Publishing Your Manuscript – Three Items to Consider

Publishing your manuscript, whether you decide to self- or traditionally publish, has three critical components to incorporate to make sure your story is told. Today, I’m going to share three easy tips to remember when publishing your manuscript:

• Planning
• Support
• Commitment

Having a plan for writing, publishing, and marketing is critical when you tell your story. What is your plan for writing so you can hold yourself accountable and complete your manuscript? Do you plan out your writing schedule? Have you considered a book plan/business plan because your book is a business!

Having support when publishing your manuscript saves you from making critical errors. Who do you have supporting you?

Commitment ties it all together. What commitments are you willing to make to yourself, to your reader, and to your team?

Let’s take a little bit of a closer look at each of these three critical points for writing your book so your end product is a professionally published book.

Publishing Your Manuscript – Planning, Writing, Marketing, Oh My!

1. Writing Plan. When do you plan to write? Planning to write the same time each day guarantees consistency. Where is your special place to write? Find it and write there and only there; away from distractions and where you can be creative. 
2. Book Plan – Starting from your desired publishing date and working backwards is a key element in making sure no steps are missed. What is the length of your book; pages, words? How are you going to reach your goal? When do you want to have your first draft completed? Again, having a plan is what helps you stay focused, it allows you to stay up to date and keeps you on track. Also, being in communication with your team is important because support is the second component to have in place know when writing a book.
3. Marketing Plan – Do you plan to use your book for back-of-the-room sales at speaking events? Are you looking at becoming an Amazon/NY Times bestseller? Have you considered a virtual book tour doing podcasts? Are you trying to add credibility to your name and share your expertise with your reader?  The list goes on and on. How do you plan to sell your book? Do you have a marketing plan in place? Did you know marketing starts before you write one word? Who is your reader? Who are you writing for? How are you planning to connect with them? As an author, an email list is important so people become familiar with you; having a list of fans helps create the know, like, and trust factor, because once your friends and family purchase the book – who else wants to buy your book? If you don’t know who you are writing to how can you make the most of your marketing efforts? Being clear in your marketing helps you focus on the important things, finding and connecting with people who become your readers.

Support is needed

Who do you have in place to support you on your journey? Friends, family, professionals. Having the right support people in place helps you through the process and ensures a collaborative synergy because there’s excellent communication skills and guidance and encouragement during the good and not so good times. 

As an author, your job is to write. Having the best support from authorities in publishing is a given in order to make sure your book is completed in a professional manner.  Whether you self- or traditionally publish your book, garnering experts from all areas makes your publishing journey less challenging for you. 

Who do you work with? What services do they provide? Professional Author Assistants have been through a certification class and know all the tasks needed to help you do it right. They have a team of people or know colleagues from all aspects of the publishing process to help you complete your book and send it to market!

Did you know (after the self-editing phase) authors should hire a professional editor and proofreader? You are too close to your work to be objective. How are you going to reach your readers? Do you know what’s needed to present your manuscript to a publisher? What makes a great book cover? People do purchase a book based on its cover! How do you make sure all these individuals are working in sync? Each of these questions has an expert who provides the answer.

Having a team of professionals ready to support you is important for the success of your book. 

Commitment is crucial

Commitment is essential, commitment to your writing, your team, and your readers. How committed are you in seeing your book completed? Are you committed to your readers and yourself? Are you ready to be known as the expert you are? 

Set your deadline and do it. If the deadline needs adjustment that’s okay (life happens) but don’t make excuses. 

For example, if you want to write a 70,000 word book in 90 days, that’s approximately 800 words a day, which is about three pages. Can you commit to that? Maybe one day you can write 1600 or 2400 words, great. You’re ahead of the game. 

Make commitments to your reader – fulfill what you are telling them in your book – they are expecting knowledge, quality, your true self. Be sure you give them your expert advice. 

Keep the commitments to your support team – 

• your graphic designer needs feedback on your logo, your book cover, or any illustrations for your book.
• your editor and proofreader needs the chapter/s in a timely manner so you stay on track. 
• communication with your Professional Author Assistant is imperative for tasks being completed so important deadlines aren’t missed and team members are up to date on any changes or important information.

Another huge show of commitment when writing your book is making a commitment to spend the money to do it right – attending workshops, purchasing a new computer or other office equipment, and working with your support team. 

We can all say we’re committed to something but showing up is key. Our coach says, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything.” How do you want to show up? We bet as your best professional self. So finish your book and share it with the world. 

Planning. Support. Commitment. These three tips I shared with you today are critical components to having in place when publishing your manuscript. 

Ready to share your story, but you don’t know what to do next? We invite you to a complimentary strategy session and help you figure it out!