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5 STEPS ON HOW TO
Hello , I’m Tim, the founder of Izzard Ink Publishing. My journey into the world of publishing began in a truly unique way—I started as a stay-at-home dad, fueled by a profound curiosity about how ordinary people can create extraordinary books. This personal quest led me to delve into the intricacies of the publishing industry from a fresh perspective, with a focus on structuring creative processes that empower authors.
At Izzard Ink, we’ve honed a collaborative publishing model that is a product of my initial experiences and revelations. We firmly believe that exceptional books are not just written—they are meticulously crafted through the synergy of creative minds working together. This fundamental belief underpins our approach, ensuring that the publishing process is inclusive and supportive for authors from all walks of life. Our approach has yielded remarkable results, with a diverse range of titles successfully published and over 1.5 million books sold—a testament to the efficacy of our publishing model and the trust authors and readers place in us.
In this article, we will guide you through a collaborative publishing path that leverages the collective expertise of editors, designers, marketers, and other industry professionals. This model ensures that each author’s vision is nurtured and evolved into a published book that truly stands out. Our method is more than just printing pages—it’s about fostering a community around each book, where authors feel supported and genuinely connected throughout their publishing journey. We want you to feel reassured that your voice and vision will be in the final product.
Embarking on the publishing journey starts with ensuring your manuscript is polished and primed for success. At Izzard Ink, we recognize the importance of this initial phase and provide a meticulous manuscript assessment coupled with a strategic action plan designed to elevate your manuscript and align every member of the publishing team with your vision.
For our fiction authors, your manuscript is more than just a story; it invites readers to enter and explore your imaginative world. Our manuscript assessment dives deep into the critical elements of your narrative—structure, character development, plot consistency, and thematic depth. This thorough evaluation by our experienced editors highlights areas that shine and those that need refinement, ensuring that the narrative flows smoothly and engages readers from start to finish.
For non-fiction writers within our community, your manuscript must inform, persuade, and engage your target audience. Our assessment critically evaluates how your content is organized, the support for your arguments, and the effectiveness of your communication. Tailored feedback strengthens your manuscript by enhancing logical flow, factual accuracy, and reader engagement.
The manuscript assessment and action plan are advantageous for several reasons:
Starting your publishing journey with a comprehensive assessment and detailed action plan sets a solid foundation. It confirms how to get your book published to a point where it meets professional standards and authentically represents your unique voice, facilitating a successful transition from manuscript to masterpiece.
Effective promotion isn’t an afterthought in publishing; it starts immediately. Strategic marketing, which refers to the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating marketing initiatives, begins during the initial stages of the action plan process. This can include identifying your target audience, conducting market research, and developing a unique selling proposition for your book. Understanding where your book fits on the shelf and how it resonates with your target audience is vital for setting the stage for its success.
An author platform is a bridge that connects you with your audience. It’s how readers find you, connect with your work, and stay engaged over time. Building a powerful platform involves various components, from your visibility in search engines to your presence at speaking engagements or readings. Each element should be strategically developed to resonate with your target audience and reflect the core themes of your work. An author’s platform should be treated as living and intended to keep growing with each of your additional projects, fostering a sense of connection and community with your readers.
A significant aspect of early promotional strategy is book cover design. The cover is not just about aesthetics; it’s a crucial marketing tool that can ignite anticipation and excitement in your audience. A well-designed cover must evoke the right emotions and attract the intended demographic. It must also capture the book’s essence and appeal to the right audience to ensure it is preserved even before it hits the shelves, creating a buzz and a sense of eager anticipation among your potential readers.
By integrating these elements early in the publishing process and continuously building upon them, we help ensure that your work reaches its audience and creates a lasting relationship with them.
After refining the manuscript, the next phase of publishing a book involves assembling a team to support the book’s journey from manuscript to publication. The action plan, derived from the manuscript assessment, serves as a guiding framework for selecting the best professionals for each role—editing, design, and publicity—ensuring they align with the book’s vision and specific needs.
The selection process for each team member is a proposal that lists carefully curated publishing professionals with experience working in the highest levels of publishing. This ensures that each professional—from editors to designers to publicists—is skilled and a good fit for the project’s particular needs.
By employing a structured proposal process for assembling the publishing team, the author picks the best possible team to support the project. The personalized approach helps manage the book’s journey efficiently, from editorial refinement to effective marketing and beyond, setting the stage for the book’s success upon release.
It is time to bring all elements together to execute the publication of your book. This phase ensures that your book’s content, design, and overall presentation are synchronized to meet the highest industry standards and resonate strongly with your target audience.
Izzard Ink’s commitment to quality is reflected in our choice of editors, who have backgrounds in major publishing houses and have worked with renowned authors and celebrities. These editors bring a wealth of experience to your manuscript, providing services from developmental editing to proofreading. The editing process typically involves developmental editing, line/copy editing, and proofreading. Their expertise ensures that the narrative is polished but also compelling and clear, aligning with the author’s vision and market expectations. More about our editing services can be found here.
The cover of your book is the gateway to your story, the first impression potential readers will have. Our authors collaborate with seasoned designers who specialize in crafting visually captivating covers that encapsulate the essence of your book while resonating with your target audience. These designers leverage their knowledge of current market trends to ensure your book stands out on the shelves and piques the interest of the right readers. Discover our book cover design process here.
The interior design of your book affects how readers experience your content. Our designers focus on creating an interior that enhances readability through thoughtful typography, appropriate formatting, and aesthetically pleasing layout choices. This meticulous attention to detail ensures the book is easily read and visually appealing. Details on our approach to interior design can be found here.
Executing a cohesive publishing strategy works because it integrates the expertise of highly skilled professionals attuned to the author’s vision and the book’s market needs. By meticulously coordinating the efforts of editors, designers, and other specialists, we ensure that each book component—from the text to the cover to the layout—is optimized for success. This harmonized approach enhances the book’s appeal and marketability, ensuring it reaches its full potential in the hands of readers. This strategy reflects our commitment to quality and maximizes your book’s impact in a competitive marketplace.
The final step in Izzard Ink’s publishing process focuses on personalization and enhancing our engagement with authors. In this stage, we leverage advanced technology, including AI and automation, to streamline our operations. This integration allows us to devote more time and resources to directly supporting and brainstorming with our authors, ensuring they receive the guidance needed to succeed.
Our commitment to personalization also includes continuous engagement and feedback loops with our authors. This ongoing dialogue helps us adapt and refine our strategies in real-time, ensuring that authors feel supported and informed at every step of their publishing journey. It also allows us to address concerns and capitalize on new trends and opportunities quickly.
This focus on personalization works because it builds trust and fosters a collaborative environment between the publishing team and the author during the book publishing process. Using AI and automation to handle the more mechanical aspects of publishing, our team can dedicate more time to nurturing author relationships and customizing the publishing experience to fit each author’s unique needs. The collaborative book publishing process enhances the author’s experience. It elevates the final product’s quality and impact, making books more successful, as over 80% of our books land in the top 15% of top literary reviews.
At Izzard Ink we’ve noticed how often authors make the same handful of mistakes when self-publishing – in our guide, we’ll pass that wisdom on to new and prospective authors. If you can learn from the costly mistakes of others, you can avoid making them yourself. These mistakes routinely cost authors hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Any way you approach it, publishing is a big investment – of both time and money – and it’s worth learning how to do it right.
Here are some more free resources and guides to help you
on your publishing journey:
