Self-Publishing Step 1 – The Timeline

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net - David Castillo Dominici

I’ve discovered that the most important thing to do first, once one decides to self-publish (other than writing the darn book) is to put together a timeline starting with the desired launch date and working backwards to the current date showing on the calendar. It’s a real eye-opening experience to realize how many moving parts there are to the process. Making sure you have everything slotted on the timeline is critical otherwise that deadline is going to whizz by while you're staring wild-eyed at the ever-growing ‘To Do’ list.

This really shouldn’t have been such an earth-shattering revelation for me since it’s what every good event planner or communications strategy developer does every time a new project presents itself. Since that’s my background, it should have been a no-brainer!

It’s now been a little more than a week since I’ve made my pronouncement that I’m going to self publish my novel and my chosen launch date of March 8^th seems a lot closer than it did at that time (there may have been some holiday spirits involved). However ambitious the timeline, I am still committed to making it happen, even if I have to launch in stages and use March 8^th as the launch for the Kindle version and follow up shortly thereafter with the print version.

So, here are my top 5 key elements that must be included early on the self-publishing timeline (the more lead-time the better):

Proofreading and editing (by someone other than yourself)

Gathering reviews for the back cover and other marketing (which I started ages ago knowing I would need them whether publishing traditionally or self-publishing)

Registering ISBN number and purchasing barcode (for print version)

Cover design (front and back if doing a print version) and inside layout and design for both eBook and print versions.

PR/Marketing plan (this is huge and there are several elements that need to be in place long before the launch, including your social media platform, which I’ve been building for about two years now… phew!).

I think I’ll leave it at that as I can feel the heart palpitations starting, so I’d best get back to work. I’ll add more in my next post. In the meantime, feel free to include your own list of the top 5 must dos!

P.S. One element of the marketing plan that I have initiated already is a blog specific to my novel, where I’ll be sharing chapter excerpts each week leading up to the launch. I have already posted twice: The Announcement and Excerpts from Chapter 1 so feel free to visit and sign up to follow: http://www.mentalpause-thenovel.blogspot.com

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