Tame the Beast: Write, Edit and Publish Your Book Professionally

Writing a book and wanting to get it published is an exciting and natural thing to do. You want it to do well, stand out and, above all, to make a difference. Making a difference is what books are all about.

Do you remember the first time you got your hands on a great book? How it absorbed you, made you switch off from the rest of the world and made you see things differently?

You can do the same with your book and it doesn’t matter what you write about. Be it a book about your business, a romance or a how-to book, memoir or poetry, pour your heart into it, write the way you can and know; your way.

Seeing a reader holding your book is hard to beat. If you’ve already got a book out there you know what I’m talking about; you’ll soon know if it’s your first. You don’t need to worry if you haven’t published a book before, start writing your book.

When it comes to publishing, finishing your draft is only the beginning; it then needs to be edited, formatted, proofread, the title and the cover need to be right and so on.

There are many steps and stages your book will go through; each as important as the rest. Skipping or not being thorough with one, it would affect the rest. For example, the wrong formatting screws the rest of the book, the wrong font size and you either cannot read the text because it’s too small or it screams at you because it’s too big.

Readers might not mind the story, but they would mind a lot when they see issues that annoy the hell out of them. It happens all the time. You want to give your reader a book that is smooth to read, it’s presented and formatted well, it looks and feels right.

But readers are not aware of what really goes into a book; books are designed for the mind with all the publishing details well hidden away. It’s not until you start the publishing your book you realise what effort and skill need to go into making it ready. It’s not easy, it takes time and planning and effort,

Get to know the basics, from writing and editing well to preparing your bio and promoting your book. Get down to the nitty-gritty of it. 

It’s what bestselling authors do. So, if you want your book to succeed and become a bestselling author, work alongside your publisher and see the magic happen.

I will help you all the way. Here’s a snippet of the stages your book needs to go through.

Polishing the MS (Manuscript): Readers want a book that is free of inconsistencies, errors or missing parts in the storyline. Write the best book ever, without editing it properly it won’t get far. I’ll help you guide through each editing step, from assessing the draft to completing it.

Striking Cover: If you want the book to stands out, go for a simple and clean book cover. Cluttered and dull covers won’t tell the reader what your book is about. The cover of your book will be produced in full-colour with the right format specifications for front, spine and back cover. It’ll be designed to stand out as a thumbnail size.

 Good Typesetting: Nothing is more annoying and frustrating for your reader than a poorly formatted book. Your book interior will be typeset neatly to display and read well across all platforms or latest reading devices.

Title & Subtitle: If the book title doesn’t resonate at first glance with readers, they’ll move on. Depending on the genre, we’ll go through suggestions for the Title, Subtitle & Series for your book. This is critical in terms of both ranking better and your ideal reader knowing instantly what your book is about.

Right Book Size: The size impacts the spine width, the feel and the look of your book. There are many book sizes, yet only one would be ideal for your book. For example, 5.5″ x 8.5″ tend to work for fiction; 6″ x 9″ for non-fiction. We’ll find the fitting size for your book and order a proof copy to double-check it.

 Book Charts Your book’s details from the title and subtitle to the optimum keywords, categories, description and price will be uploaded separately and with the only aim to help your book move up the best sellers rank on Amazon charts or other book charts.

Advanced Book Listing: Your book will be listed on Amazon and other publishing platforms, to give it the best chance to fare well against competing books. No details would be left out. And if you don’t have a KDP Amazon account, I’ll help you get one.

Keyword Research: Choosing the right words describing your book is crucial in making it easy for potential readers to find your book instead of your competitors and then influence their decision to buy it. For example, by using keywords throughout the Table of Contents helps not only rank higher, it also propels curiosity. We run Amazon and Google search to identify the best keywords for your specific book genre. 

Targeted Genre & Subgenre: The specific category and subcategory your book is listed in is a huge success factor. When done right, it has the power to give it bestseller status. We research and find the best genre and subgenre to place your book in. The more specific the better. 

Competitor Research: Checking your biggest competitors help immensely marketing your book as it:

  • Narrows down category and keyword research even more
  • Gives clues as to what your ideal reader expects from your book
  • Shows the marketing strength of your sub-genre and where to place ads for maximum exposure

Unique Author Profile: You must build an author profile that shows who you really are. Readers want the get to know you and, often, check you before deciding to read your books. Amazon’s Author Central allows you built up your profile from your photo to adding events about your book. We show you how to write a top-notch author profile that portrays you best and how to populate it with editorial reviews, video testimonials or book trailers.

ISBN: Your book will get its independent ISBN so you can print copies of your book anytime, anywhere, online or offline. It’s best to secure your own ISBN instead of the free ones given by Amazon or other publishing platforms. 

Copyright & Royalty: You own full rights to your book and retain full control of your book listings. You must guard your copyright and keep as much as you can. Royalties for your book will be paid directly to your account.

Right Pricing: Readers are savvy, they know what price books in a particular genre tend to go for, and pricing your book right and at the right time is fundamental. You price too high, it won’t sell; too low, it cheapens it. We research prices in your book genre and suggest the best price range for your book to increase the chance of making more sales. 

Book Blurb & Description: Using algorithms is how Amazon and other book publishing platforms work out what books to recommend. Key to success is convincing them your book is the one to recommend. Also, most readers would scan the book first, and a poor or empty description section would turn them away. 

Both the wording and the formatting of the description need to stand out and read with ease. I’ll help create a simple and clear book description that sells. 

Book Launch: Launching to a tight schedule is about building momentum for your book so it ranks as high as possible. Your book will be launched in two stages; soft and hard with a launch timetable to keep track of.

Book Competition: Goodreads has an audience of close to a hundred million of book readers worldwide. Peter and I will help you submit your book to Goodreads and upload an excerpt for people to read. We also help you set up a competition to promote your book and supply you with a list with contact details to the competition entrants.

Book Reviews: Reviews are the flesh and the blood setting your book up for success. Contacting reviewers showing an interest in your genre is a powerful tool of generating honest reviews. We’ll show you how to find book reviewers who gave good reviews for books similar to yours.

Book Distribution: Your book will be made available to the Amazon US and UK market via Amazon’s Extended Distribution program, or the Amazon site of your country of residence (if available). Furthermore, it’ll be available in the major online and offline retailers, libraries and academic institutions.

Send a draft sample now, I’ll read it carefully and come back with feedback. If I can’t take your book on (I wish I could offer a publishing agreement to every writer), I’ll put together a publishing package that would give your book the best chance to succeed give you it a huge headstart over the majority of other authors.

I guarantee you’ll get published professionally. Either register here or get in touch and ask for Paul or Michelle.

For more details about the book publishing journey or submitting manuscripts, please email:

paul@paulsmithpublishing.co.uk