The self-publishing process is often overlooked until writers have finished their first draft, but it’s a vital part of your book’s success, and some of these steps should even be considered while you’re writing your book.
As an indie author, you will retain the most possible royalties for your efforts. However, self-publishing also means you will be more responsible for your book’s success in other ways besides just writing a great book.
This article breaks down the self-publishing process, from immediately after completing your first draft to published. Click any section in the list below to jump to a certain topic, or scroll through the entire article.
Published! (& FREE downloadable Self-Publishing Checklist)
Walk Away
Congratulations! You’ve finished the first draft of your manuscript (or the “down draft,” as author Anne Lamott calls it in her book Bird by Bird). Now it’s time to walk away.
Yep, walk away. Give your manuscript and your mind some time apart. Working so closely with your manuscript creates a sort of “author blindness,” causing your eyes to skim over errors and your mind to ignore plot holes. This means you won’t be able to readily recognize what needs fixing in your manuscript.
Taking a break will help you later return to your manuscript with a somewhat fresh perspective so you can dive into your self-editing phase with more efficiency. While some recommend waiting a few days, I suggest taking at least a month before picking it back up. I know that seems long, but the longer you wait, the fresher your perspective when you read it next and the better your self-edits will be. (If you don’t like the idea of wasted time, follow Stephen King’s advice and use this break to begin writing another book!)
Self-Editing
Now that you’ve taken a break, it’s time to dive into the self-editing phase. Reading over your own work to perform self-edits will give you a more fleshed-out second draft (the “up draft”). Self-editing will push your book to new heights and save you money on professional editing in the long run because you will be making your editor’s job easier and allowing them to focus on elements other than the obvious plot hole or missing period.
It is impossible to focus on everything at once. That’s why even professional editors break these tasks down into four rounds of edits. During this self-editing step, you are going to search for the following elements over several rounds of self-editing.
- narrative arc (is there a clear beginning, middle, and end?)
- plot holes (does everything follow through to a satisfactory conclusion?)
- character development (are your characters relatable and believable?) and character arc (did your protagonist grow or change in any way?)
- proper pacing (does your story maintain your reader’s interest?)
- removing filler words (just, felt, realized, really, very, etc.)
- telling vs. showing (let the reader experience it!)
- organic dialogue (read it out loud to ensure it sounds natural)
- consistency (do details change throughout the story?)
- grammar, spelling, punctuation (check for errors)
(Learn more about the self-editing phase and download a FREE self-editing checklist!)
Write the Perfect Blurb
Your blurb is key to your book’s sales, but many writers consider this part harder than writing the actual book. Read my Tips for Writers article titled Nail Your Blurb & Sell More Books for help with this difficult step and download your FREE Fiction Blurb Writing Toolkit!
Developmental Editing vs. Alpha/Beta Readers
When you are done with your self-edits, it’s time to decide whether you want to hire a professional editor for developmental editing, seek alpha/beta readers, or both. There are benefits to both options, so choose wisely. (If you want to use both options, start with the alpha/beta readers, then hire a professional developmental editor.)
| DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING | ALPHA/BETA READERS | |
| WHAT IS IT? | Developmental editing looks at the big picture of your manuscript and is often recommended for new authors to help refine their writing craft. It ensures that the story makes sense and the author addresses larger issues. (Learn more in The Four Rounds of Editing.) | The goal of an alpha/beta reader is similar to a developmental editor, but they are often nonprofessionals and their feedback could be vague or unhelpful, if they even get back to you with any feedback at all. Depending on your topic, you may want to seek an alpha/beta reader who can also perform an Authenticity Reading (people who can personally relate to the race, religion, disability, etc. that is depicted in your book and attest to its authenticity or advise you on how to improve in that area). |
| MONEY VS TIME | Developmental editing is completed by a professional editor. It can be costly, but you can rest assured that a professional is taking the appropriate time and attention to give you sincere constructive criticism and feedback, suggestions for improvement, and examples on honing your craft. Your editor should have a contract in place that guarantees they will follow through for you, as well as protects your intellectual property. With a professional developmental editor on your team, you will also only need to find one person for the initial big-picture feedback (as opposed to many alpha/beta readers) and you can count on a solid deadline of when to expect it back in your hands. | Alpha/beta readers are a more budget-friendly option than paying for developmental editing. In most cases, you shouldn’t have to pay for alpha readers (the exception being if they are professionals in the publishing industry). This will save you a pretty penny, but will cost you in time as you will need to find several alpha/beta readers. And unfortunately, you can’t be as demanding when you aren’t exchanging a contract and money, so keep in mind that not all will follow through with feedback or their criticisms may be vague or not constructive if they don’t know how to articulate beyond, “I didn’t like this part.” |
| HOW DO I GET STARTED? | Interested in hiring an editor? Let’s Discuss Your Manuscript! I offer discounts, a payment plan, and value adds to ensure you get the high-quality professional editing your book deserves. | Try searching social media sites for author groups or reader communities like Wattpad. Ideally, you want to find beta readers who fit your target audience. You may also want to consider obtaining a copyright before sending off your manuscript to strangers, which will protect even unpublished work (here’s a Reedsy article about How to Copyright a Book). Also consider turning your manuscript into a PDF so it’s not easily copied. |
Hint: This would also be a good time to find authenticity readers if your book requires such services.
Revisions
Time for your third “dental draft” (where you check each tooth). Use the feedback and constructive criticisms from your developmental editor and alpha/beta readers to improve your manuscript.
Try to maintain an open mind as to what your editor or the alpha/beta readers are telling you. Stephen King says if one person out of a group tells you to change something, you may be okay ignoring their advice, but if several people tell you the same thing (or a professional does!), then you may want to listen to what they have to say. After all, that’s the whole point of this step—to see what changes, development, or corrections are needed to make your book even better before you publish, which will ultimately increase the likelihood of your book’s success.
Line Editing & Copyediting
Now it’s time to polish and edit your manuscript. At this stage, you should be looking for a Line/Copyeditor to enhance the rhythm and language of your manuscript and perform the first attack on grammatical issues. After this round of editing, you will have time for further revisions and to accept/reject your editor’s suggested changes.
(Learn more about The Four Rounds of Editing and Manuscript Formatting for Your Editor.
Formatting for Publication
Decide whether you will be selling your book in eBook, paperback, hardcover, or a combo of those choices. From there, you can begin formatting your book for each type. Many self-publishing platforms offer a free tool you can use to ensure you adhere to their guidelines, or you can hire a professional formatter if you prefer not to do it yourself or if you desire something fancier than a basic book builder can provide.
Proofreading
If you haven’t hired an editor yet, now is the time. You absolutely should not skip this final editing round—and that’s saying something because I don’t even offer proofreading at Red Quill Editorial, so I am not trying to sell you on my services here. The reality is you are too close to your own work to fully edit it yourself. You will miss details, no matter how good of a writer you are. After all, even editors hire other editors for their own writing materials (yes, I hired someone else to proofread my own book Horse Cents)!
A proofreader should be looking at the final formatted version after all your rewrites have been completed. Their job is to be the final set of sharp eyes to catch any lingering or newly introduced grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
(Learn more about The Four Rounds of Editing.)
Marketing
A Note from Your Editor: It’s difficult for many people to market themselves. The ever-present monsters of self-doubt and imposter syndrome like to tell you lies, like how you aren’t good enough and no one will like your book. You’ve got to push past that and change the narrative. Look in the mirror and tell yourself every single morning that you are strong, brave, and wonderful, because really, you are. Not everyone can say they wrote a book! That takes a lot of time, sweat and tears, commitment, hard work, and vulnerability (or strength, depending on how you view it). It’s okay to pat yourself on the back and sing your praises. In fact, you have to if you want to successfully market your book.
Throughout this whole process, you should be marketing your book and building up hype both before your book is published and after. Marketing plays a key factor in your book’s success. Even if you write a fantastic book, it won’t sell if people don’t know it exists. If you’re too uncomfortable to market your book yourself, you should seriously consider hiring a professional marketer to help.
While you are still writing: Get on social media, create an author webpage, and consider creating a digital newsletter. Your goal here is build intrigue, hype, and a following so you have built-in readers when your book launches. Another awesome aspect to building a following early is that you can create polls for your future readers to be directly involved in certain aspects of your book, just be cautious not to give away any spoilers!
Once you’ve completed the professional editing and formatting of your book: Consider submitting your manuscript to a big-name review company like Kirkus for a professional review that could garner some serious attention. It’s also a great opportunity to pull a quote for your book cover and ads!
Once your book is published: Spend some money on ads and build promotions (consider submitting these to places like BookBub). Join local author festivals and vendor fairs. Speak with local bookstores about carrying your book. Basically, never stop talking about your book. (Also, write another one! The true key to authorial success is having multiple books published.)
Cover Design
You will need a great cover to catch your potential readers’ eyes. Your book cover needs to reflect your genre and your particular story. It is possible to design your own cover on certain programs, such as Canva, but you better know enough about what you’re doing or you could really screw yourself over. If you have written a romantic comedy but the cover you designed screams thriller instead, you’re going to draw in the wrong readers and get poor reviews as a result.
Hiring a professional cover designer like MiblArt will ease this problem and free you up to focus on other details, like marketing your book. Unlike with traditional publishing, you should still get the final call on the cover as an indie author, but the pros can help guide you in the right direction to increase your sales through your target audience.
(Need help finding artists for interior illustrations?)
Publishing Platforms
The first step should be to decide which indie author publishing platform you want to use, but you’ll also need to decide things like whether you want to distribute your book globally, use your chosen platform’s special features, or take advantage of their free ISBN. This topic is pretty detailed, so I have written another article all about it, titled Self-Publishing: A Guided Tour.
Copyright Your Hard Work
Don’t forget to copyright your hard work! Simply putting the copyright notice in your book doesn’t protect you if you ever have to go to court over someone trying to claim your work as their own. You’ve invested the time and money into yourself this far. Do not skip this step!
For those in the US, you will want to register your copyright with the Library of Congress. There are links at the top of the Library of Congress’s website with helpful tips and information. First, you will need to create an account.
- Scroll down to Register Your Works and click on Learn More.
- On this next page, scroll down to where it says Literary Works and click on Learn More again.
- Scroll down and click on Register a Literary Work.
- You will now be able to create an account so you can log in anytime you need to add a new copyright or update your information.
Now that you have an account, proceed with registering the copyright for your book.
- On the left, you will select Standard Application under where it says Register a Work.
- At the top, select Start Registration.
- Type of work should be Literary Work.
- Check the box at the bottom and click Continue at the top.
- Click on New.
- Select Title of Work Being Registered, type in the title of your book, click Save at the top, and then Continue.
- Proceed with your book’s information.
Because everyone’s situation is different, I can’t really walk you past this point. Just ensure you are completing the appropriate steps for your specific situation. However, here are a few hints and tips:
- When it asks for the copyright claimant and contact information, look for the Add Me buttons to save yourself some time.
- On the left of the screen, you will see a list of steps to complete. As you finish each one, a checkmark will appear next to it. You can click on any of them to jump around if you want to or take it step-by-step.
- You will be able to review all the information you entered for accuracy just before you click Add to Cart.
As of the last update to this article (February 2024), the fee to register your copyright is $65. You can pay by credit card or directly from your bank account. After you pay, you will receive an email from the Library of Congress with a link on how to upload or mail your manuscript. Don’t forget to do this step as it is necessary in order to complete your copyright certification. You can also access this information by clicking Continue on the payment confirmation page.
ARC Readers
At this point, your manuscript should be edited and ready to publish. Now it’s time to start thinking about reviews (yes, before you’ve published)!
There are companies that connect authors with ARC readers (advanced reader copy) who will read your book for free in exchange for an honest review once your book is published. Garnering reviews makes your book feel more legit and worthwhile, as well as plays into the algorithm to make your book appear in searches.
Before sending out your manuscript to your ARC readers, be sure to create a PDF version so it is not easily copied. I also recommend including a title page that includes the verbiage “Advanced Copy—Not for Resale.” (And revisit the copyright step if you haven’t completed that yet.) Keep in mind that finding ARC readers can be just as tedious as finding alpha/beta readers. You may get a small fraction of them actually following through with a review. For this reason, I recommend aiming for at least 50 ARC readers.
Published!
Congratulations! You’re finally ready to publish! Don’t forget to continue marketing your book and building up your readers, especially if you plan to publish more books. You’ve got this!
Red Quill Editorial LLC
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