Strategies for Successful Book Publishing
Seeing your name on the cover of your book is a long-awaited and dream-coming-true moment for every author. Whether you choose traditional publishing or self-publishing, getting your book published can be as tedious as writing the manuscript, as both have their own advantages and disadvantages. Until a few years ago, writers didn’t have an option apart from traditional publishing. But now self-publishing industry has expanded so big that it presents the customer with myriad options. Carefully analyze the pros and cons of both before choosing one.
Steps of book publishing and how to do it effectively?
- Writing
Quality of content determines the success of your work irrespective of the publishing platform you choose.
Start writing by making an outline of that brilliant idea you have. Then elaborate by adding characters and subplots. If you are an author who wants to write what the audience wants, research thoroughly the current trends and the contents of recent bestsellers. Your book should be marketable, whatever the genre is. Surf through online forums and social media platforms, to know the general opinion and wants of the readers of the particular genre you write in. Completing your manuscript takes time, patience, hard work and a couple of revisions.
Getting feedback from beta readers is also important to mold your manuscript from a reader’s perspective. Don’t hesitate to ask for feedback from a person who is honest and thorough in the genre you write and to revise your work accordingly.
- Editing
The editing process of your book has two main stages.
- Self Editing:
Self-editing your book can be a little tricky because you wrote the entire work believing that it is right. Taking a break from your book for a couple of days and then editing it will help you to have a fresh perspective.
Self-editing becomes a key factor in deciding whether you get accepted by a literary agency or traditional publisher. They won’t be too keen to accept a manuscript with basic grammatical errors. Even if you are going for self-publishing, self-editing can prove to be quite useful.
- Professional Editing:
If you successfully manage to get accepted by a literary agency or traditional publisher, they will take care of this part (though the literary agency may charge you for this). If you intend to get self-published, investing in a professional editor after you are done with self-editing is never a waste of your money. If your resources allow it, it is always desirable to go through the proper process of editing, i.e., developmental editing (where the overall pace of the narrative, plot-holes, character development, etc. are analyzed), copy-editing (line-by-line editing which saves you from discrepancies of facts, like a character having blue eyes in the first chapter later appearing to be green-eyed) and proofreading (punctuation, grammar, syntax, etc. are taken care of).
Clever Fox Publishing, one of India’s leading self-publishing platforms, provides you with expert editorial services. Through Guided Self-Publishing, a publishing model at Clever Fox, you can avail services of several publishing packages from which you can choose one according to your book type, goals and budget. You can also customize the packages the way you want them to be. The editing services offered by Clever Fox (standard and advanced) are effective and at the same time, flexible. It is completely up to the author to accept or reject the changes. The experts at Clever Fox will happily share their professional advice with you (even suggesting book titles, if you are unsure about it), but your word is final.
- Formatting
Formatting is about the way the contents of your work look. It includes style elements like font and technical aspects like line spacing and font size. The way you format your book depends on many factors like the genre in which you write, your intended publishing format, etc. A thriller novel needs to be formatted differently from a children’s book with illustrations or pictures. Whether you want to publish your book as a paperback, hardcover or eBook, each platform has its own requirements for formatting.
Similar to editing, you may need to format your book as much as you can before you submit it to a literary agency or traditional publisher so that your chances of getting accepted can be increased.
In self-publishing, with no publisher to guide you, you may need to take upon the full responsibility and technical aspects of formatting. But if you are not confident enough, the expert team at Clever Fox will help you to format according to your requirements. They also provide an appropriate interior design for your book.
- Designing your cover
An author can never underestimate the importance of a good cover design. Readers do judge a book by its cover. Cover designs make the book stand out from the crowd. A cover is what tells the reader what to expect from the book.
If you are getting traditionally published, they will take care of this procedure, although your role in the designing process will be little.
In self-publishing, if you are confident enough to design your own cover, go for it. Being the cover designer of your own book could be time-consuming, but it will save you a lot of money. If you are not, you should definitely make use of a professional designer’s help. There is no need to go for expensive, fancy covers. It is the subtlety and thematic significance of the objects on the cover that makes it attention-worthy. Whether you design the cover yourself or hire a designer, you should have a rough idea of what you want the cover to be. Think like a marketer to figure out what makes a reader pick your book, whether in an online store or a physical one. Keep in mind that you should also pay attention to the designs on the back cover and spine. The designing team at Clever Fox works in close association with the author so that the best of ideas can be used to make the perfect cover design.
- Publishing
Now that your book is almost ready to hit the stores you need to decide which publishing platform you need to go with. You can hire the services of a self-publishing company in assisting you with the process if you want to get self-published. India’s self-publishing industry is growing at a fast pace and there are many self-publishing companies in the industry. But it is important to choose the right one since you are hiring them with your hard-earned money.
Clever Fox Publishing offers different publishing models like Guided Self-Publishing (apt for debut authors who will be walked through each step of the publishing process) and Partnered Publishing (popular among experienced authors). The packages available in these publishing models make Clever Fox a one-stop shop for all your publishing requirements.
- Marketing: One of the factors about self-publishing that make the authors reconsider traditional publishing is the huge responsibility of marketing. But nowadays, authors do not simply sit back and relax once they get accepted into a publishing house. The role of authors in marketing and promoting the book is increasing.
In the case of self-publishing, if you are not availing of the services of a self-publishing company, you will end up managing the entire marketing phase alone. In Clever Fox’s Guided Self-Publishing, you can have a customized distribution and marketing mix with the packages. Along with the promotion from your part through private circles, the experts at Clever Fox take care of distribution through platforms like Amazon, Shopsy, Flipkart, Clever Store, Kindle, FB, Kobo, Google Play Store, Google Books, OverDrive, Ingram Distribution, Physical Distribution in major metro cities, Books Mantra, etc. The marketing strategies offered include press release, physical marketing support, SEO optimization, author website & Clever Author Page, book launch, posters, video trailers/short films, author interviews, Facebook & Goodreads page setup, audiobook, etc.
