there's a lot of things a writer must do before publishing. since you're also about to become a publisher!

the process of before and after is just as important as writing the book. before publishing, the first thing you obviously need to do is write the book. write it, finish it and make sure you're happy.

if you've already written a fan-fiction for example, it needs to be heavily edited, along with character changes. for myself, i had written the book in 2018 but a lot of changes needed to be done. the book was there but wasn't really.

although the book is on Wattpad, i added bonus scenes as well as alternate endings to the official Amazon version. my writing style has changed a lot since 2018 so i changed quite a lot of the book and the way it was written.

so then comes editing, proof reading. it can get tiresome, reading the same pages over and over again. getting family and friends to go over things to make sure they make sense is a good thing to do. ask them questions, if there's anything that needs to change, look for plot holes or unstructured paragraphs. even the small things like punctuation makes a difference. however, some people pay for a professional editor or formatter online.

since you're self-publishing, it needs to look the same as a professional. it's important to teach yourself the bits and pieces that make a book on a shelf look a certain way. such as, the pages before the story starts, the spine, will there be an acknowledgements page, certain indentation and different headers and footers.

so before publishing, here's a few things you'd need to do (i might go into further detail in later chapters). there's lots of helpful information online, in forms of videos and articles:

- book cover. make sure it's ready. if you need to make changes, you always can but it's better to do this step first and out of the way so you can focus on the manuscript. make sure to read the KDP guidelines! remember that people unfortunately do judge a book by its cover, therefore, make sure it's pleasing to the eye as well as fitting to the story plot.

- proof reading. read and read again. make sure it makes sense to you and how it would come across to someone that isn't you.

- categories. what genres and key words will you be using for this section on KDP? for example, romance, contemporary romance or love letters. what key terms would you use to describe your book? such as hashtags...

- book description. what do you want people to see when they click on your book? a catchy blurb? other people's words? what is the book about? use questions and a brief summary, don't give too much away. if it's inspired by something popular, mention it.

- editing. check for punctuation, grammar, use resources like Grammarly or other online websites. check for spellings, if a comma is needed etc.

- appearance. font and size is also important. i went with Times New Roman and size 12. there's a range to choose from!

- check for plot holes. check the character's names (especially if you have changed them.) does the story line up? what questions may readers have? is there answers to those questions? is there an epilogue or prologue?

- formatting. this is what i personally struggled with but had to teach myself. i built my manuscript for Letters to Reality on Microsoft Word. this skill contains headers, footers, indentation, paragraph structure, spacing etc. Amazon KDP also has their own software called Create.

- include the basics. such as a letter to the reader, copyright page, chapter names (in bold), acknowledgements. it's important to do research to see what different authors do. i personally did all of those above, as well as a page asking for a review and an excerpt for my next book.

- order proof copies. Amazon KDP is a great service that allows you to order edit copies as an author to be sent to your home. this gives you as an author, a chance to see what your paperback would look to your readers. there are also a lot of things you may notice that you wouldn't notice when editing digitally. so i highly recommend doing this. personally, i ordered three proof copies but if you need to order more, you should!

- build up your social media. accounts on instagram and twitter are great for the writing community. also joining sites such as Goodreads, Tumblr or Pinterest etc are great! anticipate your book release and updates with your followers. share it with the world.

i wish it was easy just to click a button and publish a book but there's a lot that is involved in the process. it all works out in the end, remain positive!! all these steps just keep you busy, help you along the journey and helps you to be just one step away from having your book out there!

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a resource i found really helpful is this self published author called Natalia Leigh. she's incredible and goes through immense, helpful detail on her YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/c/NataliaLeigh