How to Self-publish and Market a Book

Chapter 2: 6 Months Before Launch

Overview

This part of the project deals with tasks that should be worked on and completed six months before the launch date. Beginning your first self-publishing project is actually an exciting time. You're finally finished writing and revising your book and you are about to embark on a new venture.

As you start your self-publishing project, you will come across tasks that are outside your experiences as an author. This is to be expected since the only commonality between writing a book, self-publishing the book and marketing the book is that all these activities involve the same book and the same person.

Publishing is the process of getting your book into a form that the reading public can read and buy.

The goal of self-publishing is to produce a quality book package to hold your quality content. To achieve this, you have to ensure the self-publishing tasks are completed as perfectly as possible. This will involve time and money. And it just isn't your time we're talking about. Others are involved in the process and their time has to be factored into the project.

These others involved include beta readers, cover artists and editors. These people may be sympathetic to your launch date but they have their own problems and workloads.

One task you'll have to work on is formatting the ebook manuscript. The formatting has to be done in accordance with the Epub3 standard and that can be a difficult and tedious process. It may also require outside help. Hiring such an expert represents another possible interval that has to be accounted for.

The process of self-publishing a quality book bundle may seem daunting at first blush, but thousands of other authors have pulled it off. So why can't you? If you were capable enough to write a book, I think you're capable enough to self-publish your book.

Initial book marketing tasks consist of developing material that will be used later on when the marketing activities intensify. Getting it done early lightens the work load later on.

The publish tasks covered in this chapter include:

Establish the launch dateFinish the manuscriptRecruit beta readers

Under marketing, the task is:

Develop a strategic plan

Publishing Tasks

Establish the Launch Date

Self-publishing means you are the publisher in addition to being the author.

Since you are the publisher, you decide the launch date at which time the world will be able to purchase a copy of your book. Now is a good time to choose that date. It will have to be far enough away to enable you to complete all the tasks in the publishing and marketing project. This means you have to resist the urge to make the launch date next week! Releasing a book that doesn't yet have a quality book package is self-defeating. It will turn off potential buyers.

So now your job (as the publisher) is to select the launch date. The most important factor to consider is whether or not you will have time to complete all the work involved. Life frequently interferes with this work so the date at this point is an educated guess. But since you are the publisher, you can move the launch date out if you are having trouble making it. You can also move it closer if situation warrants that. If you can link your book to a popular holiday, that will be great boost. For instance, if your book's setting is around Christmas time, a December launch is appropriate. But that means you have to start on the project in May in order to make the December launch date.

For now, decide on what the tentative launch date will be.

Finish the Manuscript

This may strike you as a silly task. Of course your manuscript is finished. Or is it?