How to Publish a Book That Sells

Almost anyone can self publish, but not everyone knows how to publish a book that people actually want to read—and are willing to pay for. Achieving success involves more than writing something, slapping a cover on it, and marking it for sale. Here are some tips for creating a novel that sells.

How to publish a book

Authors can seek out an agent if they want to land a book deal with a traditional publisher. However, this is a long process, and most authors don’t succeed. (Only a very small percentage of authors get a traditional book deal.) But there is good news; authors can also publish their books themselves.

How to publish your own book

Just because you’re not querying agents doesn’t mean you’ll need to do less work. In fact, successful self-publishing requires that you do even more work yourself. That’s because you won’t have a publishing company to do it for you.

Define your target audience

Defining your target audience is important, whether you self-publish or plan to query agents. Who is going to read your book? Who would enjoy it? This might go beyond genre. You should also think about the age and other demographics of your audience. Is your story right for them?

Some authors write and then try to define their audience. This can work well, but it doesn’t always. For example, if you’re writing a book from a child’s POV, but you have adult themes (as sometimes occurs with memoirs), who will want to read it? It might not be appropriate for a child, but will it resonate with an adult audience?

Self-edit your book

You should always self-edit your book. Even if you aren’t a grammatical expert, you’re sure to find glaring mistakes, typos, and inconsistencies as you reread. You might self edit two, three, four times, or more. Because the next step to publish a book involves someone else critiquing your work.

Get beta readers

How do you know if your book is any good? The answer is simple; get beta readers. However, finding beta readers you can trust and that are part of your target audience can prove difficult for some. If you don’t already have a large following, you can try swapping with other authors or utilize paid beta readers. Here are some options (Make sure you do you research first!):

• Beta Reader Bookings LLC: Get matched with a vetted beta reader who is part of your target audience
• Fiverr: You can view freelancers’ profiles and choose the one you’d like to hire
• Check with various reading groups (book clubs, writing communities, etc.) online and in your community

Hire a book editor

Once you’re happy with beta reader feedback (and have implemented that feedback), it’s time to seek out an editor. Traditional publishing companies have their own editors, but you’ll need to do your own research and hire an editor who will help make your book the best it can be. There are three types of editing you’ll want to consider.

• Developmental editing: This type of editing focuses on big-picture issues, including plot, pacing, character ARCs, sublots, and more. If there are fundamental problems with the story itself, a developmental editor can help you resolve them.
• Line editing: Line editors address awkward sentences and other line-by-line problems (including tenses) that can disrupt the story’s flow and cause confusion.
• Copy editing: Copy editing comes after line editing. It addresses grammatical errors and ensures that manuscripts are up to par with standard publishing guidelines. Copy editing isn’t the same as proofreading (more on that later).

Format your book for publishing

(Note: You might want to purchase an ISBN for your book before formatting.)

Your manuscript has been beta read and edited. Now, it’s time to put it in actual book format. You can format the manuscript yourself or hire a professional. You might need separate formats for e-books and paperbacks. You might need to make adjustments for each platform you publish with as well.

Proofread your manuscript

Proofreading is often confused with copy editing, but they are not the same. Proofreading occurs after the manuscript is formatted. It’s meant to catch remaining typos and other errors. On the other hand, copy editing is much more labor-intensive and takes significantly more time.

Hire a book cover designer

You might find it saves time to have a designer begin work before the manuscript is formatted and proofread. However, your designer will need to know your exact page count when they create your book spine (for physical copies), so you’ll likely need to wait until you know that number before the cover designer can finish the job.

Get ARC readers

Your book is ready to publish, but wait! Would you like some early book reviews? ARC (advanced reader copy) readers read your book before it’s published. That way, they can leave a book review right away. And the more reviews, the better, right?

Self-publish your book

Here’s the final step to publish your book for public consumption. You’ll create an account with a self-publishing platform and upload your completed book. You’ll find some of the most popular self-publishing options below.

Amazon KDP

Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is one of the most popular self-publishing options available. Make sure you review their terms and conditions before you publish a book. The company has strict rules, and authors have been known to lose their accounts for violating them.

Lulu self publishing

Lulu offers more options than KDP. For example, with Lulu, you can create specific types of books, including spiralbound books. That option isn’t available on KDP, even for notebooks. Lulu also offers custom printing for calendars and magazines.

How to publish a book with IngramSpark

IngramSpark has several resources for publishing a book through their platform. The company even offers online courses to help you during your journey to becoming a published author. You’ll need to purchase your own ISBN, and the platform doesn’t allow low-content books (such as blank journals).

Barnes and Noble self-publishing

Who doesn’t want their book available for purchase on the Barnes & Noble website? Seeing your book for sale with this iconic company can feel like a huge achievement, and you don’t need a book deal to make it happen. You can self-publish directly with the company. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean your book will sit on Barnes & Noble store shelves.

After you publish a book

The work isn’t done after you publish a book. You’ll still need to market it for people to know it’s available (and what makes it worth buying). A few common book marketing tools include paid ads, book trailers, and newsletters. While legitimate book marketing companies exist, there are some scammers who pose as marketers, so authors should do their research before hiring someone claiming they can promote self-published books.