You have written your book. You have hundreds of words in front of you. What happens after writing your book?
Many people feel overwhelmed after writing their business book and aren’t sure what to do next. You have all your notes in front of you in chapters, and it’s time to get them all together. This suddenly feels hard to do when you’re facing deadlines and not sure what part of the process to do next.
Here are the things to think about at this stage:
1. Edit the book yourself
Before you hand your manuscript over to someone else, you’ll want to gather your writing to make sure it’s flowing and make edits. From my experience, there are a few things you can do to make desktop publishing easier.
Check different things with each edition. First, you may be organizing the flow of your words, then you may be checking for meaning, grammar, and typos.
It is important to double check the facts, names and other information cited.
Print your book to read instead of reviewing from the screen, especially during final editions. Then find a quiet place to read them, and I prefer to take notes in a colored pen so that I realize this later when I update the electronic copy.
If something feels a little awkward, read it out loud and then you’re more likely to see how you can make your message clearer.
2. Finalize your book title and subtitle
For many people, trying to decide what to name their book causes problems. They spend so much time thinking about it, it slows down the writing of the book.
In my experience, it’s either something that grabs you early on or you may still need to finalize this at this late stage. If this is the case, ask for feedback from contacts and customers. Don’t try to be too clever with your title, or at least make sure the subtitle captures the essence of your book and who it’s for.
3. Ask your friends, colleagues and other professionals to give you their opinion
As an author, at this stage, you are probably too close to your book. Find a small group of people to review the book for you, ask them to pick out anything that doesn’t make sense, and ask them for suggestions to improve it.
4. Have your book professionally edited and reviewed
Even if other people have read your book, I believe it is essential to have a trained professional do the final proofreading. There’s nothing worse than picking up a book and seeing a plethora of typos on the first page. While this adds cost if you self-publish, this is part of your brand, so a professional book is essential.
In the editing stage, your editor/reviewer will notice things that don’t make sense, need explanation, and make suggestions for improvement. They will then check things like consistency, grammar, spelling, and style, as they are trained to do.
5. Organize your cover design
You may have already done this if you have something specific in mind, but if not, now is the time to get a designer involved. When it comes to his cover, remember that you only have a few seconds to make a great first impression with your prospective reader.
Whether you use a stock photo, get a custom design, or use photography, just think about how your image will look in a thumbnail, ie on your website or on Amazon, before you approve it. The ideal is to have something that is simple and easy to understand. You may not even need an actual image, and words can get your message across to your readers. Again, feedback from others is great if you have a couple of designs to choose from.
6. Organize your foreword and endorsements
Although having a foreword is not essential, you can ask someone to write this endorsement for your book. If you have a high-profile person in mind, don’t delay in asking. You can also tell them why they are the perfect person to write the foreword.
To speed up the process, if they want to see your entire book, I would personally send them the manuscript before it has been professionally edited, but you can choose to wait until later. But at least ask them now. If you have a couple of people in mind, could the other people write you a review for your inside cover?
7. Write your thank you page
The hardest part of writing your thank you page is worrying about losing someone! If in doubt, be sure to include a screenshot just in case, thanking everyone who has contributed to your book, life, and work. Think about the key people who have been involved in the book, without whom it probably wouldn’t have been possible.
8. Write the copy of your back cover
When someone picks up your book and turns it to the back cover, you want to grab their attention from the first word on the page to the last. I often work one-on-one with my clients to help them write this, as it can be hard to see what makes their book stand out.
Think about the following:
For whom?
Why are they happening?
Why should they read it?
What will they get out of it?
Also include a short bio, and you may choose to put a longer “about you” page in the back of the book. You only have room for about 150 words on the back cover, so make sure you keep it short. You can also choose to include a photo of yourself and a couple of reviews, although this is not essential.
9. Get it published!
Once you’ve edited and proofread all your work, you’re ready to write it up, create the final cover design, and print the first copy of your books.
