‘Isolation is the dream killer.’
–Barbara Sher
Writing a book is a solitary activity and requires vision, determination and resilience. Think about how you have achieved major goals in the past: if you are the type of person who needs support and interaction to re-energise yourself when you are flagging, you will need to find ways to create a support team to see you through the book writing stage.
If, however, you love to hide away and work with ideas and words, you will find the writing stage a pleasure, but may struggle with the creative aspects of bringing those words into a tangible product, and the people-focussed activities associated with marketing.
A support team: Use Google to find out more about Barbara Sher’s concept of success teams or other types of groups. They are simple and effective if run well, and you can easily create something similar. You could set up your own by finding others like yourself who also need accountability and support while writing, or contact me to find out about my regular Book Success Group, which includes professional feedback, review and book coaching support as well.
THE PROFESSIONALS
To produce a quality book that will be taken seriously in the business world, and that reflects your own high standards, it is imperative that you use professionals who specialise in working with non-fiction books for these functions: editing, book cover design, page layout, and printing.
Your Publishing Options
- Self-publishing
As a DIY self-publisher you manage every step of the process: find your way through the publishing maze; write your content; source your own editing, design and print experts as you need them, and trust they know what they are doing; upload your book for online distribution; launch and market your book … all while making a living at the same time.
2. Publishing service providers
One-stop publishing services provide you with a project manager skilled in bringing quality publications to life, and they become your one point of contact as they manage the production for you. They have their own team of tried and true professionals with expertise in editing, cover design, page layout, printing and online distribution. They make also offer extra services such as ghostwriting, author websites, marketing collateral design and more, through associates.
You simply pay for services rendered, and once your book is produced, you own every aspect of your book, have full access to all accounts set up in your name, and retain all profits from sales. Read more about this service here.
3. Hybrid option
This can sometimes sound like a traditional publishing company because they ‘publish’ your book for you under their label, but they do ask you to contribute to the costs yourself, and they provide a supply of books to you. Once published, they also take a percentage of sales because they assist with marketing. However, you must still drive sales yourself, so check this option carefully before proceeding.
Ask who owns the ISBN for your book; what rights you have to re-use your own content; what access you have to online distribution accounts such as Amazon and IngramSpark; what percentage of sales they take; what marketing processes they guarantee to implement and for how long.
Ask what happens to your book if they suddenly close up shop (which happens). (I recently had to rescue a book for a client after their ‘publisher’ closed down.)
4. Traditional publishers
A publishing company enters what is basically a business contract with an author if they feel they will profit from investing resources into publishing and marketing the author’s work. The publisher buys the right to publish a book and pays the author royalties from sales. They fund editing, design, printing, distribution and marketing.
The downsides are loss of control of your book, a lengthy wait for the publishing process to take place, and marketing support that may seem to be insufficient, haphazard or brief.
As the author, you are still expected to energetically market your own book, and ideally bring a strong existing following, good connections, and a marketable personal brand to the arrangement.
As a non-fiction writer, you can either find a literary agent to represent you, or send a submission directly to publishers who make that option available on their website. You must identify companies that represent or publish the genre your book belongs to, and when they are open for submissions. You may need to submit a query letter plus a thorough book proposal, with several sample chapters, and a synopsis of each chapter. Look for ‘Submission Guidelines’ on their websites, and do exactly what is asked of you.
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This is the eighth of a series of articles taken from the book, ‘Smart Women Publish – Write the book that expands your world’ by Bev Ryan. Each article in this series will present the key ideas in its 15 chapters, from what a book can do for you, through planning, writing, publishing and leveraging your published book.
Bev is a certified non-fiction book coach (including memoir with a message) and book production manager, working with accomplished and interesting people as they write and self-publish their best non-fiction books. Contact Bev to find out how she can help you with your book, and your publishing choices.
Are you procrastinating or stuck in the planning or writing stages? Find out about Bev’s regular Book Success Group, which includes professional feedback, review and book coaching support as well.