The Process of Writing

Do you have an idea for a book?  Congratulations, you are at the start of the writer’s path.  Now What?  The path to actually writing and completing a book is not an easy one.  Most people that have ideas never put the work into writing the book.  Some finish the book and have no idea of how to get published or sell it or market it.  All of these aspects of writing require skill.  Ideas for books may include books of art such as art photography, coloring books, comic books, or other ideas.  All of these types of books require a process to bring the book to fruition.  

In the past, the process of book writing was a tough one that involved the usage of a typewriter, copy machines, or hand-writing.  It was not easy to get published, let alone write the book.  Previously, agents were needed to sell the book.  If a mainstream publisher was not interested in your work, vanity publishers could help get the book published but you would have to buy hundreds of books to get published, store them in your garage or house, and sell them on your own after paying the vanity publisher for the books.  If the book was marketable to book stores, the vanity publisher would require ownership of the copyright for the book and would take a significant portion of the sales while giving the writer a certain amount upfront that was called an advance.

Print-On-Demand  and drop shipping have completely changed everything in the book and publishing industry as much as streaming and social media has changed communication and the movie/film industry.  Print-On-Demand allows the average person to have the power of a publishing company at their hands for no money down.  Print-On-Demand can be done for free on platforms such as kdp.com and lulu.com.  Print-On-Demand companies will send out a book to a buyer only when a purchase is made thus eliminating the costly and cumbersome process of vanity printing and book storage.  Delivery of the books is completely handled by the Print-On-Demand companies.  The only thing the author has to do is write the book, edit it, publish it, and market it, thus eliminating a ton of work, costs, and rejection.

Writing a book, editing it, and marketing it are three different processes and skills.  Each one has its challenges and just because you are able to write a book, doesn’t mean you’ll be good at the editing and marketing of it.  The cover of the books is the most important aspect of the book besides the content in regards to marketing the book.  The saying, “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” doesn’t apply in this case.  The cover will be judged and within a few seconds a potential buyer will decide to pick up the book and learn more about it and possibly purchase it.  Thus the book cover is very important to the book as much as the actual writing.  Not all writers will have the skill set to design a great cover.  In the past, a graphic artist would be hired for a costly fee to design the book cover.  Today, a great artist could be found on Fiverr for a fraction of the cost, once again making the job of an independent writer so much easier.