It’s a Wrap: How my Book Became Available

Once the winter holidays had passed and a new year had begun, I set about my goal of publishing my book It Was a Magical Place.  There was one publisher that was guaranteed to not turn down the chance to publish my book: me.  As you will read below, I did many of the things that a publishing company does.

            Through some poking around on the Internet, I found a website that recommended a distributor and a resource of publishing professionals.  A distributor prints books and sells them to bookstores.  IngramSpark, my chosen distributor, was happy to distribute my book, but first I had to prepare the book.  I went to reedsy.com and found and hired a professional book designer and a marketing strategist.

            The book designer created the book’s cover and formatted its interior.  The cover design also included the spine and back of the book.  There was quite a bit of back and forth between myself and this cover artist as he came up with ideas and I rejected them and talked to him about what I wanted.  After feedback from me, he sent me a cover which I accepted.  To this day I am very happy with my book cover.  It really captures the spirit of the book.

            The marketing strategist read my book and wrote a detailed 25-page marketing plan.  It included social media advice, book review sites I could send my book to, podcasts that may be interested, and much more.  She also provided a media kit which included some beautifully written promotional materials.  I would really have liked for her to market my book for me.  But she only provided a blueprint on how I could market the book.  I still had to promote the book myself.  I carried out as much as of the plan as I could. 

            When all the details were perfect, I was ready to upload the book to IngramSpark.  Doing so was a tricky process in which the file types had to be just right.  I uploaded two files, one for the cover and one for the interior.  Once these files were accepted and the book became available, I ordered a paper copy of my book to be delivered to me because there is nothing like having a tangible copy of the book you have written. Just a few days later, It Was a Magical Place became available for pre-order at multiple online bookstores.  Then I proudly shared the news with friends and family.

            I had set the release date for May 7.  In the two months before then, I promoted the book using my marketing professional’s advice as a guide.  The release date of the book came and went.  Then people could order my book for immediate shipping (which would still take a few days) or downloading. 

The marketing did not stop then though.  I realize that sharing news of my book is an ongoing process.  There are still writers’ conferences to go to.  There are still podcasts to check out.  There are still reviewers to submit to.  There is still a website to maintain and update.  You may also notice that I have not stopped posting to this blog.