By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about the do-it-yourself aspects of your book.
It’s true that you could hire someone to help you complete almost every part of your book. You can be just the idea person behind it all and have your name on the cover. People do it all the time.
On the flip side of this coin, you can do many aspects of this process yourself and this is where many authors begin their own book writing and publishing journeys.
A daunting task to undertake, creating, writing and publishing a book challenges even the most lion-hearted people at times; however, it also carries the amazing lessons of perseverance, courage, persistence and faith.
The reality is a do-it-yourself book at its core and most pure form could really be a do-it-yourself project – where you write it and type it up in your favorite word processing program, add a picture or two, create a cover, print it out, take it to your neighborhood copy shop and have it copied and bound and bingo! You have a book! No one can say you don’t. From another perspective, you can take that same book and instead of going to the local copy shop, you could publish it electronically at first…and you would still have a book. An e-book.
What many of us dream of is a much more professional process that enrolls more of the publishing industry and a more sophisticated support team than your local copy shop owner or graphic designer, no offense intended to him or her.
The do-it-yourself aspects of your book stem beyond just writing it, crafting it and delivering a manuscript. They include how you will market it and tell others about it. Now you can hire others for this part too; however, you will have to retain responsibility for these activities, not just “hand them over” to someone else. You will be the evaluator of whether the message being marketed is congruent and consistent with your voice, approach and project outcome.
You can also sell books right out of your car and go knock on doors to ask others to sell your book for you. You can even sell it in your own office or place of business and also put it up for sale online yourself. You can even risk becoming your very own version of Willy Lowman from the infamous “Death of a Salesman” in Arthur Miller’s famous play.
There is a distinct difference and a fine line between delegating the various responsibilities of your project to the right team members and retaining an aspect of each responsibility yourself. Somewhere between the hiring of your team and the tasks assigned to each member is the fine art of delegation and the real determination of how “do-it-yourself” your project is going to be.
As an author, it is important to keep in mind that in some way, shape or form, we are all actually “doing it ourselves.” What it really boils down to is just what aspects we choose to do more of “ourselves” that make all the difference.
For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.