Although most writers write for pleasure, there is no doubt that a great majority of them seek to publish a book of their own. It is a dream that only some get to fulfill. They say that the hard part is not writing a book. It is publishing the book, although nowadays, digital advances, self-publishing, and on-demand publishing make it possible for the dream to become one for more people.

You have probably asked yourself, what must you do to publish a book? There are methods to publish a book for free and others to publish a book paying, it can be done for several different days.

Each option should coexist in the publishing sector, offering writers and readers a wide range of possibilities. Therefore, we expose you to the different options to publish a book:

Through traditional publishers

It is not easy for a book to be part of the traditional literary process and be in the bookstores at the same level as the great authors, but from time to time, there are publishing bets for new authors who succeed.

The way for a traditional publisher to publish a book without the author having to invest is for the writer to contact the publisher by sending a publishing project. This project is usually a cover letter and a book preview with some sample chapters.

Suppose you are interested in how to publish a book. In that case, you should know that publishers receive numerous projects daily to publish a novel and unabridged originals, so just having someone from these publishers read your work is complicated enough. Also, when a publishing house chooses to publish the book, the percentage that the writer will receive from sales can be around 10%.

Through a literary agent

Another way to reach the publishing house and publish a book is through a literary agency. It is nothing more than an intermediary between the writer and the publishers who will charge for his services. If you choose a project that will end in the publication of a book, you will be in charge of finding a publisher but also of the diffusion and projection of the book and aspects such as promotion.

Getting to one of the big agents is also quite complicated. However, it is often possible, especially if you present an original and different project and knock on the door of the right person.

Publishing a book through a literary contest

You can find literary contests, whether for novels, short stories, or poetry, whose prize or part of the prize is the publication of the work. Therefore, here we find another reasonably direct way to publish a book. However, before submitting your work to a literary contest, be sure to check the rules of the contest and the copyright and whether, in addition to the publication, you are entitled to copies, whether there is an economical amount that belongs to the part of the benefits of the first edition or how you will be compensated later for the sale of copies.

Self-publication or self-publishing

Self-publishing or self-publishing is the process in which the author bears the costs of publication, although there are different ways to do it:

1. Through edition-on-demand.

A publishing house makes all its services available to you. The author will benefit from spell-checking, professional cover design, layout, legal procedures, printing, national and international distribution, e-book publishing, marketing, advice, and communication… Depending on the writer’s needs, the publishing house will set a budget for these services. A significant advantage is that the profit percentages are much higher than in traditional publishing. 

2. Through an online self-publishing service.

The best known is Amazon, although there are others, such as Bubok. The writer takes care of everything, puts the work online, and when it sells, gets a percentage of the sale. In principle, you don’t have to pay anything in advance to the platform, it’s a way to publish your book for free, but only in theory, because the writer has to take care of proofreading, layout, cover design, and subsequent promotion, and unless you use professional services for that, like the wowessays.com, you sometimes see books with unprofessional covers and messy in terms of layout and spelling. By the way, wowessays.com not only helps with spelling and grammar queries but also helps you if you’re wondering, “How to write my essay free?” because there are plenty of free essay samples on the site.

3. Through a printing house

This is the formula in which the writer takes care of the legal formalities, proofreading, layout, and design. Once he has the final file, he takes it to the printer, which prints several copies, and the author pays for them, subsequently taking care of their distribution and sale. This is the method that requires the most work for the author.

Therefore, exposed to the ways to publish a book, you are free to choose the route you want to follow in choosing to publish your literary work, that is if you have already finished it because you must keep in mind that the basis of everything is to have a good product, an excellent story to tell that you have developed with mastery, dynamism and correction so that your book can be successful.