How to Self Publish a Book

Step 1: Writing

This might sound obvious, but we can’t overlook the writing process!

Waking up every day and putting in the work to write a book is no easy feat.

Here are a few of our favorite writing tips and resources to get your book ready for the next step: 7 Essential Writing Tips for Authors.

Writing a book is a huge accomplishment. If you’ve made it that far, we hope you take a moment to stop and congratulate yourself on a job well done. Now, let’s get ready to share it with the world!

Step 2: Book Editing

There are a few different types of editing—and each serves a unique purpose for a manuscript. You’ll have to assess your work to determine what level of editing to start with.

Things to Consider

Manuscript Critique
This is a high-level examination of your manuscript. It looks at things like narrative voice, plot, and character development. With this type of critique, editors give feedback on items that will help improve your overall story.

Comprehensive Edit / Line Edit
A comprehensive edit addresses structural issues (similar to a manuscript critique), but it also involves a line edit, which looks closely at writing style and language. With a line edit, an editor focuses on the use of language to communicate your story to a reader.

Copyedit
A copyedit is often confused with a line edit, but they’re very different steps in the editing process. A copyedit reviews technical flaws—issues with spelling, grammar, and punctuation—and looks for internal inconsistencies throughout the text.

Proofread
This is the final step in the editing process. A proofreader examines the final copy of the manuscript (usually after typesetting) for any awkward page breaks, and he or she might perform some light copyediting.

Step 3: Book Design

The next step is designing your book! There are two main steps in the book design process: interior design and book cover design.

Interior Book Design

Interior design might not sound like the most exciting part of the design process, but it is necessary to create a professionally published book. Typesetting, commonly referred to as book formatting, has “rules” for widows, orphans, hyphens, and various other elements within a book to make it more readable, ensuring a pleasant reading experience for your audience.

Book Cover Design

Your book cover design is the first impression readers have of your book. While it’s important to be unique, it’s equally important to pay attention to what comparable covers in your genre look like.

Visit your local bookstore and look at the books in your genre. What are the trim sizes? What do the front covers look like? The spines? Take note of the imagery, the fonts, the colors, and more. Observe and ask yourself, what elements of these book covers do I like? How can my book cover stand out—in a good way?

The back cover of the book will be made up of common elements such as book reviews, the book description, author bio, and barcode. The spine often contains the name, author, and publisher logo. Study these elements to make sure that your book will fit in on the shelf, and booksellers will feel comfortable stocking it.

A professional book cover designer can help steer the creative direction—but you know your book best, and it’s important for you to bring your own ideas to help create a cover that brings your book to life.

Step 4: Book Metadata

What exactly is book metadata, and why is it important?

Book metadata may sound complicated, but it’s relatively straightforward. It consists of all the information that describes your book, including your title, subtitle, price, trim size, author name, book description, and more.

Book Title

Writers often ask for tips on how to come up with a book title.

A good rule of thumb is to follow the PINC Acronym, coined by Michael Hyatt.

• Make a Promise: let readers know what to expect from reading your book.
• Create Intrigue: engage a reader; entice them to pick up your book.
• Identify a Need: if there’s a common problem that your book has the answer to, identify this common ground and promise (back to P!) a solution.
• State the Content: keep it simple and straightforward. What is your book about?

You Want Your Title to Be

Original
Book titles are not protected by copyright, so it is possible to select a book title that’s already in use—but not recommended.

Memorable
Make sure your title is unique enough to be remembered, but not so long that it’s easily forgotten.

Searchable
Once you have a few ideas, do a quick Google Search. See what shows up in the results and ask yourself a few important questions. What shows up on the search results page? Does my book stand a chance? Is it too broad to rank, or too specific for anyone to be searching for?

As you’re brainstorming ideas for your book title, keep in mind that you have an opportunity to enhance your short title with a longer subtitle. A good book subtitle varies from one genre to another, but here are a few subtitle examples to get you started.

• Novel: Venetian Blood: Murder in a Sensuous City
• Memoir: The Art of Waiting: On Fertility, Medicine, and Motherhood
• Self-Help: No Excuses: Nine Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power

Book Description

The cover of your book draws a person in…the title intrigues…and the book description closes the deal.

So, how do you write a good book description?

• Keep it simple and straightforward
• Aim for 150-200 words
• Use paragraph breaks, bold, and italic formats to provide emphasis when necessary
• Insert bullet points when applicable
• Avoid time-sensitive language like “coming soon”

Another tip for writing your description—look up reader reviews for books that are similar to yours. What language are they using? Let their descriptions of similar books help guide you as you write yours.

Your description is more than just text on the back cover of a book. It’s detailed, descriptive copy that will be used in your marketing and help your book’s discoverability. You want your description to appeal to a person picking it up off the shelf at a bookstore, as well as Google’s search algorithm. The keywords in your description impact your book’s discoverability online—so be sure to keep keywords in mind as you write and incorporate them into your description when it’s natural and appropriate.

ISBNs

You’re probably wondering what is an ISBN?

 

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It’s an internationally recognized identification number, similar to any product number you would find on other products you buy, like a box of cereal or a pair of shoes.

Do you need an ISBN?
You need an ISBN if you want your book to be available for sale in bookstores or with an online retailer or wholesaler. You’ll want to purchase this before your book designer begins work on the cover of your book, so that it can be included in the back barcode.

If you don’t want your book available for sale, IngramSpark can assign a SKU to your book for printing and manufacturing purposes only. If the book is not available for sale with an ISBN, then you will be the only person capable of ordering a copy of your book. You might select this option if you’re printing a book for personal use or as a gift for a friend.

Many self-publishing platforms offer indie authors the opportunity to use a free ISBN. At IngramSpark, we highly recommend that you purchase your own ISBN.

How many ISBNs do you need?
You’ll need an ISBN for each format of your book. Let’s say you want to publish hardcover, paperback, and ebook versions of your upcoming book—that means you’ll need to purchase three unique ISBNs.

What’s the difference between an ISBN and a barcode?
An ISBN acts like a product number, while the barcode is how the actual number is translated and readable by a scanner. If you want your book to be made available in brick-and-mortar bookstores, you’ll want to include a barcode with your ISBN.

BISAC Codes

BISAC codes essentially identify what your book is about – the primary genre(s), topic(s), and theme(s). While a reader might not be trained to search for books based on a BISAC code, retailers and booksellers will use your BISAC code to determine in which category to place your book on their website, or where to shelve it in their bookstore.

For a full list of available BISAC codes, see BISG’s Complete BISAC Subject Headings List.

How to Choose BISAC Codes

First Code = Most Specific
The first BISAC code that you enter should be the most accurate and the most specific code to your book. This will be the main BISAC code used to categorize and shelve your book.

Choose Three
We recommend that you choose three BISAC codes for your book. It’s required that you select at least one, but three BISAC codes increase chances of discoverability.

Be Honest
Choose BISAC codes that reflect the full breadth of your book. This is not a time when it’s best to choose a category that you think has the most readers. You want to avoid confusion for readers who think they’ve selected a book about one thing and find it’s much different than what they expected.

Step 5: Publishing

If you haven’t yet, now is the time to choose how you’re going to share your story with the world.

There are various self-publishing companies to choose from—but IngramSpark provides many features that you won’t find anywhere else.

IngramSpark offers indie authors and publishers the ability to create professional print books (paperback and hardcover) and ebooks. With IngramSpark, you can self-publish a book and make it available to 40,000+ retailers and libraries—in stores and online—through our global distribution network.

In addition, IngramSpark authors receive:

•  24/7 customer support
•  Online sales reporting
•  Free publishing tools and resources
•  Affordable advertising opportunities
•  Discounts with outside experts on publisher services

Some self-publishers simply wish to print a select number of copies, and not enable their title for distribution—and you can do that! However, if you’re looking to reach the masses, IngramSpark’s distribution network has you covered.

Step 6 : Distribution

If you haven’t yet, now is the time to choose how you’re going to share your story with the world.

Book distribution used to be a major stumbling block for self-published authors. They would spend weeks, months, even years writing their book. They would go through the editing, design, and printing process—and then would have no way to get it into bookstores and libraries.

Now, indie publishers can receive the same book distribution channels available to major traditional publishers. IngramSpark makes titles available to 40,000+ retailers, libraries, schools, and e-commerce companies including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo, Foyles, Waterstones, and more across the globe.

For more than 50 years, Ingram has developed relationships and connections within the book industry to allow your book to be available to the masses. We have print facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, and we have print channels in China, Germany, India, Italy, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and Brazil. By self-publishing with IngramSpark, you’re giving your book the best chance of reaching a global audience.

Step 7: Marketing

Learning how to market a book is essential for indie authors.

When you take the time to write, edit, and design a book, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the to-do list and never stop to think about marketing until a few weeks before your publication date. This is a big mistake for self-published authors!

While this is one of the last steps in our self-publishing process, we highly suggest that you begin thinking about your marketing strategy during the writing process. Building an author platform doesn’t happen overnight.

Consider the following tactics to market your book:

Author Website

It’s important to have your own website when you publish a book. This lends credibility to your name as an author and is a great place for readers to go to learn more about you, your book, your events, and more. If you hope to create an engaged audience over time, a website is the first step.

Social Media

If you aren’t already on social media, then it’s time to look at creating some social accounts. You don’t have to be active on all social channels. Pick two or three that you enjoy—but make sure you ask yourself, where are my readers? If you wrote a young adult novel, you won’t have success promoting it on LinkedIn. Consider the demographics of each channel before devoting your time and energy to it.

Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs)

ARCs are copies of your book that are printed in advance to generate buzz for your book. You can send ARCs to a bookseller to inquire about stocking copies for the release date or to book reviewers to gain reviews for your book before your publication date. ARCs are also used to get endorsements, which can be added to the final cover of your book before printing.

Tip Sheets

A tip sheet can also be referred to as a “sales sheet” or a “one sheet.” This one-page paper contains high-level, relevant information about your book—basically, your high-level metadata such as the title, subtitle, publisher, publication date, etc. You can send this to bookstores alongside an ARC, or to the press when requesting media.

Author Events

Whether it’s your book launch party or an author reading, events are a great way to connect with readers in your community. Bookstores and libraries are great options, but you should also think outside the box. What other venues might want to feature your book? If you wrote a cookbook, perhaps there’s a local winery or brewery where you can pair some of your tasty food with some local beverages.

Marketing your book can be fun when you take the time and effort to understand your audience and provide them with a valuable reason to join your tribe and ultimately, purchase your book!

Step 8: Join the Indie Publishing Community

The indie publishing community is a tight-knit, supportive group of creators, entrepreneurs, and go-getters.

Find like-minded people who want to see you succeed. Share your work with them and ask for feedback along the way.

There’s an online #WritingCommunity that’s incredibly active. Whether you’re on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, every day there are writers and authors sharing tips and encouragement to help each other succeed.Your community might have a writing collective that offers courses, workshops, and meetups. Your local independent bookstore likely has resources to help you succeed in publishing, and the booksellers can help you understand what they look for when they choose whether or not to stock a book. Your local librarians can give you insight into what they look for in a self-published book, and what the local community is most interested in reading. Take the time to immerse yourself in your local literary community before you publish your book. This will make your job much easier when it’s time to turn around and ask for their support.

Review

Praise for

The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published

*

“A must-have for every aspiring writer

. . . Thorough, forthright, quite entertaining.”
—Khaled Hosseini, bestselling author of

And the Mountains Echoed

and

The Kite Runner

“

Before you write your own book, read this one.

Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry understand the process of publishing—their advice will help you envision and frame your work so that publishers will be more likely to perceive its value.”
—Jonathan Karp, President and Publisher, Simon Schuster

“I started with nothing but an idea, and then I bought this book. Soon I had an A-list agent, a near six-figure advance, and multiple TV deals in the works. Buy it and memorize it.

This tome is the quiet secret of rock star authors

.”
—Timothy Ferriss, Bestselling Author of

The 4-Hour Workweek

“There is no way I would have landed a book deal without these two brilliant industry pros and their insider knowledge! This is not a mere guide. Eckstut and Sterry have—chapter and verse—written

the bible for would-be authors

of every stripe and genre.”
—Ylonda Gault, author of

Child, Please: How Mama’s Old-School Lessons Helped Me Check Myself Before I Wrecked Myself

“I cannot emphasize enough how well this book prepared me for the path to getting published. It warns writers about inevitable ups and downs, but it kept me from having to learn about the publishing world through frustrating trial and error. It also provided much-needed encouragement through some initial rejections. Now that my book is published, I’ve run into many people wanting to know how the whole thing works, and I always refer them to this book.”
—Roxanna Elden, Author of

See Me After Class

“This is the book that has helped me every step of way in writing, marketing, and publishing my first book. Any time I had a question—whether it was about working with my editor, agent, or publicist—I knew where I could find the answer. My copy has been earmarked, bookmarked, highlighted, annotated, and loved. Arielle and David are the best guides around if you are looking to get your book out in the world. And as a bookseller, I love putting

The Essential Guide

in the hands of writers and aspiring authors. I know that I’m giving them the best possible resource for understanding the ever-changing publishing landscape.”
—Melissa Cistaro, author of

Pieces of My Mother: A Memoir

“This is a terrific book. It’s practical, it’s fun to read, and it totally demystifies the publishing process. Whether you are just setting out to write a book, or already have several published books under your belt, you will find this an invaluable resource. There is no doubt in my mind that it will become a standard of the industry, sitting right alongside

Writer’s Market

and

The Chicago Manual of Style.

(And let me tell you—it’s a much better read than either of those books could ever dream of being!)”
—Rick Beyer, author of

The Greatest Stories Never Told Series

“We had been working on our first project for several years, on our own, and struggling without any guidance. We were really discouraged by the entire process. Without

The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published

, we’d still be stuck in literary limbo. Now, with two books published, we’re working on our third!”
—Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi, Authors of

Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women

and

Salaam, Love: American Muslim Men on Love, Sex, and Intimacy

“Once I ratcheted up the nerve to self-publish my first novel, I realized there were two ways to do it: Close my eyes, hold my breath, and hit the publish button, or learn everything I needed to know to do it professionally and successfully. I opted for the latter, bought

The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published

, and read it from cover to cover. Then I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. As a result, my book hit #1 on Amazon’s commercial fiction list.”
—Eva Lesko Natiello, author of

The Memory Box

“[

The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published

] offers aspiring authors refreshingly honest, knowledgeable, and detailed advice on not only how to get published, but how to deal with every phase of the publishing process, constructively and realistically. It’s an invaluable resource for anyone who dreams about having his/her book not only published, but published well.”
—Jamie Raab, Publisher, Grand Central

“From coming up with an idea to promoting the finished book, these insiders tell you what you need to know and inspire you to do it—with wit, charm, and a thorough knowledge of what they write.”
—Amy Cherry, Editor, W. W. Norton


* Previously published as

Putting Your Passion into Print

About the Author

Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry are co-founders of The Book Doctors. They have written 25 books between them. David’s last book appeared on the cover of

The New York Times Book Review

. Arielle is an agent-at-large for the Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency.