My unconventional Guide to Publishing Your FIRST Book...
Over on Instagram last week, I participated in Alex Beadon’s 5 day Instagram story challenge to boost engagement. Each day had a different theme and we were challenged to take those themes and make them our own.
Day 1: reintroduce yourself to your followers
Day 2: create a story to add value (like a tutorial)
Day 3: work-with-me-Wednesday (film your day)
Day 4: talk about a misconception people have about your field
Day 5: sell a new product
Y’all, it was so fun and eye-opening and I learned so much! I learned that your Instagram stories should be a vessel toward your ultimate goal (relate them back to your business). WHO KNEW? Not me, OBVI... I’ve just been posting random stuff on my stories (what’s for dinner, what’s the dog doing, oh look - there’s a bird, etc.). I haven’t really had a purpose with my Instagram stories... until now.
I decided to make Day 1 a story highlight on my Instagram page (click on “intro”) so you can go back and rewatch it if you want, but I also wanted to take that 1 step further and talk a bit more about what it’s like to have a book published and work with a publisher. From coming up with your idea to getting a contract, to working through the editing process and what their marketing is like. You can see ALL THIS in my “books” highlight, but I wanted to expand on that a bit here.
After my search for an Alabama coloring book came up empty, I decided to make one for myself. Bit of a back story: I’m a member of the Alabama Historical Association and one of my fellow members owns a small-ish publishing company, NewSouth Books in Montgomery, Alabama. When I started my book, I decided to draw up 10-or-so counties and send them to my friend (the publisher) to see if she could help me work on a pitch. At this point, I honestly wasn’t even thinking about using her publishing company. Well, instead of sending me recommendations on how to approach a publisher with my book idea, she asked me to come meet with them where they offered me a contract on the spot!
This was in June or July of 2016 and after tons of travel and research, I had finished the drawings by December of the same year. Then I set my sights on writing the copy.
LUCKILY I had kept a spreadsheet of all the counties (and everything I drew on all of the pages) so that it would be a bit easier to write the copy… and that part honestly didn’t take me too much time. I wrote it all over a long weekend and had my in-house editor (AKA: my husband) read through it and make grammatical changes. My husband is the director of a state agency and used to be an editor in a past life, so he helped me make those 2-3 grammatical changes that were needed (ok, there were DEF more than 3. I like to exaggerate. Moving on). At that point, I was finished and sent the final manuscript to the publisher.
Note about the editing process: DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL. ANY OF IT. Y’all, I know. I get my feelings hurt easily (I think I talked about this last week too…). I know your book is your baby, but they WILL make changes to it. It’s not saying anything bad about you - they trusted you enough to give you a contract . I PROMISE they want/need it to succeed as much as you do!
After my publisher/editor got hold of my book, we went back-and-forth through it SEVERAL times. I think the HARDEST round for me was the cutting round - when they had to take my beautifully written (shameless plug) paragraphs and cut them down to the correct length. I only got 8 lines (EIGHT) of text per page. E.I.G.H.T!
In June-ish of 2017, the final manuscript (with drawings, cover design, etc.) went to the printer and I got the call in early September that they were here. My first book!
After my copies of Amazing Alabama arrived we started working on Marketing RIGHT AWAY! Again, my experience was a little different than if I was a JK Rowling or Hillary Clinton. Since my publisher is an indie publisher and only has 20-30 titles each year, they don’t have a lot of overhead and they REALLY don’t have a lot of marketing $$ to throw at their individual authors. Now don’t get me wrong - they did a GREAT job of getting me on TV and the radio and getting some speaking engagements set up for me at schools, libraries, etc, but I DID end up doing a lot of leg-work too. YOU HAVE TO! You can’t sit back and just let your publisher do it all. You know (better than anyone) who your “ideal reader” is and YOU need to fin that person and reach out to them. My ideal readers (moms/teachers/grandparents) are on Facebook and Instagram, so that’s where my main marketing focus is.
Still today I get inquiries through my publisher for speaking engagements, but now I also have a speaking package on my website so schools, libraries, and museums know what to expect when they hire me to come speak. This package has different class ideas listed (along with appropriate ages), book order forms, pricing, how to order books from the distributor, and even fun posters they can download and put up around their facility to promote my visit. You can click this link to download the visitation package, but I need to update it with some new photos and info about my third book, Amazing South Carolina.
I think my #1 main top for a first time writer would be to find a smaller indie publisher like mine. When they’re a Penguin or a Random House, how much can you REALLY get to know them? I know EVERY PERSON at my publisher’s office. I like them all and am friends with many of them. Knowing them helps build that trust factor. When you receive edits or corrections or suggestions from “a friend,” that personal connection makes the process so much more enjoyable.
SORRY… I now this isn’t a totally exhaustive guide to writing your first book, but it’s the story of how MY first book was published.
Are there any questions you have for me about MY “first time author” experience?