Top 3 Things to Know if You Plan to Publish Your Book Soon

Last month I went to the New Delhi World Book Fair to promote my latest book. The idea was to see what happens at book fairs from an author's perspective. I had lots of learning, but these 3 stood out for me.

#1. Whatever publishing platform you choose, the onus of selling is on you as the author.

And that sucks.

Because all I ever want to do is write, and then leave the rest to good writing. And I am sure, as a writer, you want the same.

But it seems good writing works its charm only if marketing brings the book in front of reader and sales goads them into buying them.

This revelation has also made me think about how much I want to spend on my publishing process and how much on marketing thereafter. But that's a thought for another day.

#2. Publishing platform can guarantee ONLY the publishing process.

If like me you had been thinking that buying a marketing package will sell books, let me tell you that you are grossly mistaken. Marketing will only bring the books in front of readers, now it’s up to the readers to buy them.

And it’s not just that publishing with Notion Press gave me this feeling. During the book fair I visited quite a few other publishing platform stalls, and when I grilled them incessantly, they accepted that they could not commit to book sales, only to marketing them to the right audience.

The honest ones accepted gracefully while the smarter ones still tried to dodge the truth.

So when I am looking for alternatives to Notion Press, I will go with the honest ones, not the smart pants.

#3. Being humble doesn't help in marketing

Come to think of it, in almost no walk of life being humble helps, but more so when you have to market your products. Yes, you need to treat your book as product not your baby if you want to sell!!).

Create an aura. Around yourself and your capabilities and your product. If you can't do it yourself, assemble a team around you who can do that. But still, at the core you should have the desire to create the aura.

Final thoughts

I haven't shared these to discourage you; just a heads up if you are not already aware of them. So if you are planning to publish soon, don't lose heart. Instead, prepare well before you choose a publishing platform and have a strategy in place to make the most out of it.

I simply want you to go into it with open eyes.

The book fair had many more lessons for me - on a personal level. If you would like to know those too, read the full blog on my personal website.