Module 3: Preparing for Publication

Week 1: Creating and sticking to your publication timeline

Click to listen to an overview of this week’s lesson:

Module 3 Week 1 - Greetings! [ 1:55 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

LESSON SUMMARY

The majority of people who come to me for book coaching come at one of two places in their authoring journey: 1) just as they are getting ready to start writing a book or 2) just as they are finishing their manuscript and are getting ready to publish. Unfortunately, many of those who are finishing their manuscript are getting what I call “baby fever”. They feel similarly to how many women do when they are in their ninth month of pregnancy—they just can’t wait until this baby is OUT. While babies tend to be born when they are ready, all too many authors try to push their “babies” out before the necessary pre-natal care has been put into place. I meet authors who have paid for their book to be proofread before it has even been copy edited. Others have submitted it to a publishing company before they have had it read by suitable “beta” readers (i.e., people OTHER than your friends and family!). But equally detrimental, if not more, are the authors who are getting ready to push the button to get their books published before they have made a plan for how, and to whom, this book will be sold.

Pacing your publication in the final stages is just as important as taking good care of your health in the final stages of pregnancy. If you rush the process, you put the life of your “baby” at risk. And so is true for your book. This is the reason why I wrote this module, because getting the timing right at this key transitional stage is very important. Get it wrong, and you will end up spending a lot of money to find your project is not what you had hoped it would be.

So sit down, relax and BREATHE. If you work through this module with patience and trust, your end product will be just as you had always dreamed, and you will have a book you will be proud of for many years to come.

OBJECTIVES FOR THE WEEK:

In this week’s lesson you will:

1. Learn the elements needed to create your final product
2. Set a date for the launch of your book
3. Create a publication timeline
4. Create a rough initial budget for your publication
5. Understand the importance of announcing and sticking to your publication schedule.

NOTE: While we will not be talking about that much about promotion in this module, it is to be assumed that you will be continually working on your online promotion and expanding your audience, using the methods you have learned either in Module 2, or which you have done independently outside of this course. Paying as much attention to your online promotion as you can during this preparation process is essential if you are to move smoothly to the very exciting time of your book launch in Module 4.

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