How to Make 2021 Your Year to Publish Your Book

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A new year often marks a new beginning for each of us, and that usually means a new chance to finally accomplish our goals. Wouldn’t you like to make 2021 your year to finally reach your goal of finishing and publishing your book?

But that can be a daunting task to think about, much less follow through with. However, with a little planning, we can break down that overwhelming yet rewarding dream into seven smaller steps and make 2021 your year to publish your book.

1. Set Your Goals

Without goals, you will have no idea where you’re going, if you’re still on track, and if you’re making any progress. Your publishing goals can be 100% customizable to when you’re at in the process and what best keeps you motivated. The important thing is to just have a few goals and a deadline for each of them to keep you moving forward.

Your goals could be based on word count or page count, for example. You can plan to write 500 words a day or edit 10 pages a week.

If you’re deeper into preparing for publishing, you could have specific tasks as your goals each week. Week 1 could be to find three beta readers for your book, and week two and three could be doing research for an editor while you wait for feedback from your beta readers.

However you decide to set up your goals, make sure that you keep track of them in a way that you will be able to see them easily and monitor your progress. I’ve included a few ideas for how you can do that below.

Resources for Setting Your Goals

2. Finish Writing Your Book

If you haven’t yet finished writing your book, then this will be your first goal. Whether you want to write a certain number of words a day or chapters a week, create a plan and set aside time to finish writing your book in 2021. You can do it! This can be your year to finish it, no matter how many months or years you’ve already spent writing it.

Resources for Writing Your Book

3. Revise and Edit Your Book

While this step may often feel tedious, it is crucial to the success of your book. There are two parts to this step: revision and editing.

When revising your book, you will focus on the big picture. Are there any plot holes? Are your characters relatable and believable? Can your readers follow the action of each scene? You will want to ask yourself these types of questions as you read through your book. Make notes as you go, and when you’re finished, you can go back through and delete, rearrange, or add in scenes and action.

When editing your book, you will focus on the mechanics of writing: grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style. You could pass this off to a professional copy editor, but if you spend a little time editing the errors you can find, then you can save some money on editing costs.

Resources for Editing Your Book

4. Get Beta Readers

Beta readers are people who read your book before it is professionally edited, and they offer feedback on the book’s plot, structure, characters, and overall enjoyment. Beta readers could be your family and friends (though there are some cons to enlisting the help of those who may not want to be truthful for fear of hurting your feelings), other author’s you know (or don’t know), or avid readers of the genre your book is in.

Now, this step is completely optional. Some authors love having several beta readers critique their book, and some others skip straight to working with a professional editor.

If you decide to get some beta readers for your book, you can help ensure that you get the best feedback from them if you include some specific questions that you’d like answered about the book.

Also, if you have a deadline for this project or even your own personal goals you want to stay on track with, make sure that you’re clear upfront about when you need the beta reader to finish reading your book and have their notes back to you.

5. Hire an Editor

Once you’ve finished revising and editing your book and implementing any beta reader suggestions that you liked, it’s time to hire an editor. The most common and affordable editor that authors invest in is a copy editor, but you can take a look at the different types of editing and see which one best fits your book’s needs and your budget.

You can find an editor through other author friends, suggestions in a writer Facebook group, or job sites like Fiverr or Upwork. You will want to find someone whose services are affordable for you but who is also experienced in the types of editing you’re looking for. And if the editor works a lot in your genre, that’s even better!

Keep in mind that editing takes time, and many of the best editors book out weeks or even months in advance. When planning your publishing goals, give this step at least 1-2 months if possible. You will also need to factor in the time it will take for you to review the editor’s changes and comments if that’s also part of the editor’s services.

Recourses for Hiring an Editor

6. Get Formatting & Cover Design

Getting your cover designed and the interior formatted should be completed after all revision and editing are completed. A printed book’s cover needs to be designed to fit the number of pages of your book because page count affects the book spine’s width, and any edits done after the design could mean the dimensions are no longer correct. Interior formatting for print books are done as a PDF, and both PDFs and ebook file formats (.epub and .mobi) cannot be edited if any changes are made to your book.

Both cover designing and formatting can be done yourself if you have some graphic design skills/tools and are willing to spend some time tinker with a Microsoft Word document until it meets your publishing platform’s formatting standards. There are also many YouTube videos and other resources available online to help you do these things.

Many people prefer to have both elements done professionally, either because they know they don’t have the skills or because they don’t want to spend the time on it, choosing to focus on writing and editing instead. I’ve included a list of sites below where you may be able to find someone to do these services for you.

Where to Find a Book Cover Designer

7. Publish

Finally, it’s time to publish your book! Do one last check to make sure you have everything listed below, and then get ready to share your book with the world!

Platforms like Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) make it easy for you to publish your book with a simple step-by-step process. You’ll provide your book’s title, formatted interior, cover design, etc., as it prompts you to do so. You will also need to decide if you will provide your own ISBN or if you will use one provided by the self-publishing company (not all platforms provide one).

Once you complete the process and set your release date, share the great news—and a link to purchase your book—with your friends and family, author friends, and the world!

What You Will Need to Publish Your Book

  • Formatted Manuscript & Title

  • Cover Design

  • ISBN (unless using one supplied by the publishing company)

  • Book Description for Product Page

  • Release Date

Places to Self-Publish Your Book

I hope you take advantage of the newness and motivation of the new year to give you the boost you need to finish and publish your book in 2021.

Meagan Thompson created ThompsonEditingServices.com to teach authors how to become better of their books. She also provides professional editing and formatting services.

When she isn’t editing or writing, Meagan enjoys watching movies with her husband, sharing meals and playing games with family and friends, listening to jazz music, and dreaming about her next travel destination.

Writing, Editing, ArticlesMeagan ThompsonWriting, Rewriting, Self-Editing, PublishingComment