Think You're Ready To Publish?

In compiling what I think are the key bits of advice for my and upcoming Beta Publishing Course I compiled my 3 pre-publishing must dos. Writing your manuscript is just one stop on the journey towards your goal of self-publishing. However, there are lots of behind the scenes nuts and bolts that have to be in place before a book can be released. Here are my top 3.

Order your ISBN number. This is a special number that is assigned to books that allows them to be identified easily. Each country has its own issuing agency. The process can sometimes take weeks so start early.

Design your cover. Before you’ve even finished editing, have the cover designed. This is primarily to ensure that once the manuscript is ready you can publish faster. However, it is also ideal to start marketing even before the book is available for purchase and having a cover design is a good way to kick off your campaign.

Start marketing before you start selling. As long as you have a cover in place, start marketing. You want to have an interested audience in place once your book has been released. It is much more difficult to build interest after publication. Share information on the process, how it’s going, give sneak peaks of the illustrations or do live readings of sections of the book. Start to build momentum.

These are my key pre-publishing activities. What else would you add to the list? Share in the comments below.