To put it simply, book publishing is the process of having written works printed, published, then sold. It sounds easy when you put it that way, but the actual book publishing process is quite complex and is composed of numerous developmental stages. If you are trying to publish your books personally, it would serve you well to be familiar with the steps you have to undergo in getting it done. And if you are an author whose works are being published by a publishing house, knowing the book publishing process will benefit you when you are dealing with your publication company.
The first stage of book publishing is editing; this includes creating changes and revisions to the manuscript before it gets printed, from editing or totally changing the book title to proofreading the chapters and their content. Make sure that there are no grammatical errors that will lower the quality of the book. Also change the sentence or paragraph construction to make it more appropriate or relevant to the book’s main theme.
What comes next in the book publishing process is design; this includes the way the book will be presented in order to make it visually appealing to would be readers. This encompasses everything from the book jacket’s design or the cover art, to how each page will look or the text layout, how each chapter will begin, the form or type of font or the typography to be used, the design or icons that will be incorporated in each page, and the illustrations or pictures that will be included in the book.
The third step in book publishing is marketing; while the book is being prepared for printing, interest in the book should already be generated through publicity. If you are going to self-publish your book, you might want to hire the services of a marketing expert to guide you. You could also create a blog about the book, advertise on the internet using various social media websites or use traditional advertising media like the radio, television, flyers and posters. You could enlist the help of your local or online book club to spread the word about your new book.
If your book is being published by a publishing company, their dedicated publicity and marketing team will work with the other departments involved in the book publishing process to create the best marketing or promotional plan that will ensure your book gets the attention it needs to be launched successfully. They will even go as far as making sure your book gets displayed in the front rows of a bookstore where it is highly visible to customers.
The final stage of book publishing is printing and distribution; this is where the manuscript is turned into a book and distributed to retailers to be sold to potential readers. With the advent of the internet, not only do books get sold through brick and mortar book stores, but also through the internet in the form of e-books. As a self-publishing author, you might want to sell your books using this medium first since it is more cost effective for you to do so. Publishing companies nowadays also publish e-books aside from the traditional hard copy format.
