Getting Your Book From Manuscript to Market Without a Publisher

The traditional publishing model used to be the only realistic way for authors to publish books. Today, the self-publishing model offers a genuine alternative that allows authors to control every aspect of their book, from content to appearance to price. With that control comes responsibility; no publisher is going to take care of the details for you.

The steps required to get a manuscript to market are not complex, but they are a number of discrete steps in what can be an involved process. Failure to follow through on any one of them usually negatively impacts the finished book, and readers recognize sloppy or incomplete efforts right away.

Getting the Manuscript Ready

Before any thoughts of printing and distributing a book can occur, the manuscript itself has to be as perfect as it can be. That means seeking professional editing. This might sound like a needless expense, but it’s essential if you want to be taken seriously as a writer. There are three types of editing that should take place before a manuscript goes into production.

Developmental editing looks at the big picture—structure, pacing, does the plot make sense? Is the character development on target? Then the manuscript needs to be copy edited for grammar issues and consistency errors. Finally, the manuscript should be proofread for errors.

While a self-publisher author may feel confident in their abilities as a writer, one of the most common mistakes they make when self-publishing is getting stingy with this step. Editors always catch things the author herself missed because they are too close to their own writing.

Once all editing is finalized, formatting can take place. This is more than just arranging the words on a page. Margins need to be perfect, headers and page numbers applied where required, chapter breaks inserted, and —for e-books—there are special formatting requirements needed for technical reasons that affect how e-books display on various devices.

Choosing Printing Options That Make Sense

Next up is the decision of how to print the book. This consideration involves budget, storage capabilities, and how many books the author expects to sell. Traditional offset printing works best for larger quantities (at least 500 copies), as this reduces the per-unit cost significantly. However, it requires the author to pay up front for hundreds of copies and provide storage space for them.

For most self-published authors, print on demand paperback books offer a more practical solution. Print on demand means books get printed as orders come in, so there's no need to invest thousands upfront or worry about unsold inventory. The per-unit cost is higher than bulk printing, but the lack of upfront risk makes it the better choice for first-time authors.

There is a tradeoff with print on demand paperbacks, however. The cost per book is higher than if ordering in bulk quantities, which means authors need to either accept a lower profit margin or sell the book at a higher price point. Most first-time authors find that sacrificing some profit per book sold is better than risking unsold stock.

Cover Design Can't Be an Afterthought

Usually an afterthought for many authors, but cover design needs more attention than writers realize. Books are almost always judged by their covers in every sense. A cover that looks sloppy or that doesn’t follow genre conventions tells readers that the book might have been written by an amateur, no matter how great the writing inside might be.

Covers also need to take into account how they look as a full-size image vs. how they appear when shrunken down into thumbnail-size for display in online bookstores. Most authors should hire professional cover designers who understand genre conventions unless they have actual graphic design experience themselves.

Getting Books Into Readers' Hands

The next hurdle authors need to deal with is getting the book into readers’ hands or onto e-readers around the world. Distribution options vary for physical copies and e-books.

Online distribution is a must for e-books; any author considering online sales should set up online distribution systems via online retailers across different platforms. This makes the e-book available within days or weeks of distribution.

Bookshop and library distribution requires a bit more work than setting up online retailers. Most bookshops will not stock self-published books unless they have some local connection or established demand for them already. Services do exist that handle distribution services for publishers; however, they take their cut and require the author to register proper ISBNs.

Authors can get the highest profit margins by directly selling from their own author websites; however, this route has its own challenges regarding dealing with orders, postal services, and customer queries.

Marketing Fills The Gaps Publishers Leave

Marketing is where most self-published books fail; without a publisher’s clout and vast marketing machine behind them, self-published authors need to rely on themselves or someone else if they hope to make their books successful.

This doesn’t mean investing thousands of dollars in advertising; there are a number of things self-published authors can do before their books release to make sure people know about them once they do release. This is especially true in genres like fantasy or science fiction.

Building an email list early through their author website allows them access to hundreds (if not thousands) of potential customers when it comes time for their books to be launched. Social media has a role to play (though it can waste time if authors are not careful). Book bloggers and genre book reviewers are other avenues where time might be invested. Targeted advertising also is an option as long as it isn’t overkill that ends up costing the author more than their book makes

Self-publishing gives authors a lot of control—and puts a lot of responsibility—into their hands as well. While the process does have many steps that authors need to complete if they hope to successfully publish their work, the process can be manageable so long as authors follow each step in order and don’t rush through it. Ignoring any aspect of getting an edited manuscript out into circulation is bound to weaken the final product—and make it less likely that it succeeds in earning its intended revenue.