The five day countdown is on until publication of my fourth novel, The Fairy Lights. It’s available for pre-order until the 10th November and will be listed on Kindle Unlimited where it will be free to read, if you have a subscription. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to share my countdown to publication checklist in the months before each of my books is published. If you aren’t a writer, or even if you are and your morbid curiosity is piqued, you might be interested in my behind-the-scenes preparation. Since I haven’t posted about this topic before, even though I do it with all of my novels, I thought I’d share my process with you. Curious? Read on…
Four months before publication: cover design
I use Canva Pro to design my own professional book covers using advice from freelance graphic designer connections I have about suggested layout and colour changes.
Three months before publication: editor
I print my final draft in paperback format using Lulu Publishing. My editor checks the final draft of my novels for story continuity errors and anything else that might be unclear at this stage and goes through the book thoroughly using red pen. I then go through the edits and incorporate any changes needed in the manuscript.
Two months before publication: proof reader
I print another paperback draft using Lulu. My freelance proofreader goes through this three times marking all grammatical errors, formatting issues and typos, or suggested changes. I then go through the edits and incorporate any further changes in the manuscript.
Six weeks before publication: beta readers
After listing the Kindle ebook for pre-order and adding the paperback to Amazon as a working draft (note to writers, save this as a draft until you wish to publish it as KDP don’t allow pre-orders on paperbacks), I then print 2 proof copies for my beta readers, who give me an opinion on what they thought about the story. This helps my marketing decisions: category and keyword targeting. At this stage I also use Draft2Digital to convert my Word doc file into an epub or mobi file.
One month before publication
I begin uploading my Word doc manuscript to the Ingramspark book builder tool to begin designing the hardcover version. I send out printed proof copies or epub/mobi files to my small team of ARC readers and professional book bloggers.
Two weeks before publication
I register my ISBNs on the Nielsen Title Editor (Nielsen Book database for the UK – I believe the equivalent in the US is Bowker). Note to self-published authors using KDP direct – you won’t need to do this if you have used one of Amazon’s free ISBNs as they own the distribution rights. You only register on Nielsen if, like me, you bought your ISBNs directly from them, and therefore own the distribution rights under your own imprint.
One week before publication
I email my ARC readers with a gentle reminder that my book will soon be published and that I look forward to their honest reviews.
Publication Day
I start a sponsored ad campaign on Amazon for my latest book.
What next?
Hope the checklist of advice above is helpful to you. For me, the process is very much one of trial and error, but I generally find that the steps above are a reliable process for me that streamlines my publishing process, taking away much of the last minute stress. If you are an author and do anything differently, feel free to let me know what works for you, if you’re happy to share.
Leilanie Stewart 