The Publication Process

Good morning my beautiful friends!

Today I’m going to talk about the publication process. I’ve had a lot of people ask me about the publishing process, what is involved and so forth. I even saw one comment on Facebook that it took thousands to publish a book! Talk about OUCH! That’s not true though. It doesn’t take THOUSANDS to publish a book. And if it does take you thousands, then you were scammed and I mention more about that towards the end of this blog.

For me personally, I am an author of six books and currently working on two more. My genres are paranormal romance, contemporary romance, and romantic suspense. Yes, I know. There is a common theme of romance so I guess one could argue I’m a romance author LOL.

So, what exactly is involved?

Well, first, you need to write the book. That doesn’t cost you anything. Get your story down and written. It could be fiction, your own personal story of struggles through life, a story about someone else’s life, your beliefs and religions, anything. Every writer is different. It’s your dream and you can make it whatever you want. There is someone out there who will read your story, who will enjoy it and maybe even be helped by it. My fear when I started was that no one would read my story, that no one would like it, that I wasn’t good enough. That’s just not true and please don’t fall into that rabbit hole of self-doubt.

IT’S  NOT TRUE.

Now let’s say it’s done. You’ve written an awesome story, a novel, something you want to publish. Then where do you go? NOW it’s time to invest in your dream. The first step is to find an editor. There are many editors on Facebook and online. Find a good one you click with and get the book or story published. Once that’s done, then you need a cover. Again, there are a lot of cover artists online. Purchase a cover. Then comes an internal designer. In order words, a formatter.

So, for the costs range from the following:

Editor = $300-$500

Cover Artist = $100-$200

Formatter = $50-$100

Please keep in mind that these prices can vary and aren’t set in stone but I do recommend professionals, a professional editor, cover artist, etc. A family friend is great and all but if they don’t do it for a living, then they unintentionally might miss a lot, not used to the grammar rules, spotting plot holes and inconsistencies, and so forth.

One all of that is done, then I recommend a few beta readers. Beta readers go through your story and look for inconsistencies, plot holes, errors, opinions, etc.

Then you receive it back. Fix those mistakes, and bam! Done!

Then what comes next??

Well, that is up to you as the author. Do you self-publish it on Amazon or other platforms? Which is free by the way. Or market it to small publishers? (Which is what I did and also free.)

Or do you market it to Literary Agents and try for a larger publisher? (Which is what I want to do now and again, also free.)

The next steps are all up to you as the author but I will leave you with a piece of advice. Never PAY to publish your book. That is called a vanity press and yes, THEN you will pay THOUSANDS and it is all a scam. Don’t fall for it. Many people do and it’s a rip off.

Now please keep in mind that the above is my process, with my opinions. Other authors may have a different publication process and that’s okay.

I hope I’ve helped a bit, to explain the process in a way that’s understandable and clear. If not, please comment or email me and I would be glad to help further or explain specific parts of each process.

Also, if there is anything you all would like me to talk about, to blog, to explain, please don’t hesitate to comment or email! I would be more than happy too!

Thank you all for reading and please stay tuned, stay sane, and stay safe!