How I Published My First Book

A four-step process

It took a year to write, 3 months to edit, and another 3 months to publish my first book. While the entire process doesn’t have to be painful, writing your first book is no tiny feat.

Here I breakdown the four steps I used.

1. Understanding the Process

One of the reasons that not only inspired me to write a book, but also stay on track was the fact that I was clear about what steps must follow. Demystifying this big concept of writing a book is important for the mind so it can pace itself.

I used Scribe Media to educate myself well on the process of book writing before I even got started. They have some good prep-work materials. I went through all their free resources.

2. Writing

Being aware of my own tendency to be lazy, I did what was within my budget to set up the right environment and accountability.

I joined the London Writers’ Salon — an online community of writers that get together several times a day to sit down and write. I did a lot of my initial work through this group.

I also have an accountability/life-development group I meet with weekly. Throughout the year, I used the support from this group to keep myself accountable.

In essence, the point is to just write. Write when you feel good. Write when you feel bad. Write when you don’t feel like it. Feelings change. So you want to make sure that your writing does not.

I was writing 2–3 hours per week. By the end of the year, I was done.

Then came editing.

3. Editing

There was a point when I had read all the chapters so many times, I just couldn’t read them again. This was the furthest I could go in terms of self-editing. I needed a fresh perspective.

Then I contacted an editor who charged an affordable price. All authors tell you to get your book well-edited. Yes, that’s right. A good editor will work with you to take your writing to the next level.

It took five online sessions with my editor to edit the five chapters of my book. What I hadn’t planned for is that I had to do more writing and thinking during the editing process. New questions and new thoughts came up, and I had to account for them.

There was always the lingering feeling of “I couldn’ve done better.”

I will say all this with a warning: a book is never done, so never go for perfection. Done is better than perfect.

4. Publishing

Now that all was done, it was time to publish. I contacted a few publishers.

What I learned was if you are willing to spend a few thousand dollars, you can get your book ghost-written, published, and even guaranteed a spot on the “Amazon best seller list.” Publishers know how to work the algorithm.

I wasn’t going for that.

Then I began working with a new publishing company that agreed to publish my book for no upfront cost, but later take a commission on sales. Two months later I found out that the publisher did not have the team to get it done on time, so I withdrew from this arrangement.

Then there was only one option left: Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), thankfully.

I had tried to outsource the entire publishing, but now it was all up to me. So I began educating myself through YouTube videos. This whole process of took about two weeks, with help from an expert I hired from Upwork.

What’s Next?

Excitement, fear, insecurity…and the next book.

One of the hardest parts of being an author is making your book public and waiting to see what happens. People who read it will see you for what you write. There’s no hiding anymore.

While it’s too early to say what reviews and feedback I have received, this process of not knowing does stir up a lot of emotions.

What would I have done differently?

I would have trusted myself, the process, and relaxed a bit more. Truly, yes, you can write a book.

Could I have done better? Yes, absolutely. This is why there will be the next book.

But for now, I celebrate this major win. Here’s the book.