Many people mistakenly believe that writing and publishing a book is out of reach. The odds of winning a major publisher’s attention and having your book selected over millions of other submissions seem extremely slim.
There was a time when that was the case. To have the resources to edit, illustrate, print, market, and distribute a book, one needed the backing of a powerful publishing house. Without that support, most people’s dreams of seeing their name in print were quickly dashed.
While securing the financial backing of a major publisher is still a great way to have your book reach the masses, however, it’s never been the only way. And now, more than ever, the doors are quietly widening for those willing to explore less traditional, but increasingly powerful, paths.
The dawn of self-publishing
As long as there have been people with stories to tell and ideas to share, there have been independent, self-published authors.
One interesting example is Charles Dickens. At one point in his life, he was facing bankruptcy and feeling hopeless. Ultimately one of the most famous authors in the world, it is hard to believe that he resorted to self-publishing a modest holiday tale—now immortalized as A Christmas Carol—simply to keep himself afloat.
In recent times, self-publishing has become more accessible than ever, thanks to Amazon’s revolutionary Kindle Direct Publishing. This service empowers authors to self-publish with ease and instantly reach a global audience through a vast online marketplace.
On top of that, social media has made it simple for self-published authors to market their books and build a following. Free, user-friendly, and accessed daily by millions, social media was practically made for self-published authors with limited or no marketing budgets.
The growing prominence and game-changing convergence of Amazon self-publishing and social media in the 2000s transformed how self-published authors create, market, and distribute their works. But even with the growing reach and simplicity of these channels, self-publishing still seems a daunting prospect for many aspiring authors. So how do you go about it?
How to self-publish a book
Step 1: Putting pen to paper
The first step in self-publishing might just be the hardest: you need to write a book! Your idea might be to pen a novel, a children’s book, or a memoir. Whatever you want to do, take the time to refine your creation until it’s the best it can possibly be.
Many writers are tempted to rush from writing to layout, but slowing down to tend to the fine detail is always worthwhile. Edit, revise, and polish your manuscript several times over. Show it to friends and family members as well as a professional editor, if you have access to one. The process of gathering feedback can be painful, but it ultimately serves to make your book better. So, try to keep an open mind.
Step 2: Tending to the visuals
No matter how well-written, a good book needs striking visuals to bring it to life, so, when self-publishing, you need a good designer or illustrator to partner with.
If you have a friend or family member who can draw or design, you might be in luck! Tell them what look you want to achieve, find out if they could deliver it, and ask what they would charge for their time.
Alternatively, you can access a global pool of amazing freelance artists on websites like Fiverr and Upwork. Browse through portfolios, select the artists you like, and reach out to your top picks to see if any of them would be willing to work with you for a price you can afford.
If you’re self-publishing a novel, you’ll likely only need a graphic designer to create a distinctive cover for you. On the other hand, if you’re writing a children’s book, illustration will play a large part in the look, feel, and success of your book’s interior. You’ll need an illustrator who can help bring your vision to life and spur readers’ imaginations with artwork that appears at the start of each chapter or at different junctures throughout the story.
If it’s a memoir or autobiography that you’re working on, you’ll need another type of visual: photographs and scanned documents from your life. Identify where you might find baby photos of yourself and pictures, certificates, and newspaper clippings from the defining moments of your life. Doing so will add richness and depth to your narrative.
Step 3: Financing your project
One aspect of self-publishing that often feels especially intimidating is the cost. Self-publishing may offer freedom and control, but it comes with real expenses: hiring a designer to create an appealing cover, a typesetter to ensure your pages are clean and readable, an illustrator to bring your book to life, and a marketer to help your book find readers. Done properly, self-publishing isn’t cheap, and the list of potential expenses can seem endless.
The bottom line? Self-publishing costs money, and the individual expenses can quickly add up. Fortunately, there are ways to crowdsource funding for your book. One of the most popular and effective platforms is Kickstarter, where people can pledge money to support your project and help cover the costs. Kickstarter projects are awesome because they allow you to tell people the story behind your book and your motivation for writing it. You can direct friends and family members to the site, and word can spread as members of your network start tapping into their own.
The greatest story is your own
Of course, the best story at your disposal is the story of you and your life. No one else who has ever lived has had the same experiences, met the same people, or learned the same lessons as you have, so there is a unique story inside your mind and heart just waiting to be told.
Your life story will always matter. Why? Because it will mean so much to the people who love you now and to those who come after you. Autobiographies and memoirs become treasured pieces of family history that help loved ones, now and in the future, to understand who they are and where they come from.
Like any other form of book, there’s nothing to stop you from self-publishing the story of your life. With the right tools and enough determination, you can take full control of the process—from writing to design to distribution.
Alternatively, you can partner with professional specialists like LifeBook Memoirs to produce your unique private autobiography or memoir. Take this path, and you’ll soon have a beautifully and professionally produced life story written in your own voice but without having to do the hard work that comes with self-publishing a book.
Whichever path you choose—DIY or done-for-you—bringing your story to life is more possible now than ever and more important than you think.
Written by the LifeBook Memoirs editorial team
