- A subject to write about
- A publishing company
- Determination
- Patience
- Money
- Time
- Writing
What subject do you want to write about? Find a niche within that subject. Then narrow that niche down to another niche. For instance, say you want to write about animals. That's a broad subject. Narrow it down to dogs, and you've found a niche. Narrow it down further to a smaller niche like how to train a dog. Now you've chosen a niche within a niche that you can write about.
A publishing company
A book must be published somewhere, either a large or a small publishing company. There are traditional publishers and self-publishers, large and small. Research the pros and cons about the different ways to publish. If you choose a traditional publisher, this may take awhile. You may receive rejection letters or even a nice little note. Either you will continue searching in that direction until your book is accepted, or you may choose the self-publishing route. However, self-publishing can also be lengthy. Either way, prepare for delays.
Determination
You must be determined when publishing a book because, like mentioned previously, you'll need to prepare for delays. Those delays usually come unexpectedly, perhaps causing you frustration because you have a particular date you had planned to have your book ready. If you have determination to see the book published, however, you will be patient.
Patience
Now you know why you must have patience for publishing a book. The publisher of your choice should warn you before you sign the dotted line that you should prepare for delays. Why the delays? Because though you thought you had sent all the material to be published, you may find later on when the publisher emails you a copy to be reviewed that somehow a section was left out. So you fix it, send it back. Then you may realize while adding your index that another section was mysteriously left out. You add it, send it back, review it again...and again. Yes, patience - you will need it.
Money
A book cannot be published without money being involved. You can decide to spend more or less money, depending on how professional you want your book to look. If you just want to publish a small paperback yourself, then you can use print on demand and only publish a few copies and have a low-cost book perhaps. If you need money to publish a book, seek investors. Athenia Dean with WinePress Publishing has written an excellent book, Your Book in Print, that includes a section on how to work with investors on publishing a book.
Time
Time goes along with patience. Patience is needed because of the extra time it takes to publish a book. What I thought would take me one year or less to publish has taken almost two years. You can publish a book in shorten time if you want to pay more. If money is not a problem and you want to rush it, go ahead and pay more to have your book in print in a shorter amount of time. Personally, though I had investors, I chose to take more time and save some money.
Writing
Last but certainly not least, writing is the most important thing about publishing a book. If you want to publish a book, you will have to write. Some days you don't feel like writing. Either force yourself to at least write 100 words that day or double up another day and write twice the amount of words you normally write. Whatever you do, write consistently, and NEVER GIVE UP!
Happy Publishing!
 |
| Phantom Seven |
