Crafting Literary Success:
Essential Steps for Aspiring Writers Before Publishing
You probably had a moral imperative to write a story and you did, it is complete and the manuscript is gathering dust on your top drawer. Now what? You might ask. Well, how will I publish it. And if you’re wondering exactly how to do that, I got you.
It is 2024 and ‘everyone who is everyone’ is publishing a book. You might be familiar with the Maya Angelou quote that says, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you”.
Now, it is one thing to put your feelings and experiences into words and have those on paper but, it is a totally different beast to turn that manuscript into a volume of literary magic for the world to feast on. Not to worry because gone are the days of thinking that book publishing is for A-list celebrities and a handful of knowledgeable African veterans.
You. Can. Publish. A. Book. Too.
Here are some of the steps to follow to do that successfully,
Editorials
One of the most important things you need to do before book publishing is securing a good editor. Now, you must know that there are at least three types of editing involved, line editing, proofreading and developmental editing. Line editing requires the editor to fact-check the details of your manuscript - depending on what kind of book you’re writing - proofread, and fix grammatical errors and spelling. Developmental editing requires the editor to analyse the structure, and plot, and make constructive writing back and forth with the writer to ensure a fool-proof cake.
Sure, you can use software like Grammarly and its competitors but I believe that sitting down with another human - in this case, an editor - can be more advantageous in knowing which word choices, tone or cohesive layout will pull at your readers’ heartstrings.
Designer
How many of you have heard your circle raving about a certain book and the moment you decided to check it out, you got turned off by how it looked? Or you’re reading a phenomenal book, it’s addicting but you’re not hitting that 200 pages per day milestone because it feels like you’ve been reading the same page for hours? Do you know what it takes to avoid such a catastrophe?
Excellent cover and interior design! So, be sure to hire a great designer.
I didn’t know until recently that interior design is just as important as cover design. I am typically drawn to colourful book covers with huge titles and if there is some gold or glitter anywhere? Consider it bought.
With that being said, having excellent cover design was a no-brainer for me but I thought all interior design entails was font size and chapter designs. Oh no, no. Interior design has to do with taking your A4 manuscript and figuring out how you would like it to look when resized to the book size you’re going for, the font style and size, the binding, book margins to ensure that words are clearly visible after binding, the paper type - white or creme - oh the list goes on and on.
If that doesn’t show you how important it is to hire a designer before publishing your book, I don’t know what will.
Local Printer
Now that you’ve worked on your book cover, interior and it looks worthy to grace the New York Times bestselling list, you’ve got to print that book. Printing books is no cheap task, especially if it’s a thick reading. So, be sure to look around locally, compare prices between your local printers and once you are satisfied with the local printer you’ve found, print away your first copies.
I mention local printers and that’s not to say you can’t use international printers but shipping costs are also a thing. That being said, you have the option to pick either but I recommend you print locally. I mean, it’s cheaper and you’re boosting your region’s economy.
Book launch and marketing plan.
Your book is finished and now it is time for the big reveal! Is it a boy? A girl? Nope. It’s best-seller! Hopefully, it is. Haha. At this stage, you want to have a marketing plan for your book release. Reach out to newspapers companies, radio stations, television stations, use your social media platforms, consider using influencers, the whole nine yards.
The point is to make a launch party, sell tickets that include the book price, create enough buzz around the book release and not only ensure that people show up and get the book but to also ensure that the ones that couldn’t attend the launch are drooling to get their hands on the book too. Albeit, to ensure any of this you have to have an amazing marketing strategy and once that is done, off your book goes and you can only hope for the best.
Publishing Host.
Your book is printed, you love it, your local audience loves it. It’s glossy or matt or whatever the cover looks like and it’s stacked beautifully in all your local bookstores but you have prospects for an international audience. What do you do?
Well, you find a publishing host that will have your book on their site and you can comfortably make passive income online. There’s a wide range of publishing hosts like Lulu, Apple Books, Amazon and Barnes and Noble to publish your book on. I promise you, even as a Motswana author your book can be bought on there. I love the opportunity using various publishing hosts gives you because your have so many avenues aka chances for your book to be recognised as a bestseller. The opportunities are limitless.
I hate to brag but at Afroshapers, we offer all of the above services and more.
