Beginner’s Guide To Publishing a Book

Publishing- Not for the faint of heart. 

Publishing is where every author wants to end up. We spend our days crafting worlds, personalities, and lives of the characters in our books, all while learning how to self publish a book in Australia. For non-fiction writers, we want the words that we put on paper to make it to an audience, so we can share our knowledge. Either way, publishing is the end goal. We want people to read our work, share the thoughts inside our minds, and help shape the world with our contribution to paper. 

Yet, it is no easy feat. Yes, it is entirely possible for anyone to write and publish a book these days, thanks to the internet. However, just because you have done this, does not mean it will be successful. It's not an easy thing to hear, but whether you are publishing through a publishing house, or self-publishing, it will be hard. It is not something made for the faint of heart.  You can also ask for assistance from experts like Catherine Nikkel, a book writing coach who has guided many people from writing their books to publishing them.

Publishing through a publishing house is a journey rife with rejection, changes, and sharing your work. Self-publishing requires resources, money, and time, a lot of time. 

Now, we won’t tell you that you should do one or the other. Some people find success with publishing houses, others find it through self-publishing. Whatever way you go about it, you need to be prepared for the tough journey ahead. 

Self Publishing. 

Many people self-publish these days, and that is okay. However, this means a lot of work on your behalf. All the things an editor, literary agent, and publishing house would do, you now have to. 

This means finding a good editor, or editing yourself if you feel confident enough (although this is not recommended), formatting, cover design, promotion, advertising, events planning, distribution and so on. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. 

While this might all sound brilliant and easy enough, these things cost money. Getting an advert in a local paper, or on a news website, can cost hundreds of dollars alone. If you are hiring an artist to create the cover image, they will also need payment. Promotion is not easy either. To properly promote your book, you will need a website, social media pages, and you will need to know how to use the right hashtags in the right way and use search engine optimization (SEO) properly to get the best internet clicks. 

While self-publishing cuts out the middle man entirely, it is difficult. This also means that you need to find a way to distribute your book as well. Many people will self-publish on Amazon KDP, or something similar. While sites like these are useful, it also means that the formatting, advertising, and so on are done by you, while Amazon simply sells your product. 

On the bright side, this means that no editor or publishing house will cut out any of your material or edit out parts, so it stays totally original to you. 

There is also the issue of distribution. Amazon KDP, for example, keeps the book as theirs only, and does not distribute into stores or any physical shops, so it is solely exclusive to Amazon. 

Publishing Houses. 

Publishing houses, on the other hand, are rife with book promotions and services for authors. While you can seek out companies that will do this if you self-publish, the difference is that you do not need to pay outright through a publisher, as instead the cost is taken in royalty through the sales. 

Of course, you can get these opportunities through independent companies when you publish yourself, but remember that you will have to pay for these services and there is no solid guarantee that you will make your money back through sales. With a publishing house, this is automatically a given, and you never need to pay outright for promotions, formatting, design, and advertisements. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. 

This makes publishing houses sound like the best idea, however, this would be a mistake to think so. 

Publishing houses are hard to get accepted into. Most authors will seek out a literary agent to help with this. It can be very hard to get an editor, or a publisher without one. They have the contacts that you do not right now. Although it is not impossible to get a publisher without an agent, it is hard. 

Just remember that your chances of getting an agent are 1 in 3,000 on average. And publishing is about the same, especially with good publishing houses. 

A publishing house is definitely worth it. However, it is getting into one that makes so many people seek out self-publishing these days.