Leadership
The 6 P’s of Self-publishing: Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing
Hey Friends,
If you’re thinking about self-publishing, you’re gonna wanna ask yourself these six questions. And if you’re not—you should! If you’re a speaker, coach, consultant or SME, books can be used as leverage for increased fees, as a sign of credibility, to tell your story and as an additional revenue stream. They can also lead to increased visibility so keep reading and happy writing!
1). Publication Date: are you trying to be done in a year or 10 years? Once you decide what’s your writing plan to hit your deadline?
2). Plan: what’s your plan to write? For me, my plan was to write 35,000 words in 6 months because I wanted to be published by my birthday.
- August to November = free writing without editing (5-7 hours per day)
- November to December = editing and rewriting (5-7 hours per day)
- December to January = professional editing
- January to February = formatting and layout
- February to March = printing and publishing
3). Partners: when self-publishing it’s your responsibility to locate, hire and sometimes fire your partners and you need a few. Who are reputable are credible partners for you?
- Graphic designer—preferably a designer who can design your cover (front, back and spine) and who can do the print-ready layout and interior design.
- Editor—preferably an editor who can do both grammar and tone/style editing. If you choose to have two editors know that human editing is never 100% guaranteed and will always have an error or two or three.
Note: if you don’t want to find your own designer and editor you can publish your book with a book publishing company or contractor.
4). Purchased ISBN: how many ISBN numbers will I need? The answer to this question will vary. If you want a hardback, a paperback, an e-version and an audio version some will say you need four and others would say two but it depends on the distribution channels you use.
5). Price: is my price competitive? Do your research and see how your price compares to others in your industry?
6). Promotion: where, when and how will I promote and sell my book? This is one of the most important questions of them all as a book is written to be sold, not to stay on a shelf or in a box getting old. A few examples are below:
- Bookstores
- Colleges/Universities
- Friends & Family
- Organizations/Associations
- Personal Website
- Social Media
- The News
Want more tips, tools and tidbits like this??? Follow me on Insta and watch my Walk Talk Series.
