Up to now, we’ve covered writing and, by now, you should be able to figure out roughly how long it will take you to write your book. But what about publishing?

How Long to Publish a Book?

Once the writing is done, you’ve revised it, edited and rewritten what needed it, the next step is to format it. At this point, you have to decide whether you want your book published as an eBook, a physical book in paperback/hardback or in both formats. If you want both, you will need to format your book differently for each one. And, depending on whether you do it yourself or contract with someone else, it could take at least a week to get it professionally formatted.

Then you have to think about the cover and this can take another week or more, depending again on who you choose to design it and how many edits are needed.

Once you have done all that, actually setting your book up on KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) for a Kindle eBook and with a publisher for the print version should take no more than a few hours. Most of that time can be put down to writing the book description and choosing the right categories and keywords to use.

When your book is set up in your chosen format/s, and you hit that ‘Publish’ button, all you can do is sit back and wait. Amazon will take around 72 hours to look at your book and determine whether or not they will publish it. Either way, they will email you to tell you that it has been published or why it can’t be.

So, that is how long it can take to write a book. Get your first one under your belt, see how it goes and then decide if, or when, you will start your next one. The most important takeaways here are to write consistently, every day if you can, to set aside a time and place where you can write uninterrupted and not expect miracles.

Don’t get frustrated if you don’t seem to be getting anywhere; writing is an art form, a craft that takes time to perfect and time to complete.

If you haven’t written a book yet but are seriously considering it, start right now. Grab a notebook and write down the first idea that comes to your mind. Write as if you were telling a friend about the book. Don’t overthink things – the important thing is to get your ideas down on paper.

If you get halfway through the idea and it doesn’t feel like it’s working, don’t ditch it. Start a new page for a new idea. You can always take a few ideas and see if you can blend them into something that works.  Think about a book that you always wanted to read but could never find. Then work out what it will take to make that book a reality.

The most important thing is to let your creativity flow, your curiosity to have free rein and be passionate about what you do. You’ll find that when you have a true passion, you can write a book quicker than you thought possible.