For the writing component, you can, of course, write the book on your own. Another approach is to hire a ghostwriter, who can write for you, working from interview and content you have already written—perhaps blogs or article.
A third approach to the writing is to hire a writing coach. As they provide guidance on how to write, they can also provide feedback serving as a developmental editor. This includes how to put together your chapters and devising detailed outlines for each chapter.
The next function to consider is line editing, also referred to as copy editing. This is where you review each chapter to go methodically through the content primarily for readability, clarity, flow, and sentence structure. This can also include looking for grammar, syntax, punctuation, and spelling.
The third level of editing is proofreading, to make sure there a no typos or missed errors for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. You can, of course, just like writing, handle line editing and proofreading on your own, but it’s best to hire help, and ideally one person for line editing and another for proofreading.
At this point, you will have a complete book manuscript in Word or Google Doc file. Now, you need to go to the stage to make your book look good. That’s where you work with a designer on the cover and to handle any inside images, photos, graphs, tables, drawings and other graphic elements.
Some designers can also assist with book formatting, which involves converting the Word or Google Doc into a printable file within a paperback or hardcover binding. However, you may need to hire a separate resource to handle the formatting, and then they can help you upload it to a self-publishing platform, like Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), so that your book is ready to print on-demand.
Regarding publishing…you may have a book topic and credentials that will appeal to a publisher to take on the printing of your book for you. To find out if your book qualifies, it’s best to work with a publishing agent. There are pros and cons of working with a publisher vs. a self-publisher, and that’s something an agent can guide you through.
If you do partner with a publisher, they will potentially handle a lot of the editing, design, and formatting for you. But it’s important to realize that whether you use a publisher or self-publish, promoting your book will be your responsibility—at least until you have established a successful author track record.
Promoting a book is major task. It requires extensive social networks you can post to as well as push campaigns and podcast appearances. This is another area where it pays off to work with a professional resource.
Yes, publishing a book is a lot of work, and if you turn to resources to help, it will require an investment. Once you get one book under your belt, you will have a much better idea of how things work, and if you write the book yourself and self-publish, you can keep your costs manageable for the editing, design and formatting components.