Have you ever dreamed of publishing your own book, be it a self-help, memoir, poetry book, or novel? Do you feel too pressed for time with work, family, and life in general, unable to imagine doing what is necessary to write and produce a professional book product? And are you worried that if you do, the publication process will be too difficult and expensive to achieve your dream? Well, fear not, because I’m a testament that you can achieve your dream. I had several short stories traditionally published (without an agent), and self-published my first two novels while working a full-time day job and being a single parent. If I could do it, so can you. If you wish to do it the right way, the process isn’t cheap. But it won’t break the bank, either.

Two main forms of publishing a book exists—traditional, which is done (usually) through a literary agent who pitches your book to publishers, and self-publishing. If you wish to publish a full-length book traditionally, your road is much harder. I won’t lie to you there (short stories and nonfiction articles don’t usually require an agent unless the magazine is a major national one). Very few authors—regardless of writing talent or how interesting their book’s premise is—will ever land a literary agent. It’s a number’s game, unfortunately, since authors outnumber agents by many thousands to one. The traditional publishing landscape is vastly changing, also. The “Big 5” publishers—Penguin Random House, Hachette Group, Harper Collins, MacMillan Publishers, and Simon & Schuster—hold the lion’s share of big-name authors and their bigger contracts. But many of their smaller imprints, and still-smaller publishing companies, do work with many authors who aren’t household names. Still, getting a publishing deal with any of those smaller publishers is daunting in itself, since the agent is essentially the “gatekeeper” to the editors making the decision to buy books. Some smaller publishing companies accept unsolicited manuscripts, but they’re the minority. And without an agent, you may be exposing yourself to a host of adverse issues, not least of all worrying about losing the rights to your work.

Enter self-publishing. In a nutshell, it simply means that you the author are your own publishing company. A Sole Proprietorship or LLC are strongly suggested business tags to explore when beginning a self-publishing business. I have the former, which in Florida does not require a state registration. Name the business what you like with your state’s department of business and professional regulation, create a logo, and open a business bank account through which your book business is attached, and you’re on your way! Many more steps are involved, of course, including the first and most important one—producing a professional book

Some tough love here. It may seem easy, with the advent of Amazon and other online platforms that make publishing sound simple. The actual process of applying your manuscript, cover, and demographics to a free Amazon account isn’t rocket science. The average person can figure it out themselves or from the site’s FAQ’s in several hours. But getting there is hard. Traditional publishers do all the work for an author, including finding editors, formatters who put the words to page, a team of proofreaders, and cover artists. As a self-publisher, it’s your responsibility to make all those hires. I used Upwork.com to find my freelance editors, proofreaders, and interior formatters, and found some excellent professionals with verified backgrounds and reviews. Dozens of sites can be searched to find freelancers that fit your budget, timeline, and vision. Let Google be your friend. So let’s say you’ve gotten your manuscript professionally edited and proofread, and then had it formatted into eBook and print form. Then what?

Now it’s time to decide where you want to publish your book. Amazon is the big kid on the block. Unless you have the drive and ability to host your own website to sell your books yourself, and are confident you’ll be able to expose yourself to enough people organically, then an online distributor like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books (to name a few) is probably your best bet. I publish though all of them. There’s simply no way I’d ever get my book to be sold in over a dozen different countries and potentially seen by millions of people if I didn’t publish on Amazon. Look up the royalty plans yourself and I’m sure you’ll be shocked by how large a cut they take. Personally, I gladly take a 60% royalty on the paperbacks I sell versus hoping a few hundred people may visit my website and buy through me directly. And I have neither the time, money, nor desire to mail off copies of my book to every corner of the globe. Another perk of publishing on Amazon is the option of having your book available to libraries. The Kindle Unlimited program within Amazon is worth taking a look at. It’s a program where authors can only sell their eBook there for three month periods that can be extended; they can’t even give the eBook away. Readers pay $12/month for the ability to download up to twenty eBooks at a time. Based on the pages read, authors get paid from a pool of money created from the program. I won’t lie here either, the royalty isn’t fantastic, and many people opt to not sign up for Kindle Unlimited for that reason as well as the monopoly-like restrictions. I’ve tested this out myself, selling my eBook elsewhere. I found that Amazon gives me far more exposure to readers and sales of my eBook, so I jumped back on ship. Sad that such a huge company holds so much power, but that’s reality. Other authors have found success selling their eBooks on other platforms, so it’s really just a personal choice (note that the Kindle Unlimited program is only for eBooks; you can still sell your print and audiobook anywhere else).

Speaking of other formats, I suggest that you create your book into as many of them as you can afford. Some readers only read from an e-reader, while some prefer audio. If you’re like me, I only read from print books—there’s nothing like the feel of a physical book in my hands. If you skip one or more formats, you’re eliminating every group of reader who may potentially read your work. Audiobooks have new AI features that make producing your finished book as simple as clicking a button on your keyboard. I personally chose to hire human narrators for all three of my novels, and don’t plan on ever using AI. It sounds clinical, in my opinion, and misses the inflection and emotion a human being provides. I paid a pretty penny to have them produced in audio that way, but it was totally worth it, even if I never recoup what I spent. But let your wallet and sense of time be your own guide.

Congratulations! Now that you’ve published your book, you can sit back and bask in the glow of your own accomplishment, right? Wrong. As a self-publisher, one hundred percent of the promoting, advertising, and marketing yourself. A little-known secret: even traditionally published authors often must do a majority of their own marketing. Only the big-named authors have large marketing budgets set aside by their publishers. Indeed, the top 100 selling authors probably receive more marketing dollars than the next 10,000 selling authors combined. Either way, it’ll be on you to get the word out. How to do that? To borrow from the poet Browning, “let me count the ways…”

Get an author website. That’s non-negotiable. If you’re serious about being a published author, even of one book, hire a web designer (unless you know how yourself) and create one that fits your brand. It’s pricey, but shop around, there are literally thousands of folks savvy and experienced enough to give you what you need. Every serious writer I know has one, no matter their level of popularity. While you’re at it, create professional business cards and start an author newsletter. I use Mailchimp, and for $20/month I can send as many newsletter emails to up to 500 subscribers as I want. You’ll spend a lot more if your subscriber list reaches into the thousands, but it may be worth if when you consider that you control who gets your emails and when. Social media is important to have also, but with algorithms being what they are, there will always be a portion of your followers who never see your posts. With that said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention social media being a must. Consider a separate business page. Although it’s a good idea to sometimes show the human side of you, the writer, on your business pages, I’d avoid posting pics of you downing shots of liquor at a wild party or anything else you wouldn’t want your co-workers or boss seeing.

Writers conferences and book fairs are also strong suggestions. The former are excellent ways to learn the writing craft, meet other writing professionals, and to get your work seen by agents and editors. The latter are usually less expensive and more available to most people; every area has book fairs and festivals. Writing contests such as ‘NYC Midnight’ give entrants prompts that really stoke the imagination–it’s where I got the idea for my latest novel ‘Letter 26.’ Also consider joining local writing groups and larger national writing associations. They provide community and a wealth of knowledge. It may seem uncomfortable putting yourself out there. It was for me, and still is sometimes. I’m a private person and I don’t like to self-promote. But if your wish is to publish a book, part of that agreement with yourself needs to be getting out of your shell and letting people know about your work. The good news is, most everyone who publishes a book feels that way. It’s a scary thing laying your reputation on the line. You’ll read negative reviews of your work and cringe, perhaps even suffer from a case of imposter syndrome. Don’t wallow for long. It’s normal to feel anxious, unsure, and even frightened of how people may react to you. If there’s any consolation, many of the great authors and other artists throughout history lived their entire lives in virtual anonymity. With the advent of the internet and the relative ease people have today to birth their story ideas, being anonymous is much less likely. It’s up to you how much work you put in and how hard you’re willing to work. As I always say, the book isn’t going to write itself. It starts with getting your butt in the chair and writing the best story you can. If you aren’t re-writing, you aren’t writing. But when that day comes and you get your first author copy in the mail, it’ll all be worth it. You’ve succeeded in doing what less than one percent of people achieve who’ve ever wanted to write a book—actually write one. And you’ll succeed even further by doing what fewer people do once they’ve written one—publish it. But even though your job will only be halfway done, the day you hold your own book in your hand will be one of the proudest ones of your life.