Introduction

Welcome to this course on publishing. It assumes you have some (written) work that you would like to publish. Before we start, I must admit that (at the time of writing) I am mostly self-published. I usually do all the steps in the process of publishing a finished book and know all the ins and outs of self publishing.

My advice on traditional publishing will be more minimal. It also means that, if you go this route, you won’t have to do all of this yourself. For example, publishers will reach out to an artist to design your book cover, instead of having to design it yourself.

In general, I think publishing comes down to two things.

• Know how to sell your book (theory)
• Know the details about what to do and what not to do (practice)

This course will teach you, for example, how to summarize your book into marketing blurbs or pitches you can give. It will talk about how to design a book cover that explains what your book is about and sells it to the right target audience. It talks about the famous query letters and synopses you’re supposed to send out.

At the same time, I have experience self-publishing my book at 5+ different distributers, for 5+ years. This means I have a lot of data and experience about the specifics of the process. (Which, to be honest, mostly results in many warnings about things that can go wrong or ways that companies can screw you over.)

I am not affiliated or represented by any publisher or distributor. This course is completely free of advertisements or endorsements. I merely want to share my knowledge and help you navigate the tough task of getting something published!

Yes, you can read this course without a specific (finished) work you want to publish. But I really don’t recommend it. Applying the advice immediately, to a specific work, will teach you much more.

Let’s get started!