Finish & Publish

By Cara Stein

Updated for 2020!

Finish writing your book—and publish it!

(even if you haven't started yet and don't know what to do)

 

You want to write a book. If you're like most people, you've been thinking about it for years.

 

What's holding you back? Maybe you don't know where to start. Maybe you're not sure you're a good enough writer. Maybe you started writing but got stuck and never finished.

 

Or, maybe you've finished your manuscript, but you don't know how to publish a book.

 

Your book is still waiting for you. And it's not doing anyone any good gathering dust in your head or on your hard drive.

 

Publishing a book can be daunting, but I'm here to help. I'm Cara Stein, and I help people finish and publish their books. I've guided over 200 books through the publishing process.

 

I've seen where my clients got stuck, what they needed to know, and what helped them most. I put it all in this book, so you can finish your book, make it really good, and publish it. It's the next best thing to having me by your side, guiding you every step of the way.

 

This book will show you how to:

• Set up your book for success before you ever put the first word on paper
• Finish your book and make sure it comes out every bit as good as a traditionally published book
• Structure your book from the ground up to attract the people who need your message
• Build an audience of fans, eagerly waiting to buy your book—even if you nobody knows your name right now
• Make sure the people who need your book immediately recognize it and want to buy it
• Publish your book and get it on Amazon and other online bookstores
• Handle all of the little details that often trip up first-time authors
• Launch your book for maximum impact so that people actually read it
• Earn royalties from your book month after month, even if you don't do any more work
• Extend the book to other formats and platforms, so you can reach more people with your message

 

You can be a published author. It's not a dream. There are plenty of real people who are doing exactly that. All it takes is knowing what to do, and doing it.

 

This book will tell you exactly what to do and guide you step by step, so you can finish writing your book, publish it, and get it into readers' hands. Get your copy today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fire Lizard Press
• Release date: Sep 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393896128

Book preview

Finish & Publish

Finish & Publish

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Relax and Color

Finish & Publish

Write the book you’ve always wanted to write

By

Cara Stein

Fire Lizard Press

Copyright © 2015, 2020 by Cara Stein

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be copied or reproduced in any form, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

This book is an educational and informational resource. The publisher cannot guarantee the outcome of following the recommendations provided; any statements about the potential outcome are expressions of opinion only. Although every effort has been made to provide true, current, and accurate information, the publisher makes no guarantees about the information and recommendations provided herein.

Cover Design: Cara Stein / Project-Bestseller.com

Images:

Amazon Kindle Touch by Intel Free Press on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)

Remington Model 1 by mpclemens on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)

Table of Contents

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

How the Publishing Process Works

Traditional Publishers

Self-Publishing

Hybrid Publishing

The Steps to Publishing a Book

Setting Your Book Up for Success

The Transformation You offer Your Readers

What Will Set Your Book Apart

Setting Up Your Marketing Platform

Action Steps

Writing Your Book

Planning for Fiction

Planning for Non-Fiction

What if you don’t have an idea?

Choosing Your Tools

Setting Yourself up to Finish

Action Steps

Preparing Your Book for Publication

Choosing Formats and Venues

Next Steps

Formatting Your book

Buying ISBN(s)

Action Steps

Publishing Your Book

Publishing on Kindle

Publishing your paperback

Registering your Copyright

Action Steps

Selling your Book

Strengthening your Book Description

Getting Reviews

Getting the Word Out

Advertising

Building on the Book

Action Steps

Want More?

Acknowledgements

Resources

Building Your Author Platform

Writing and Finishing Your Book

The Mental Game

Hiring an Editor

Venues and Tools for Publishing

Formatting Your Book

Marketing and Selling

Footnotes

About the Author

Dedication

To authors everywhere, present and future. Keep dreaming, and keep working to make those dreams reality. You make the world a richer place.

Introduction

A survey quoted in the New York Times says that 81% of Americans want to write a book, yet very few people ever achieve this dream. They think about it and talk about it, but they never actually do it.

If you want to write a book but aren’t sure how to finish it or get anyone to read it, this book is for you! You’ll learn how to write a book, how to make sure it’s valuable to your future readers, how to finish it, and how to get it published and into readers’ hands. I’ll walk you through the same step-by-step process that I’ve used to finish and publish five of my own books, as well as over 200 books for clients.

You have something to say, and it’s not helping anybody if it’s just gathering dust in your head or on your hard drive. In this book, I’ll show you my simple, proven, step-by-step path to:

Finish your book and make sure it comes out every bit as good as a traditionally published book

Structure your book from the ground up to attract the people who need your message

Build a platform of fans who are eager to buy your next book or product

Launch your book for maximum impact so that people actually read it

Earn royalties from your book month after month, even if you don’t do any more work

This may sound too good to be true, but it’s not. There are plenty of real people who have made this their reality. Chandler Bolt made almost $7,000 in the first month after he released his book.¹ Jeff Goins earned $1,500 in his first weekend selling a $2.99 eBook and went on to build a six-figure business around his books in less than a year.² And you’ve probably heard of Amanda Hocking, the self-published author of young adult fiction who sold nearly half a million books in her first year and went on to land a 7-figure publishing deal with St. Martin’s Press. ³, ⁴

Those bestselling authors aren’t magical. There’s no difference between them and you, except that you haven’t published your book…yet. Only two things set them apart from the millions of people worldwide who want to write a book but never will: knowledge and execution. They know how to write, publish, and market a book, and they take action and do it.

That’s it. There’s no magic. If you listen to interviews with successful authors, they all say the same thing. That’s why I’ve boiled it down into a system, so you can do it, too.

I’ve helped dozens of clients finish and publish their books. I know you can do it, too. To help you, I’ve written this book. I’ve also included action steps and guiding questions to help you along the way. I’ve gathered those all in a handy PDF to make it easy for you.

workbook and audiobook

As a special gift, I’ve also included the audiobook version of this book, so you can listen on the go.

You can get the whole package at:

https://project-bestseller.com/resources

I suggest downloading it now so you can follow along with the book and map out your publishing plan.

Chapter 1

How the Publishing Process Works

For first-time authors, the publishing process can seem intimidating. That’s why I want to start by giving you an overview of the process. When you know what the steps are, it’s easier to imagine completing them.

There are two main ways of getting your book published: you can use a traditional publisher or publish your book yourself.

Traditional Publishers

You’re probably very familiar with traditional publishers. They’re the source of almost all of the books you see in bookstores.

With a traditional publisher, the process goes like this: write a proposal (including the whole book if you’re writing fiction), find an agent to represent you, and wait while the agent shops the book to different publishers. Then, if a publisher decides to publish your book, you’ll sign a contract and receive an advance. The publisher will probably have changes and edits they want you to make. After that, they take over, getting the book edited, proofread, designed, printed, and distributed for you.

With a traditional publisher, you can expect to earn 10 to 15 percent royalties on hardcover sales, eight to 10 percent on paperback, and 25 to 50 percent on eBooks ⁵ However, your royalties will be applied to pay the publishing company back for your advance first. That’s called earning out your advance. It’s only after your book has sold enough to pay back the advance that you’ll start receiving royalty payments.

Royalty payments are also delayed a few months to allow for returns. If a bookstore buys 10 copies of your book and then returns eight of them later, the publisher wants to make sure they haven’t already sent you the royalties on those eight copies. There are many advantages to using a traditional publisher.

They have the connections and distribution network to get your book into stores across the country. They have staff to handle the editing, design, and production, so you won’t have to worry about any of that or put up any initial investment for it. Also, traditionally-published books