Guidance Needed: Next Steps for My Completed Book

[Tabish]

Hello Fastlaners,
I'm a long-time follower of this forum and have always found the collective wisdom incredibly insightful.

I'm excited to share that I've recently completed the manuscript for my first book! It's a comprehensive guide on health and nutrition, based on my personal journey of overcoming diabetes. As a registered nurse with a master's degree in health research, I've delved deep into the myths and misconceptions surrounding health in today's world. I have discovered the Fastlane inhealth. My book is not just a recounting of facts; it's my life experience.

As I was writing, I decided not to delve into the nitty-gritty of what comes after finishing the manuscript because I didn't want to get overwhelmed and lose focus. Now that I've reached this stage, I'm ready to face the next set of challenges.

1. Editing: I understand the importance of a well-polished and professionally edited manuscript. What's the best way to find a good editor who aligns with my vision? Do you recommend any platforms or freelance websites?
2. Publishing: I'm considering both traditional publishing and self-publishing. I'd love to hear about your experiences with both. What were the pros and cons, and how did you decide?
3. Marketing & Distribution: I know marketing will be crucial, especially in building an online presence. I'd appreciate any advice or resources on crafting a marketing strategy for a debut book.
4. Cover Design: A compelling cover design is something I believe can greatly influence a reader's decision to pick up a book. Do you have any recommendations on finding a great cover designer?

I'd appreciate any advice, suggestions, and anecdotes about your journey. I'm excited to learn from all of you and prepare myself for this next phase. Thank you in advance for your help and time!

 

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[Shrimpfriedrice]

Hey Tabish! Congratulations!!! I am a self-published author myself, have sold 10k copies of my first book in a year. Have had several flops, and have learned a lot about this process (and am still learning). My take on your questions:

1. Editing: I understand the importance of a well-polished and professionally edited manuscript. What's the best way to find a good editor who aligns with my vision? Do you recommend any platforms or freelance websites? I have had good, poor, and excellent editors. Good on you for deciding what you want and how you want the outcome/relationship of your editing to look like. I have used Upwork and Reedsy to find my freelance editors. I prefer Reedsy. I pay $1k for about 30,000 words of great editing.
2. Publishing: I'm considering both traditional publishing and self-publishing. I'd love to hear about your experiences with both. What were the pros and cons, and how did you decide? The pros of traditional publishing are becoming less and less these days, IMO (especially if your audience is small and this is your first book). Publishing houses do have pros: They will assign you an editor, and they will do all the research and work to create a professional cover. They will edit for you. However, it will take 12-18 months from start to finish for it to hit the market. You don't retain creative control. You benefit from the sales team of the publishing company, but your royalties are 5-8% per book, and even less for wholesale. I didn't have an audience on social media or email when I first started. I was flying by the seat of my pants. Self-publishing is as simple as clicking Publish on Amazon (not easy, but simple). Now, there are a lot of things to learn about writing a manuscript that sells well, picking a title and subtitle that sells and is found easily on Amazon, putting your book into the right categories on Amazon, and building an audience/community, as well as building and executing on a launch team. Also, Amazon Ads are useful to continuously selling your books, as well as marketing. I learned all of these skills in a course I took through Publishing.com called Audiobook Impact Academy. Do recommend. Took a few iterations, but finally got the hang of it. You will need to learn and execute on marketing no matter if you are traditionally or self published. I am currently learning about other marketing tools, such as podcasts, guest posting, and publicity through other coaches. One of my favorites is Steve Harrison, who got Robert Kiyosaki and the Rich Dad brand, as well as Jack Canfield and the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand, off the ground.
3. Marketing & Distribution: I know marketing will be crucial, especially in building an online presence. I'd appreciate any advice or resources on crafting a marketing strategy for a debut book. As a beginner, your biggest levers are 1. Amazon reviews 2. Amazon Ads. 3. Email list. I would focus on those 3 at first. Before you launch your book, in order for it to do well and not die in the Amazon graveyard, you need a lot of Amazon reviews of your book, ideally 100+ within the first 30-60 days. This can be accomplished with a launch team. I went into Facebook and gave out 1,000 digital copies over the course of 2 months before the launch. This can all be done online, luckily. There are other ways to do this. You can leverage your personal network too. Build a very great Amazon listing page for your book beforehand, with a great benefits-forward description. Find Amazon categories you will do well in using Publisher Rocket (a $100 tool that will save you a ton of hours of manually combing through Amazon categories). When you hit the Amazon Publish button, start running Amazon Ads aggressively, ask everyone you gave your book out to to leave a review of your book, and get Amazon's algorithm to take notice of your book. This book over here! It's getting a ton of reviews! Within the first 30 days! Wow! Push that book up to the top of the keyword listings! Use Amazon Ads to continue driving traffic. Then you can coast for a bit. Relax a while. Then step on the pedal again to market via your email list, influencers, podcasts, guest posting....on and on. Forever.
4. Cover Design: A compelling cover design is something I believe can greatly influence a reader's decision to pick up a book. Do you have any recommendations on finding a great cover designer? Reedsy, 99 Designs, Upwork, and Fiverr are common places to find a cover designer. You decide what you want your cover to look like, then go find someone who can deliver this at a great price. I personally never buy my covers on Fiverr or Upwork anymore...I think the value doesn't make sense to me anymore, even for $5. I know my audience, and the resistance to changing their designs to meeting my audience's wants are high there. No idea why. I stick to 99 Designs personally.