There are three things you MUST do to set a foundation of a successful indie published book. But before we get to those three things, let’s back up for a moment, and identify what MUST happen first to be a successful indie author . This ONE thing informs those three foundational items to a successful book. What’s the key to it all?
YOU MUST APPROACH YOUR BOOK WRITING AND PUBLISHING LIKE A BUSINESS.
Phew. Now that we’ve covered that, looking at the three . . .
Wait. What? Why should you look at it like a business?
If you want to make an eventual career from writing (and this includes traditional authors as well), you must think of the book you are putting out as a product, and you must think beyond the single book. If you want to sell that amazing book you wrote (and any follow up books) you must build a relationship with readers, and to do that means you must approach book writing and publishing like a business. Success in business requires time and investment. And that investment is key to your success.
Stage two of the publishing process is really about setting up that foundation for a successful book. After you’ve written it, you’re investing in these areas.
ISBN & Copyright,
Cover Art (and formatting if you aren’t able to do it),
and Editing.
ISBN & copyright are your books identification and protection in the shark infested waters that Include book piracy and content theft. You must protect your book. You also need to own it so you can make any decisions about where and how it’s sold.
Cover Art is the first way you communicate your book (your product). It is crucial to have a cover that aligns with genre, category, subcategory in a way that readers will be able to identify with and be drawn to. We can claim we don’t judge a book by its cover, but it would be a lie. We do, at least initially. So invest here. Interior formatting is also important in presenting your product. If you aren’t able to do this, I would suggest investing here as well.
Editing. I’ve written a lot about editing. This is crucial because it WILL be a sticking point in reviews. Remember, reviews aren’t for you (the author), they are for other readers. And if a reviewers says, “the book needed editing” it can be off putting. Editing is a way to make your good book amazing (with a great editor - don’t skimp here).
What else is happening in stage 2?
Write your marketing copy (book blurb, book synopsis, author blurb, log line, ad copy, etc.)
Draft your marketing plan.
identify your target audience
research the demographics
identify marketing strategies to address that target
plan specific tactics to address those strategies.
Set a marketing to launch.
The books I write are on a 12 month cycle. Working backward from month 12 being the beginning to month 1 being launch, month 12-6 are spent writing and editing. I’m working through stage 2 around the 6 month mark, and it usually takes me between month 6 through month 5 to get this work done.
Definitely let me know if you have question; drop them in the comments.