How to Self Publish a Book - Part 2
Here are my 9 steps on how to self publish a book
In Part 1 of How to Self Publish a Book I outlined the pros and cons of self-publishing against conventional book publishing. Now here’s my 9 step guide on how to actually self publish your own recipe book.
It took me almost 3 years to make a final decision regarding the content of my book.
At first I had planned to publish a vegan book about raw desserts but over those years I had created many savoury recipes as well that I was very proud of. So finally, I decided my book would include both sweet and savoury vegan raw food recipes. That’s when the hard work started!
This is what I learnt about the process, step-by-step.
Step 1: Decide what kind of book you want to publish
Is it going to be a book with dessert recipes or savoury food? Healthy or comfort food? Fast and easy or more complicated?
How many chapters would you like to include in your book?
Once I had decided my book would include both sweet and savoury raw food recipes. I made a list of all the recipes I wanted to share and I worked what chapter each recipe belongs to.
Step 2: Write the book
Start by collecting all the recipes you want to share. You can collect all your tested recipes during a long period of time or you can create a routine and work every day on the new recipes. Work on the introduction chapters at the end when you are sure what content you will include in our book.
About half of the recipes from my book I created before I started the book. There were my favourite recipes which everyone loved and I had made many times before. The other half of the recipes I created especially for the book. As I mentioned above I made the list of recipes I wanted to include in my book to create interesting content. Then I spent many months testing new recipes to make sure they work and taste good.
I wrote the introduction as my final task and because my book is fully about raw vegan food I decided to write a short but complete guide about the principles, benefits and risks of raw food diet.
This was the most difficult part for me. I've only lived in the UK for 6 years and English is my second language, so writing a book in a foreign language was tricky.
Step 3: Work on the pictures
Photos in the recipe book are just as important as the recipes if not more so (we eat with our eyes, don't we?). Good photos can sell your book and make the readers fall in love with your food ideas. If you feel comfortable in the world of food styling and photography you can work on this part yourself.
If photography is not your strong point you can hire a food photographer and stylist who will do this part for you. You can work together or you may send the recipes to a photographer who will create the food and photograph it.
For me working on the photos was the best part because food photography is my big passion. For some recipes I used existing photos – I have my favourite foods that I make often and I had some good photos ready. Most of the photos I took before the book was published, some of them I changed at the last moment because I wasn't happy with how they looked in print. I also hired an illustrator to work on the illustrations for my book. I sent her the photos and she made drawings based on my photos.
Step 4: Edit your book
After finalising all content it's time for text editing. Start by self-editing. Read your book as many times as you can to find all the mistakes and parts of the text you are not happy with. Once you have corrected all that you can on your own, hand your text off to a professional. Choose your proofreader carefully – it's good if the person is not only a language expert who can correct spelling and grammar, but is also familiar with the topic you are writing about.
I've read my book myself about 5 times, then I handed it off to my proofreader for first corrections. After first proofreading, I corrected all the mistakes and send the text to a proofreader for another review. I've chosen the person who was not only expert in English but also a vegan interested in healthy and raw diets.
Step 5: Design the cover and text formating - remember you need an eye-catching cover that will sell your book
For me, this was the most difficult part.
I changed the front and back cover more than 10 times until I was pleased with the result. I was lucky my designer was a very patient and understanding person and a close friend of mine! I tried to take some photos dedicated to a cover and also tried the existing photos from the inside the book.
I had a sample copy of my book printed with a different cover but I realised I didn't like it so the final cover was designed at the last moment before mass printing of the book when, with the help of my boyfriend who is my greatest critic and advisor I took another photo which I was finally happy with!
My cover looks a little bit different than most raw vegan and vegan cookbooks. It is good and bad at the same time - good because it reflects the style of my photography - people who know my pictures can easily recognise who the author is and it will be easy to spot my dark and moody cover between the other covers which are usually light and colourful. At the same time there was some feedback that my cover doesn't fit a raw food recipe book because ‘raw food is full of colour, cheerful and positive and my book cover doesn't reflect that. … but I beg to differ.
So it's your choice – you can follow the trends and make a beautiful colourful but not unique cover or try to make something different.
For the book interior design the key is to choose the right fonts and image layouts.
Step 6: Purchase an ISBN and barcode
You will need an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) for any printed book if you intend to sell it in stores or with the online retailers like Amazon.
Step 7: Find the printing company
Printing books in UK is not cost-effective so only big publishing companies are able to afford it (but still most of them print in cheaper countries). Being in Europe you can try to print in cheaper European countries or China as most publishers do. Printing in Europe will be more expensive but you will save money delivery and import VAT.
8th step (optional): Register as an importer if you are printing your books abroad.
Step 8: Distribute and advertise your book
Step 9: Breakdown of costs for self publishing
Here’s a breakdown of the average cost of designing and printing 1000 copies of cookbook (hardcover, 200 pages, 120 pages text, 80 full-page photographs, 10 illustrations).
Text editing and proofreading: £1,000-2,000
Book design and cover: £800-2,000
Illustrations and photographs: £3,000-6,000
ISBN: £89 (or you can buy 10 ISBNs for 164. You can use them in the future for your next books, they remain valid indefinitely.)
Barcode: £15
Printing cost in China: £5,000-6,000 for printing books, £1,000-4,000 for delivery, Import VAT 20% (£1,200-2,000)
Printing cost in the UK: £11,000-13,000, delivery £300-600
When we know the cost of design, editing, printing and delivery it's easier to understand why the publishers pay the authors only between 8 and 15% of each sold copy. If you sell the book for £20 and reduce all the expenses your profit will be no more than 15%.
Is it worth it to do it yourself then? Well, yes and no.
In conclusion:
Self-publishing your book is a lot of hard work, stress and uncertainty but it gives you full control on the final result and a lot of satisfaction. If you have time and you are a control freak like me, you should probably choose this option. I learnt a lot during this process and surely my second book publishing experience will go a lot more smoothly!
I hope this post was useful for everyone who is considering book publishing.
Leave a comment below if you have found this a helpful article, or if you have any questions. I will be very happy to try and help you.
