The fifth draft completed (minor tweaks aside – v5.1, 5.2, 5.3…), finally I felt my first novel, Eight Seasons was ready to be self-published. I’d long since given up any aspirations of traditional publishing, but at the same time, I only had a vague understanding of what I’d need to do to publish independently. Being a fairly methodical and thorough person, and hoping to do justice to my labour of love, I wanted to compile a check-list of tasks to be completed on the way to self-publishing.
Doing a bit of prior research, I joined the sub-reddits r/selfpublish and r/writers and began to make a brief list of things to do from posts I’d seen by others who had self-published. I also googled self-publishing checklist and found three which I thought looked detailed and different enough. The most instructive of these and the one I used as the base for my own list was Rachel J Rowlands website (make sure to check her website out – she’s much further along the journey than I am ) which had separate checklists for both publish and marketing. To this I added extra points and explanation from the other two and from various posts on reddit that I had saved.
Finally, I ended up with something like the below. As you can see, it’s still a work-in-progress, but I’m going to be ticking more off over the coming days and weeks. As I do so, I’ll record my progress.
For future books, the list won’t be quite so exhaustive (and exhausting) as much of it will already be done.
What do you think of the list? Anything I’ve missed out?
Book Publishing Checklist
Publishing Steps
- Choose your book title, series title if needed, and pen name
- Create an outline
- First Draft
- Second + Draft.
- Submit to The Literacy Consultancy for a Report
- Select book’s typography
- Send book to Beta Readers.
- Hire an editor or self-edit using Grammarly, beta feedback & New Hart’s Rules
- Write author bio
- Dedications
- Write your blurb/book description: a) 10-200 words. b) hook readers with the first sentence; and c) don’t give away the plot, but tell readers a general synopsis so they know what to expect.
- Covers: front, back & spine. Epub and paperback. Use Canva to self-design or Fiverrr to outsource.
- Learn to format a book – use Vellum. Content to include in your manuscript: dedication, contents page, copyright page/ISBNs, acknowledgements, thank you/request for reviews, author bio.
- Formatting book for different platforms. Check Amazon KDP’s formatting guidelines.
- Layout: Check for widows, orphans and runts.
- Choose your release date.
- Buy ISBN numbers – Nielsen if buying from the UK. You need one ISBN per format, e.g. one for paperback and one for ebook.
- Decide if you’ll buy barcodes (most print-on-demand services print one onto the paperback book for you) – No
- Decide whether you’ll be Amazon exclusive or “wide” Decide if you’ll enrol your ebook in Kindle Unlimited.
- Set up a pre-order if you choose to do one and submit your interior and exterior files
- Decide on your pricing strategy
- Sign up to Amazon Author Central
- Amazon KDP Research- keywords and categories. Use PublisherRocket.
- Choose your Amazon categories (3)
- Order proof copies to check for errors Upload any corrected files
- Do the Create a Book section on KDP – Creat a Book section of KDP
- Prepare any advance review copies you have or want to send out to reviewers before release
Marketing Steps
- Make a marketing plan – budget, promotion channels & launch date.
- Ark reviews. Use platforms- Book Sirens/Book Sprout
- Buy website & hosting – Hostinger
- Design website – Use WP Maker’s tutorial
- Design a logo – Canva.
- Launch book website
- Grow author platform – sum of all your audiences. a) Email list for direct access to audience. b) Social media across various platforms. c) A blog, optimised for search. Spend a few weeks building platform before launching.
- Make a multiple-territory link for your book (try mybook.to)
- Post social media announcements (pre-release posts might include cover, blurb and title reveals)
- Create a media kit with your author bio and headshots
- Start or grow your newsletter and offer freebies for signing up
- Launch event?
- Claim your book on Amazon Author Central and set up your profile and bio
- Send out regular newsletters with updates Try out Amazon or Facebook/Instagram ads
- Social media: share regular updates, post short-form video book marketing on TikTok or Instagram, aesthetics posts, quotes/snippets, photos of your writing space, reader Q&As, live chats, share reviews and book recommendations, writing tips
- Gather reviews from purchasers/subscribers – Mailerlite/Mailchimp/Convertkit or alternatives
- Start an author or writing advice blog
- Hold giveaways on social media
- Run promotions on platforms like BookFunnel
- Set up your Goodreads author profile and do the Q&A
- Add your book to Goodreads (try the Goodreads Librarian Group in Goodreads groups if you have trouble)
- Try out some Kindle Unlimited countdown deals if you’re enrolled in KU
- Set up and run a street team to help promote your book
- Remind people to review your book if they’ve read it
- Try doing some real-life events such as conventions or signings
- Take part in newsletter swaps with authors who write in your genre
