Colin's Column: How to Self-Publish a Book

In this edition of Colin’s Column, I want to walk you through how to self-publish a book.

How do you get a book published? Should you go the traditional route, should you self-publish? What’s the difference between non-fiction and fiction publishing?

Hold steady, I will answer most of these questions in this blog. However, I won’t be going too detailed into the fiction submission and publishing process because that is not my forte. To be honest, there seems to be much more of that information readily available anyway. So if you are interested in non-fiction, then this is the blog column for you!

I think a great place to start is when you first have a thought percolation in your head: I think I have a book to write OR I want to write a book. Once you have this thought, the next logical step is to figure out what to do. Looking from the top of the mountain and seeing all the steps ahead can be overwhelming, but if you want to do this right it’s important that you take every step and do them in somewhat of a manageable order. 

The question most of us ask next is do I go with traditional or self-publishing? Here’s my two cents: Breaking into traditional publishing is harder than ever before. I’m talking about the big dogs -- Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, etc. There is such an influx of author submissions that there is a very slim chance that you will get noticed unless you have a connection on the inside or can find yourself representation. In fact, I’ve read that somewhere around 80% of proposals that are purchased get sold by literary agents.

That’s the other caveat, finding representation can be just as difficult as getting someone to accept a query proposal. As we all know, timing is everything, especially with non-fiction books. If you have an idea that isn’t evergreen, then it may not make sense for you to try and hunt for representation and then try and land a book deal. But, if you feel you want to give it a try, I recommend looking at Publishers Marketplace. That seems like the most intuitive site to use.

Some other items to consider with traditional publishing:

• If your proposal got purchased, that would be awesome, no doubt! But almost immediately, the idea becomes collaborative. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but YOU lose the ability to piece together the manuscript as you see best. If your publisher doesn’t like an idea, it will get canned. And literary agents aren’t like big-time sports agents that can negotiate everything and anything under the sun for you. They will certainly support you, but it will be hard to win all your battles versus a monster publishing company. 

• You don’t make as much money in royalties when you are working with a traditional publisher. You have to split a portion of your royalties with your publisher. Not that money is everything, but that’s certainly something to consider.

• You do usually get an advance in money. The advance is based on how much the publisher expects you to make back in sales in the initial period. That’s not a hard fact, just a guideline. So you are paying that money back, but it is nice to have it upfront because putting together a reputable book is not cheap!

When it comes to traditional publishing and my process, it just wasn’t for me. Another aspect to consider is that most publishers don’t want the full book when you submit a proposal. If you haven’t caught on, notice I’ve said proposal a bunch of times already. Yes, you will have to put together a proposal. With fiction books, publishers usually want the full manuscript as part of the proposal, but with non-fiction, they only want a chapter or two. Again, because it becomes a collaborative effort if it’s purchased, it doesn’t make sense to write a full manuscript. This again brings us back to timing: It may or may not make sense for you to wait. That is something you need to consider.

When I began thinking about writing a book, I just wanted to write. I did a little bit of poking around for agents and potential publishers, but at the end of the day, it was most important for me to tell the story I was writing using my voice and my originality. I didn’t want to wait, and thus I ended up opting for the self-publishing route.

So, we are going to break off from traditional publishing here. I only know surface-level information and I feel you will get better information from a simple Google search.

Now that we are moving onto to talk through the rest of the self-publishing process, I’ll begin with a quick outline of what to expect (aka what are the steps to getting published):

1. What is the book you want to write?

2. Research

3. Create an outline

4. Write

5. Edit

6. Layout & Design

7. Publish

Okay, step number one is the idea. What do YOU want to write about? What do you have a passion for? Who do you want to honor? There are so many ideas out there and no idea is a bad idea. It’s certainly scary, I will admit to that, but no idea is a bad idea. Listen, people aren’t going to like your book even if you are the next big-time author. You can’t please everyone, no matter what. So you have to go with what feels right to YOU. Be a little selfish. You are putting the work in. Reward yourself with something you’ll enjoy!

The idea for my book came after reading a couple of books about the Yankees on my wedding honeymoon. I remember telling my wife that I thought there was a good research paper idea loosely based on the Yankees’ organizational structure and development over the past thirty or so years.

I completely bought into the idea of writing a full book after about a month of research. I got through three books and had fifteen or so pages of notes, and I knew I had other books I still wanted to get to. So I knew I had something special at that point. That’s how the idea for my book was born. It’s not this amazing story, just pretty straightforward.

Step number two is research. The degree of research is going to vary depending on your topic and your level of knowledge. For me, I have no personal affiliation with the Yankees. So I thought it was vitally important to research as deeply as I could, without digging so far down that I could never get back up. What I mean by that is, eventually you just have to write.

My personal research process -- involving books, articles, podcasts, etc. -- lasted roughly a year. Now, remember, I was doing this “on the side” or in my “free time.” Writing is not yet a full-time career for me. So while a year might seem laborious to most, it’s not like I was spending eight hours a day for a whole year doing research. Even still, eventually, I had to say to myself, Colin, are you ever actually going to write? I’ll tell you that once I did start writing I was super happy that I did. Why? Because I found out elements and ideas that I did need to research that I never would have known otherwise. Writing helped me clarify what information I still needed.

My last point of research is note-taking: I took handwritten notes on a yellow legal pad as I read and then I typed them out on the computer. Again, some may see this as laborious, but I had a purpose: it helped me better learn my story. Look, I’m a huge Yankee fan, but there was so much information I was packing into my brain and there were a ton of stories I had never even heard before. Writing and then typing the notes helped me learn the stories. It was like I was studying in college. Again, this isn’t something that is going to be for everyone, but I think it’s of the utmost importance for the author of a book to know their story as much as possible. I’m never going to be able to read you my book by memory and word-for-word, but I can pretty much tell you every idea and story that is in the book.

Step three is creating an outline. With this step, you can be as detailed or not as you want. For me, it was enough to put together a basic outline with a few notes. Others may feel the need to go very detailed here. The point is that you should do it. It helps you put together the millions of thoughts and ideas and gives your mind some structure to work with or toward.

Interestingly enough, related to the outline, one other thing I did before I wrote was I printed out all of my notes, cut them out to individual points or quotes, sat on my apartment floor, and put them in “topic” piles. This helped me literally take the hundreds of notes I had and sort them into topics that made it easier for me to put together an outline. It’s not a step that everyone will want to take, but if you’re like me and have trouble seeing the bigger picture, then it may be something to consider.

Step four is simply to write. Write for as long as you can, as often as you can. Write in an environment that suits you. There is no “right way” to write. So often, we creatives are told by influencers you need to do “this” or “that” and we get boxed into certain ideas just like the rest of the world. Don’t! Write how you want to do it.

My writing process was roughly five months long. Again, this is not a full-time gig, so if five-months seems outrageous to you, please keep it within context. I found it easier to schedule out blocks of time to write. I didn’t literally schedule to the minute, but I found that by committing to (at least) an hour then I’d have enough time to get warmed up and get into a groove. I’d put my noise-canceling headphones on and for the majority of my time writing, I actually listened to the Titanic soundtrack. I know that probably sounds silly, but I wanted music to soothe my brain and I wanted music without lyrics. Plus, the Titanic soundtrack is soooo long, and while I ended up listening to it countless times, it never felt like overkill.

Most often I wrote for an hour, sometimes two -- but that was the max. I’d get mentally tired after that. Again, I was working my full-time job on top of this. If you have more time to write or want to write more, great. It just wasn’t for me.

Step five is to edit. This process had so many layers to it for me. First, it began with edits on the computer. I read the manuscript on-screen and did as much editing as I could before getting to my next step. Then, I printed a copy and did edits by hand. There is just something about being able to read the paper copy that allowed me to see aspects I had missed on the screen. It’s like looking at the manuscript in another format. 

I did all of that editing myself and then I asked my wife to do an edit and be as critical as she could be. Once I got her edit back, I felt confident enough to find my first editor.

There are a few different phases to editing and I feel like this is probably where most authors who self-publish are most inclined to skip a step or two. I promise you, as an author who has taken the “easier route” in the past (I self-published a fiction novel in 2011), taking the time and paying the money to go through a full edit is instrumental to making your book a worthwhile read.

Here are the three main edits:

1. Developmental Edit: During this phase, my editor helped me strengthen the bones of my “shitting first draft” and make my Word document look like something that actually resembled a manuscript. Shout out to Dawn Husted for the assistance here and check out her site to learn more about her services.

2. Line/Copy Edit: This edit was more technical. There was still a little developmental work, but for the most part, it is just straight technical. Shout out to Robin Samuels, my second editor, and you can check out her services right here.

3. Proofreading: This is the final editing phase and actually comes in two different steps if you do it right. Again, I think a lot of authors that self-publish skip the second proofread because they are so eager to get the book out there or don’t want to pay the money. I don’t blame you, but from experience, I know just how many errors got made between layout and the second proofread. For clarification, you do a first proofread, then you do interior layout, then you do a second proofreading. And when I say you, I mean an editor and a designer. Nina Durfee was my final editor for this process and you can find her information here.

Now, before I move onto layout and design, I want to highlight the fact that I had three separate editors throughout this part of the process. I will always go with three in the future because I loved getting fresh perspectives plus fresh eyes each time on my manuscript. But the minimum you should strive for here is two editors. One for the first two edit steps and one for the proofread. You absolutely want fresh eyes on the proofread so they can catch errors you and your previous editors may have missed.

Layout & Design. We are on to step six. Tired yet? Trust me, it’s worth it and we are almost there! This is where the fun begins. This is where you actually get to see your manuscript LOOK like a book!

There are two types of designs for this part of the process:

1. Cover design: This person or company will do just as it says. Design your cover, front and back, and spine, and help you with all matter related to this. This was the only part of the process where I opted to go with an overseas service versus an individual. For the most part, I wanted to support other indie folks in the writing world, but I couldn’t find someone I really liked for cover design. Non-fiction cover designs are actually fairly simple compared to fiction. Fiction covers tend to be a lot busier and have more elements to them. Non-fiction covers are more business-like. I found a suggestion online from a fellow writer to check out MIBLART and ended up going with them. They were super easy to work with, answered what seems like a hundred questions, and gave me an awesome cover design.

2. Interior design: This person or company takes the inside matter of your book (your manuscript) and they take the Word document (or whatever software you used to write) and make it look like the books you’ve been reading all of your life. I remember the feeling of awe I had the first time I saw my interior book design. It was a special feeling and reminds you that the process is worth it. I went with Gary James, a North Carolina designer to do my layout. His info can be found here.

The final step is to PUBLISH! This is also one of the most overwhelming and confusing parts of the process. Instead of adding to that confusion, I am going to stick with what I did/am doing and why I chose this path.

• IngramSpark: This option allows you to sell and distribute your book to all channels. Online, regular books stores, public libraries -- this is how you are going to get your book to places for people who don’t use Amazon. It was $49 to bundle the e-book and the paperback version together. A small investment to make the book so widely available.

• Amazon: I think it’s something around 70% of the book market comes from Amazon. Simply put, you want your book available on Amazon. You do have an option to make it exclusive to Amazon, but if you choose this option then you won’t be able to distribute on IngramSpark, for example. I’ve also heard that if you schedule a book signing (in a non-COVID environment) at a local bookstore, they don’t like it if you bring in copies from Amazon. I’m not sure how they check that and it may just be an old wives tale, but it’s something to lock in your mind. Again, I wanted my book to be distributed to as many channels as possible, so I didn’t go exclusively with Amazon, but I know plenty of authors that do -- especially fiction writers. Amazon is certainly very easy and it’s a great route to get print proofs of your book if you like to do editing that way (which I also encourage because then you get to see your book as it is versus on a computer).

With both options, you can set your book up for a pre-order if you wish. On Amazon, they only have the option for e-books, but on IngramSpark you can do both. Pre-order is more marketing-focused, which I may have to do another episode about later, but it’s an option worth considering.

Liability: A quick note here and something I’m not going to cover in great detail. But with non-fiction books, you do need to be aware of certain liability issues. Borrowing quotes, slander, etc. There is plenty of information on the internet here, so a quick Google search can help you if you have a question on anything related to this.

Total investment: $3k-$5k. Realistically, if you do this right, that’s what you can expect. You can do it for less, obviously, and you can do it for more, but on average this seems to be what most people pay and is in-line with what I did as well. You have to look at it this way: If you are going to take the time to write a book, you might as well make sure it’s readable, because if it is, then you will eventually make that investment back. Most writers aren’t going to be able to live off their book sales, but that initial investment is something I’m aiming to get back and hopefully top by a little bit too. From an ROI perspective, that’s why it made sense to me.

My last shout out here goes to the Writers of Non-Fiction Facebook group. In general, I don’t recommend trying to sort through this process alone. That’s why I created this blog post. But more than any resource, I found this group to be one of the most helpful and impactful. I found editors to work with, I got cover design feedback, and they answered any questions I couldn’t figure out on my own. It’s an awesome community!

This blog post has a ton of information. Enough to get you started and enough to give you the flexibility to go your own direction. Is there more to this process? Yes, like marketing your book (which may just have to be the next blog post I do), setting up an author’s website …. so much more out there! This is a guide, and that’s what it’s intended to be. I’m not a professional self-publisher, all I’m doing is sharing my experience. I hope that’s given you a sense of what you need to get a book written if you believe you have the next great idea. You probably do! And I can’t wait to read it.