But Regardless of the Genre, For better planning consider the checklist below where we provide you with the 7 Phases to consider to Self-Publish your first book.
From Pre-Marketing to Marketing,
The 7 phases of Self-Publishing Mindsets
1. Premarketing
· Decide on the Author Name
· Decide on the Website name
· Start Social Networking
· Connect with like-minded People (via FB Groups and Podcasts or YouTube Channels: SPF, Joanna Penn, David Gaughran …)
· Decide if Self-Publishing is for you (Do the Research)
2. Getting Ready
· The Writing Knowledge (from Reading, from Podcasts, from /YouTube Trade Videos
· The Skills of Writing (from Education, Experience…)
· Get your Body Ready
§ The Balance of the Thirds (the Intakes: 1/3 must be food, 1/3 must be air, 1/3 must be water)
§ Eat Right (know what is the calorie need of your body to maintain equilibrium)
§ Move Right (do some Sports, sit right, type right…)
§ Rest Right (don't compromise in your sleep, writing tired produces rework and frustration, write only when completely rested)
· Get your Environment Ready
§ Work
§ Family
§ The Time in Between
Ø Tools
Ø Build the Right Habits and Skills
Ø Micro Writing Sets (even on a cellphone, get a small or foldable keyboard for your mobile)
Ø Recordings (on your cellphone, or on a recording device with a single record button)
Ø Master your Time
· Get your Mental Abilities Ready
§ Know your weaknesses and work on them
§ Know your Strengths and Capitalize on Them
§ Know when to Stop and Recharge
Ø Vacation
Ø Staycation
Ø Redirect your Attentions Between Projects
Ø Writing
Ø Learning and Testing Marketing Strategies
Ø Learning Book Design and making Book Covers and Ads Graphics
Ø Building other Digital Content
Ø Blogs
Ø Podcasts
Ø Videos (YouTube, Short Digital Stories on Instagram and Similar)
Ø Learning and Working on your Newsletters and email management companies
Ø Work on Other Books
Ø Author website
Ø Author social Platform
Ø Freebies
Ø Investment in the Brand
Ø Authors legal council
Ø Authors Healthcare
· Get Your Tools Ready
· Get your Writing Space Ready
· Get your Ideas Organized
§ Topic
§ Genre
§ Category and Sub-Category
· Choose your Faith
§ Outliner
§ Pantser
§ Mixed (Outliner and Pantser)
§ Hybrid (Mixed +some New Delivery Type) depends on the available technologies.
3. What you need
· The Written Book
· The Book Cover
· The Book Blurb
· Author Domain and Website (start with Free versions: Wix, google, Bluehost….)
· Mail management Client (MailChimp, lightmail…)
· Freebies (PDFs, part of a book, a spreadsheet, a collection of blogs in one pdf, ….)
· Sites to drop the freebies in (Prolificworks.com, bookfunnel.com, freebooksy.com …)
· Newsletter (to sustain the engagements)
· Blogs (to maintain engagements)
· YouTube Videos (to build and foster the author/Reader relationship)
· Podcasts (Anchor.fm, buzzsprout.com to build and foster the author/Reader relationship)
4. Graphic Designs
· Book Covers
· Ads Graphics
· Miscellaneous Designs
· Stock Photos
5. Book Editing
· Development Editing
· Proofreading
· Grammar
· Line Editing
6. Book Formatting
· Decide on your Type of Self-Publishing (Exclusive like KDP, or Wide: Draft2Digital, StoryOrigin, Kobowritinglife, …)
· Decide on your Book Frame Size (9x6 ….)
· Know your Page Count
Ø Include the Front Matter
Ø Include the Back Matter
Ø Consider the color type (B&W or Color => Cost)
Ø Consider the Inside Images Resolution (generally at least 300dpi or images will be blurry)
· Prepare Your Book Formats
Ø Kindle, ….
Ø Paperback
· Consider what to put in the Headers and Footers (pagination, title, author name….)
· Consider Ornaments signs or drop letters
7. Marketing
· Newsletter (to sustain the engagements)
· Advertisements (Amazon, Facebook, BookBob, Instagram, …)
· Podcasts (Anchor.fm, buzzsprout.com to build and foster the author/Reader relationship)
· YouTube Videos (to build and foster the author/Reader relationship)
· On to the Next Book/Topic…
· Backlist Magic