Publishing Nonfiction: Five Things to Think about Before You Publish

When someone is well read, or more specifically, when someone believes that they have a nonfiction book to contribute to the world, often they being to write a nonfiction piece.  Then they edit this manuscript, and begin the long process of making their dreams of publishing a reality.  That is where the problems can begin, when a writer wants to publish their work.

Below are five things to think about before you publish.  The focus is on nonfiction, but two can work well for fiction.  Nonfiction is not the same as publishing fiction but the foundations are the similar.

1) Make certain that the manuscript is edited by someone who knows about the topic, and also is a professional editor:  This is a must.  There are many facts to look for and writing nonfiction is fact oriented,  and a manuscript is written either academically based or has a narrative style to it.  Either way facts which are true are a must.  Check with your editor before hiring.  Ask questions in regards to their qualifications, if they have limited experience in editing nonfiction or about the topic you intend to publish, do not hire them.

2) Know the timeline for publishing a nonfiction book:  There is a process to work with when publishing a nonfiction book as opposed to a fiction.  Often, it takes longer to publish a nonfiction simply because the facts and information must be correct.   As a writer of a nonfiction piece you will need to answer for mistakes or misinformation which may appear.  The longer it takes the better.  It is not a good idea to rush the process of writing and editing and publishing a nonfiction manuscript.

3) If you intend to self-publish, you have a better chance of selling a nonfiction book:  This is something which most writers do not understand, in nonfiction there is a bit of  promotion, but in a different way, word of mouth and marketing helps, but also the fact that most people who read nonfiction are willing to read a new author.  Quality counts here as much as anywhere else, but according to people who have self-published both nonfiction and fiction, nonfiction had its challenges, but not as many as their fiction works.  The suggestion of better marketing was brought up, for one who had self-published nonfiction and then fiction, they found more people were not as inclined to read their fiction.

4) Have a marketing plan before you plan on publishing your nonfiction:  This is one rule which most people find hard to follow they want to have success, and they want to go back and work on other nonfiction manuscripts, but every book needs a marketing plan.  Start small, with your social networks: your friends and your family.  Plan to give away a few signed copies to people, as this helps get the word out, people love to be acknowledged.  With a few signed copies and a marketing plan for a book, your book as a greater chance of seeing success, but it is also time-consuming.  A marketing plan is of great value, and can often help you find ways to promote your book than if you did not have one to begin with.

5) Get a book out about your writing and your book: This is fairly simple, you need to harness the power of the internet and you need to get traffic from as many sources as you can.  You can sell your work online when you have traffic which is coming to your blog.  A blog will showcase your writing better than a website and it is a very simple thing to set up.  By publishing something on a regular basis you will be able to get more reader.  In this case to get traffic to a blog  will mean more potential readers of your book.  Update the blog often, and encourage comments, and of course love what you do.