INS06 - 7 Steps To Self-Publishing with Michael Hanrahan

It's No Secret with Dr T.

Michael Hanrahan owns a publishing company in Melbourne Australia, Michael Hanrahan Publishing, and is the author of Stand Out, 7 steps to self-publishing a book that will build your profile, promote your business and make you stand out from the crowd.

Today we discussed:

Why the lines between traditional publishing and self-publishing have become blurred. Self-published books use to have poorly designed covers, sub-standard layout and poor print quality. They looked cheap, but not anymore.

Technology has changed the publishing world. Everything runs on a digital workflow and it’s now more viable to do short, high-quality print runs. Printing 200 copies is now quite common.

It now only takes three months from a written word document to finished book.

What is an ISBN and why is it important? ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number and you need to get this right. Every book and eBook has an individual ISBN number and some self-publishers make the mistake of trying to use the same ISBN number for different book formats.

Why should someone write a book and self-publish it? Imagine your book like a huge business card. It opens doors. Writing a book can lead to speaking gigs and television appearances, and it’s a great way of reconnecting with past clients.

It’s also a great way to make contact with new business contacts by sending them a copy of your book.

Why a book gives you street cred: There are a lot of people writing blogs, but there a far fewer people writing books., because it takes dedication to put together 30,000 to 50,000 words, and it also shows commitment.

Simple facts:

• You become a better writer by writing.
• Writing a book will make you more intelligent, due to research.
• It’s a guarantee that someone is going to hate your book…just accept it.

7 Steps To Self-Publishing

1. Planning: This is not the writing process; this is about scheduling and budgeting your book with your publisher.
2. Editing: It’s more than just checking spelling. It’s about creating a better book. Your editor will offer suggestions and improvements and it’s a great time for the author to ask questions. One of the big advantages of self-publishing is you’re the boss, so you do get the final say in the editing process.
3. Design: Design includes the front and back cover, the spine, the internal layout and paper selection. There are usually three to four rounds during the design process and multiple suggestions each time, so you may see up to 20 variations.

This is why you should judge a book by its cover. A cover says a lot about the book and the time taken in the design process.

4. Proofreading and indexing: Editing is about improving the overall quality of the book. The Proofreader is a whole new person who has never seen your book and they are simply looking for mistakes (spelling, comma’s etc). They don’t offer writing advice.
5. Printing
6. Ebook and print on demand
7. Distribution

The average sized of a book is 30,000 – 40,000 words, or approximately 170 pages.

The average cost to publish a book is $12,000, from start to finish and there are no other hidden costs. This price includes 200 printed copies.

Whatever you level of writing, your editor will help you the rest of the way, but your personality will come through in the finished product. It’s important to keep your personality and to write in your voice because it introduces you to the reader.They need to hear your entrepreneurial spirit in your voice.

You can connect with Michael via his website www.Mhpublishing.com.au where you can organise a FREE 30-minute DISCOVERY CALL directly with Michael. This is worth considering if you’ve already got a book written but you don’t know what to do next.

Michaels book is available on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vKsv9E

My Book: It’s no Secret There’s Money In Small Business will be available on Amazon October 2017, or you can visit my website https://www.tysonfranklin.com