Author First Steps

Create Your Table of Contents—Come up with eight to ten chapter titles and create a couple of section headings within each chapter. Don’t worry about the book title just yet. As thoughts for your book come to mind, jot them down under the heading of the chapter in which you think they will fit best. You can always rearrange them later. The critical point is to capture your thoughts in a logical place as you think of them. This will be the beginnings of your manuscript (ms).

At any point in the process, if you get stuck or need help, schedule a “Let’s Talk Publishing” phone consultation and get your questions answered.

Plan, Research, Write, Revise—Plan on writing about 10 pages for each chapter. (Note that a standard double-spaced manuscript page is an 8.5 by 11 inch sheet, typically set in 12 point Times New Roman with one-inch margins.) Do your work, expand on your thoughts, check your facts, and be sure you give credit to your sources. For example, do not include song lyrics within your manuscript unless you get written permission from the copyright holder (which is not very easy to attain). Song or book titles, however, are fair game, though. Titles are not copyrightable.

Again, at any point in the process, if you get stuck or need help, schedule a “Let’s Talk Publishing” phone consultation and get your questions answered.

Manuscript Evaluation—Once you have your manuscript written, we recommend you submit 12 double-spaced ms pages (4 from the beginning of the book, 4 from the middle, and 4 from the end) for a manuscript evaluation. It’s a simple process to purchase this service and email your file of 12 pages along with a brief description about your book. One of our experienced editors will prepare a one-page evaluation with constructive feedback on your 12-page manuscript submission within 10 to 14 days of purchase. We will review and email it to you shortly thereafter. Click the button below to purchase this service.

Reread, Fine-Tune, & Finalize Your Manuscript—After you added “The End” on the last page of your manuscript, give yourself some time (a week or two) to do something else. Then, go back and take the time to read your manuscript again. There will most likely be things that you missed before that need to be reworded or even deleted. When you’ve reread, fine-tuned, and are finally satisfied with your manuscript, we recommend you schedule a “Let’s Talk Publishing” phone consultation (if you have not done so before), where we can discuss our process with you and the options to move your manuscript forward in the publishing process.

Remember, authors must value the time of their readers and readers deserve a quality read.