Publishing advice
What happens between ‘The End’ and a book in your hands
A plain guide to the six stages every book goes through after the last line is written.
Finishing a manuscript is a real achievement. It is also the start of a second, quieter project: turning a document into a book. Here is what that project looks like, stage by stage.
1. Editing
Every book needs at least two kinds of edit: one that looks at the whole story, and one that looks at every sentence. Skipping the first is the most common reason good books read as unfinished.
2. Design
Your cover sells the book in a second. Your interior decides whether readers enjoy the next ten hours. Both deserve a designer who knows your genre.
Readers forgive a lot. They rarely forgive a book that is hard to read.
3. Registration
ISBNs, metadata and a copyright page are what let stores list your book and readers find it. They are dull, and they matter.
4. Distribution, launch and after
- Choose where your readers actually buy books
- Set prices per region
- Plan a launch that starts before launch day
- Keep going after month one
None of this is mysterious. It just takes time, care and someone who has done it before.