How to publish your book in 2024 (a bit differently)

It’s never been more fun to write the book (or series) brewing in your heart, mind, and soul and share it with the world! It’s also never been as terrifying!

Call 2020 – 2023 what you will, but for me, 2024 is all about reclaiming. Reclaiming fun, reclaiming focus, and reclaiming flare. How else are we to become enthusiasts for our books and take on the world without those three delightful words? 😉 As you can probably gather, they are my three words for 2024!

Fun. Focus. Flare.

 And then there’s this quote:

Start shaping your own day.

Start walking your own walk.

This journey is yours, take charge of it.

Stop giving other people the power to shape your life.

~ Dr. Steve Maraboli.

Right?

Start walking your own walk. I love that!

Honestly, publishing your books is as simple or as hard as you make it to be. Why? Decisions need to be made. You need to make them.

I know. And if you’re anything like me, you have a hard time deciding what you are going to decide about all the decisions you need to make!

But no matter how exciting or how daunting, here's how you can publish your book in 2024 a bit differently!

 1.       Start with a vision!

Many authors gloss over this part or mull over a vague idea for about ten seconds. So, before you get to anything else, start with a vision for your book. A one-pager or even a small paragraph will do.

“When the vision is clear, strategy is easy.” ~ Unknown.

Well, almost easy. You’ll at least have a clear path.

As Robin Sharma always says, better awareness equals better choices equals better results. You can then say NO to what’s irrelevant, and YES to what matters. Even if you don’t reach everything you envisioned for your book at first or perhaps the timeline you envision, you’ll be so much closer than having had no vision at all.

 So, what’s your vision for the book(s) you want to publish?

What’s the tone of your book? Is it light-hearted, dark, or serious? Is this tone how you want to approach your social content? What do you want to price your book? How many copies do you want to sell in the first week, month, quarter, year? What social media platforms do you want to have fun on? What authors would you like to approach for newsletter swaps or Facebook Group takeovers? What about photos with your books? How many readers do you want to reach? How many page reads do you want to accumulate (If you’re publishing in KDP Select)? Do you want to hit a list? What list? Do you have an eye on a collaborating deal? Do you want to enter your book for an award? What’s your vision for audiobooks and translations? How many reviews are you envisioning for launch week? Where are you getting reviews for your book? How much money do you want to make in your first year?

I know, it’s A LOT!

But don’t be scared to “dream vision to paper”! Even if you just brainstorm your vision with a few bullet points, it will give you a level of focus you might not have had without these bullet points to serve as your guide.

Once you know what you want, you can start brainstorming ways to get there!

2.       Budget, Baby!

You have your vision, now what’s it going to cost? Ok, so we don’t have to get that die-hard. However, whether you are working on a budget or not, know your numbers. Editing costs, book cover costs, formatting costs, marketing, etc.

Budget is beautiful.

 Many of these things you probably do yourself, or you have friends in various professions that can help or give you a discount. Let’s face it, money is not a topic most of us like to discuss. We are more than happy to squeeze our eyes shut, whip out a credit card, and stumble along the dark pit of interest rates.

I was there too.

However, a simple mindset shift from budgeting is boring to budgeting is beautiful . . .

Ah well, it might not work even then . . . 😉

However, this does bring me to something Ann Wilson, author of The Wealth Chef says.

Boring is beautiful.

Even more beautiful when you add a column for your income!

“A budget is more than just a series of numbers on a page; it is an embodiment of our values.” ~ Barack Obama

In other words, where are you willing to spend money and where are you not?

For example: Are you buying an endless number of books and stationery where you could, perhaps, be running a promo?

I mean, we can justify just about anything, can’t we?! But you get my drift.

And it’s worth noting, there’s no money shame here. I have author friends who refuse to spend money on editing. I personally don’t agree with this, but I won’t judge their decision. It’s their journey. I have author friends who do zero-marketing budget launches. Other authors hire editors, but they do their own covers. For myself, I believe hiring an editor is essential. On the other hand, my husband did most of my indie book covers before I got a publisher. I also know authors who do everything themselves and then have their mothers proofread their books.

“A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” ~ Dave Ramsey

Ain’t that the truth!

Even the most basic of budgets will help you prioritize your spending and make more informed financial decisions.

Who knows, you might even learn something about yourself and your spending habits! Like how many times you swipe at KFC. (Ahem!)

3.       Give your manuscript the love it needs

Even if it’s the love of your mother. But first, write your book to the best of your ability!

Editing is a subject highly debated in the indie world, mainly because of the expense. It’s not the cheapest item listed in your budget, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. Now, I want to tell you, I write English even though it’s not my first language. I don’t have any special degree. I suck at grammar. I turn slate into slake. I spell some words in a way Google can’t decipher, and I get my tenses wrong. But even if this wasn’t the case, even if my inner editor churned out a manuscript of golden sentences . . .

My book still deserves an editor.

Because it’s not just about spelling errors and tenses. It’s about story. I can take it one step further to say, my characters deserve an editor.

If you’re writing non-fiction, you deserve an editor.

It’s self-love. It’s book love. It’s reader love.

After all, we’re all trying to put our best work forward, even if we don’t hit the mark a time or two.

Also, most editors will combine editing for indies. For example, instead of paying for a developmental edit and a line edit separately, they might package them together and meet you in the middle. If they don’t have this combination on their website, you can always ask. At least, this is my experience.

You can even build a team of alpha readers (I hear through the grapevine) and beta readers to help with the developmental issues and little nitty-gritty stuff, and then hire an editor to do a basic edit, finishing off with a proofread. You can also appeal to your arc readers to let you know if they pick up any deuced-stubborn niggles.

The main point is there are ways to give your manuscript tons of love without having to empty your wallet. You just need to brainstorm a bit or reach out to author friends for ideas.

What do you think?

4.       Cover justice or injustice

And with justice, I mean, make sure your cover speaks to the genre you write.

You don’t want to publish a historical romance with a cover that embodies the current trend for mafia dark romance. Imagine a Dan Brown book with a woman staring longingly into a man’s hot gaze. . . I mean . . .

Non-fiction might be a bit clearer unless you have pictures of a ramen bowl that make you salivate. But when you open the book, it’s all about cake and tarts, with nary a bowl of ramen in sight. Is that a bonus?

No, thanks! Scroll on!

Because a confused mind always scrolls on.

Remember, the cover is the first visual a reader sees when browsing books. It’s an opportunity to tempt and tease.

So, create or commission a cover fit for your genre and sparkling with the personality of your story!

You won’t regret it.

5.       Formatting Finesse

Formatting matters more than you might think. Why? Well, a formatted manuscript looks professional. And, readers read so many books, their eyes will spot when something is off.

I once picked up a romance novel with an interior layout akin to an academic essay. No indentations. No indication of POV or scene changes. Only paragraph after paragraph, chapter for chapter.

A confused eye does not scroll on!

Honestly, it’s too painful because the mental capacity it would take me to figure out what the hell was going on at any given point of a paragraph removed all the joys of escaping into the story.

It certainly didn’t feel like a romance novel.

So!

Formatting matters.

6.       Book descriptions that sizzle. Tsssss.

But let’s not mince words. This might be the least favorable part of business! Also, most necessary. Here is where you entice a reader after your cover (and the promise of your title) prompted them to click. They’re interested. I want to say it’s the marketing copy of your book, but honestly, that doesn’t always evoke enthusiasm!

It’s an opportunity.

A glimpse.

It’s the “oh yeah, you want this” copy of your book.

Cringe, I know. But you get it!

So, make sure there is a sizzle element! Read other blurbs and see if you can spot a formula as well as what power words authors are using.

Or, if it’s in your budget, you can always hire someone to write it for you.

Tanya Tip: Write your blurb before you write your book, or if that’s too daunting, write it after you’ve written your first three chapters. This way, you won’t feel like you must sum up an entire book in two hundred words. Even if events change, you can just update the blurb instead of starting from scratch.

7.       Hit publish

Whether it’s wide or exclusive, it’s time to celebrate!

Pop a bottle of champagne or something sparkly, and cheers! Celebrating little and BIG wins and continuing to celebrate them (whether they feel like wins or not) is essential for us to keep forward momentum.

Don’t forget to share your celebration with your tribe!

8.       What happens next?

It’s not over yet, my friend! You have a vision for your book, you moved all the pieces, and you hit publish. Now it’s time to thank everyone who needs thanking, measure your results (you cannot improve what you don’t measure), and map out a plan for the next 365 days.

Don’t set and forget your book!

This is not your ex on social media.

First things first, you might not have achieved everything you envisioned for your book. That’s ok. You can always improve on your results. You now know what you want for your book (and launches) in the future, so you can work to get there.

This is just the beginning.

Think about how you can spread the love for the next 365 days of your book. What about doing quarterly promos for your book? What about holidays or certain dates that can tie into your story? You can also continue doing newsletter swaps with other authors. In fact, you can showcase your book in your newsletter for the rest of the year so that new subscribers don’t miss out.

Most people would say “just write more books” or “just start the next one”. Good, and yes, but I’d like to add not at the expense of your current published work. Even if you map out one monthly thing to do for your book. That’s twelve things that have a compounding effect. (Don’t get me started on compounding or this blog will never end, LOL)

Anyhoo, try to do the equivalent of post and ghost when you launch your book. Think about it for a hot minute, you went through all the things to get your book out into the world, so continue to give your published work the attention it deserves with some marketing enthusiastic love!

Thank you, Abbie Emmons, for that little mindset shift.

It all comes down to (fear and doubt aside) being your book’s biggest raving fan!

So, what do you say? Ready to publish your book in 2024?