“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end. Then stop.”
— Alice in Wonderland

“Start with the end in mind.”
— The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Take time to imagine your finished book—in your hands, handing “thanks for your support” copies to relatives and friends, on the book shelf of someone you’ve just met, in your favorite book store and library, on an e-reader or tablet, as an audio book. How does that feel?

Is the cover a photo, an illustration, or just contain the title and your name, there in lights. Is the title large enough? What does the title and cover design convey to a potential reader? How will it look on display in a bookstore, or online?

There are many decisions for you to make as you build your book. Knowing where you’re headed will save you time later on.

Things like self-publishing start out simple, then they get complicated. But you have to start somewhere. Here’s a checklist for building a book from scratch. Along the way, you will need:

A publishing checklist

Here’s everything you need to self-publish your fiction or nonfiction book. Easy-peasy:

• A completed manuscript.
• A compelling cover design: front, back, spine. Very important to attract attention.
• The page count and pagination.
• Book design and formatting: font, margins, page numbers, header, footer.
• A thorough copy edit guided by your style guide and dictionary of choice.
• Target audience analysis for niche marketing. Ideal reader profile.
• Chapter openers: design and content.
• Title and sub-title. The last thing you decide before publishing. You need a working title, but don’t feel bound by it.
• Pen name? Should you use a pen name?
• Copyright notice, legalese, and marketing copy.
• An ISBN and perhaps a UPC and Library of Congress number.
• Dedication. Who do you love?
• Table of Contents design. Your novel may not even need a table of contents.
• Front and Back Matter (wait, what?).
• Foreword: Usually written by a friend or authority in your subject matter willing to say something good about what you’ve done in your book. (Optional)
• Preface: A personal note from you as author. Not needed if you say anything personal you want to say somewhere else, like in the introduction. (Optional)
• Acknowledgments: Who helped? Who do you want to thank?
• Introduction: What would you like to say to your readers before they start reading? Common for nonfiction; probably not needed for fiction, which may need a Prologue, or not.
• Description. You’ll need three versions of this: short (50 words), medium (250 words), and long (up to 2500 words) for different uses, such as your back cover, Amazon product page, press release, Author website, GoodReads Author Page, etc. This is just standard in product marketing.
• Author bio and photo. Cover images for websites and print materials.

Is that everything? Probably not. But you can do this. Maybe get a little help. That’s what we’re here for at TouchwoodPress.com. But wait, there’s more:

Book marketing stuff

• Cover pitch, marketing content
• Advertising strategy: organic, paid, affiliate
• BISAC categories
• Key words, tags
• Pricing strategies, prices, promotions
• Channels: narrow or wide?
• Reviews
• Press relations
• Author appearances, book tour?
• Working Amazon marketing
• Project planning and management
• E-book format specifics
• Paperback trim size, paper choice, and binding
• Hardcover? Dust jacket?
• Audio book specifics?
• Someone to keep you on track as you work through this list.

Publishing a living, breathing book is a surmountable object. This is something you can do. But the sooner you get started, the better. Let us know if you’d like a little help. Or a lot. Email us with your questions.