Twenty-eight weeks after the first day of the second new year

With Oracle’s Diplomacy released four days ago, things are very busy here. But then, that’s how the days after a new book launch, or actually the days surrounding a new launch, should be. The publication of a book is a practical process that requires the completion of a number of tasks, and if you’re a self-published author, you—and whoever is working with you, as you know for Author it’s Sister who takes over once the book reaches publication—are responsible for every part of the publication process.

Publishing a book doesn’t mean that you simply click the publish button in whatever online bookstore you intend to offer it on. You need to make sure the online book page will show the book cover and its description properly, and you need to complete certain details that will direct potential readers to your book. As you know, Author and sister publish on Amazon, and to publish an ebook on Amazon you go through a three-stage process in which you upload the ebook with its cover and complete a range of details, from the book’s title and the Author’s name, to the publisher (if you have established a logo you publish under), the ISBN, and your choice of keywords and browse categories, through prices in the countries where Amazon will sell your books and royalty-related details.

If you are publishing a paperback, you will need to enter similar details on the website of the printing company you’re using—Author and Sister use Ingram as their book printer, as you know—and you need to make sure not only that the paperback’s page also appears properly on your online store of choice, but that the two formats, ebook and paperback, are connected, so that readers who search for your book will see both formats. As for the availability of the paperback, you can elect to have print-on-demand availability of your paperback, or some other choice, according to what your online bookstore of choice enables.
The important thing here is to choose both an online bookstore and a book printer that are experienced, reputable entities, as both Amazon and Ingram are, thus ensuring that making your paperback available to potential readers will be an orderly process. Amazon has a very organized upload process, with every step explained and additional instructions you can find on their website, and you can easily contact them from your author page for any questions you have. And the same goes for Ingram: they have clear instructions on what files you need to send them, they allow you to proof these after they are prepared for print, they contact you if they see something (non-content related) that needs correcting, and, like on Amazon, you have a bookshelf of sorts where you can provide all the details that are relevant for your book.

One more thing you should take the time to do is create for yourself an author page on the online bookstore you’re using—Amazon has Author Central, a continuously developing platform that allows you to create (at least in some countries) an author page that has on it information about you, shows the books that you’re selling on Amazon, and allows you to link additional information to it, such as your blog, if you have one. And if you’re promoting your book on other websites, such as Goodreads, some of these also allow you to create an author page. Do that, let your readers know who you are, and present your books to them in an organized manner.

One thing, though: you would do well to begin your book publication process a few days before the official launch. It takes several hours to three days for an uploaded ebook to be approved for publication on the Amazon website, and once it does, if you want to make changes in the book description, or in the price, browse categories, etc., or if any detail does not appear as you want it to, a revised upload will again take time (less, though, unless you’re republishing the book because of a change in its content), and if you want to contact Amazon author support, the back and forth of making changes and clarifying issues could also take a few days.

Author and sister uploaded the book four days before Sister began its launch, and there are still some non-content details they are sorting out vis-à-vis Amazon even today. It also takes some time for your book printer to connect the book to Amazon, and for you to ensure that the ebook and paperback formats are shown on the same page and on your author page. Uploading a few days before announcing your new book gives you some time to take care of loose bits and ends and unexpected issues, when any corrections you make still have time to take effect.

This week’s tip is in fact a word of encouragement: don’t worry if you don’t know what to do and if what this post says sounds complicated. All authors begin knowing nothing and learn with every step they take forward. Your first book upload will be the most confusing one, in the second you will know what to do, and in the third you won’t even think about it, experience will guide you. And as Author said, you might be new at this, but your online bookstore and your book printer aren’t. You have them, you have authors who have already published and who are only a few keyboard clicks away, and you can do it.

As for after your book is available online? This too you can deal with. Amazon allows you to market your book using ads and promos. You can promote your books through websites such as Goodreads or through social media . You can speak to other authors, see what they do, and read articles and books by those who have done and succeeded. A word here, though: note that Author doesn’t immediately assume you can do this part of the work. The fact that you can write doesn’t mean you know how to publicize and sell your book, you might be at a loss on how to do it. Author is, let’s get that straight: she has no idea what to do to make her book visible. She’s lucky that Sister knows, that Sister has the ability to learn what needs to be done and the creativity needed to make the right decisions, or any decision in this realm, for that matter. If you’re like that, at a loss as to how to even begin marketing your book, find someone knowledgeable who can help you with the publicity and marketing side of publishing. After all, if you want to be able to continue writing books in the coming years, both your name and your books need to sell.