain a readership for the book further marketing through social networking sites include, hold competitions, chase initial publicity for the book, after it has been published through influencers, and regular communication with your followers through newsletters.