From Concept to Cover: A Writer's Guide to Publishing Your First Novel

"I want to keep publishing books, and writing and spreading my heartsong through the world.”

—Mattie Stepanek

Think of this as your roadmap to publishing.

I believe the writing community is collaborative. We share our ideas, inspirations, frustrations, and breakthroughs. And here’s something I’ve learned: other writers aren’t my rivals. We don’t have to push others down to raise ourselves up. We celebrate others’ successes and learn from each other’s mistakes. That’s why I freely share my publishing journey so that others can flourish.

My writing journey began in high school with inspiration borne out of naiveté and an idea for a book that evolved as I wrote. I didn’t know where or how to publish. I didn’t even know where the book idea would take me.

One book turned into two and then eventually three. I edited these manuscripts off and on over the next fifteen years until finally, enough was enough. Last year, I got serious, sticking it out until the first two books in the series were ready for publishing—at least as ready as they’d ever be.

I spent countless hours researching how to edit, format, and publish. And while I’m far from a bestselling author, at least now I’ve reached my goal of being a published author.

1. It starts with a concept, and an idea develops.

My published book is drastically different from my initial concept. I sat down to write one story, and somehow this new world opened that I didn’t know existed until I began to write. I found a girl, Alaira Hughes, who discovered a world beyond our own, and slowly, bit by bit, that world began to take form.

In hindsight, I missed a step when I sat down to write: research. If you're looking to traditionally publish, this step is crucial. You need to research market demand and write to genre accordingly. Find out what’s marketable to agents and what they’re accepting.

Even if you plan to self-publish, research is your friend. This will help you narrow down your genre if you’re on the fence. It’ll also help you change gears early on to avoid an unmarketable flop.

Unless you’re a celebrity or survived something extraordinary like war or famine, your personal memoir probably isn’t going to sell. However, if you take inspiration from your life and write a fictional account, now it’s a more palatable genre. (This also gives the added benefit of taking artistic liberties to rise above the confines of sticking strictly to what actually happened.)

2. Planning: To Outline or Not to Outline

I was what’s called a pantser—that is, I wrote by the seat of my pants, making up the story as I went along. A pantser is the opposite of a plotter—someone who outlines and plans their novel. While every writer is different, we all fall somewhere along this spectrum.

Looking back, it’s hard to say whether I would have benefited from an outline. Outlines can save time, as I’ve had to go back and change plot elements in the beginning as the story evolved, but I also didn’t know the story until I wrote it.

For those who outline, it doesn’t have to be rigid. It can act as a springboard, a loose starting place that’s flexible to change if your writing takes a different turn than initially expected.

At least some planning before you write will save you time when you get to editing.

• Consider your theme or main idea that will guide your writing.

• Decide your character’s purpose or object of desire. What are they trying to accomplish? Keeping this in mind will keep the story on track: how they fail, grow, and eventually obtain this desire.

• Make character arcs: define your characters’ physical, emotional, and moral characteristics and how they change through the story (maybe the physical attributes don’t change, but something should—positively or negatively).

• Research and build the world/setting: Is it a real place? Is your story set in the present or a historical setting, and what does that look like? If you build your own world, make a list of attributes for the setting, climate, socio-economic conditions, extent of the world, and rules. If you have a magic system, you need rules and limitations. The reader doesn’t have to know all of this, but you do.

  
  

3. Writing the Manuscript

I spent hours writing alone in my room. But as many of you may relate, this wasn’t lonely. My characters sprang to life. They had backstories (that I wove little snippets and hints of into the story), hopes, plans, desires, shortcomings. To me, my characters felt like real people, and I had to write in such a way as to convince readers the same.

Some of my difficulties lay with motive. I had to balance having a character perform a certain action or make a certain decision to advance the plot while also keeping it believable for the reader. Why would a typical high school-aged girl follow a stranger to a land she’s only gained a glimpse of? But if her object of desire is answers to her questions, this may be more believable.

For more writing tips, see my post 8 Tips for Writing a Novel.

4. Edit, Edit, and then Edit Again

This is where the magic happens. Some of my best writing came in the editing phase. I replaced bland chapters that did nothing for the plot with ones that drove the story forward. I deleted an unnecessary character and even completely rewrote another.

First, give yourself time away from your manuscript and come back with fresh eyes. Read through and avoid making changes other than correcting typos and grammatical errors. Make notes of potential changes and the chain reaction those changes would set off.

Read with an eye for:

• Plot holes

• Character inconsistencies in action or dialogue.

• Pacing: every scene should drive the story or provide something vital.

• Dialogue: make sure it’s in character, realistic, and concise.

• Awkward phrasing: stick to active voice over passive, avoid starting multiple sentences in a row with the same word, and vary your sentence structure and length.

  
  

Review your notes and finally, implement the necessary changes.

5. Beta Readers and Feedback

Get more eyes on your work. It’s better to get feedback here than in your reviews once you hit publish.

It’s important to consider all the feedback given, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to implement 100% of what those readers suggest. You don’t have to make sweeping changes to your novel based on the feedback from one reader, but if you notice a pattern emerging, you may want to consider some of those changes.

Ideally, your beta readers will be familiar with your genre and those genre conventions. Your family and friends aren’t the best choice here (unless you have a friend who’s in a literary field). If you don’t personally know people who fit this bill, you can check out online communities.

For more about beta readers and where to find them, check out this article from Reedsy.

6. Get an Editor

If you’re planning to publish traditionally, the publishing house will have editors. However, you may still want to consider getting an editor for at least the first three chapters that you’ll use to query an agent. You want your work to look the best that it can.

If you’re self-publishing, the standing advice is to get a professional editor. As a self-published author, you still have to compete with traditional publishers who churn out quality books.

There are different types of editors:

• Developmental editors are useful for plot, pacing, and characters.

• Structural editors are related to developmental editors and can provide feedback on the big-picture structure, especially for manuscripts that combine multiple narratives or jump back and forth through time.

• Line editors evaluate the flow, sentence structure, and word choice.

• Copy editors come into play for grammar, spelling, and proper punctuation.

  
  

You can do some of the proofreading yourself. There are also AI grammar checkers that can help cut down on some of the copy edits. Evaluate each suggestion—don’t just blanket accept all “corrections.”

I’ve seen AI grammar checkers suggest wrong word choices, especially Microsoft’s built-in spelling and grammar checker. I once had one suggest I change the phrase, “descrying the copse of trees,” to “describing the copse of trees.” These are two completely different meanings. (Also, for some reason, most spell checkers don’t recognize the word “copse” and try to change it to “corpse”—another mortifying mistake if it makes it to the final print.)

Always do the final read-through yourself—and do it out loud.

7. Deciding on the Publishing Path

Traditional and self-publishing both have advantages and disadvantages.

Traditional publishing gives you access to a team of editors, designers, and marketers who will turn your manuscript into a professional book.

However, the traditional route may take years between querying and securing an agent and getting picked up by a publishing house—if you get picked up at all. You’re likely to face multiple rejections from agents and publishers alike, and even if you land an agent, that’s still no guarantee you’ll be published.

For more information on traditional publishing, check out the subreddit r/PubTips.

Self-publishing puts the onus on the author to do or outsource every task. Let’s not forget the financial burden of the upfront costs of getting an editor, cover designer, copyright, ISBNs, and marketing.

Self-publishing has its upsides, though. For one, you’re in complete control. You don’t have to compromise your story, title, or cover.

You can publish faster. Once you’ve edited, have a cover, and received feedback from beta readers, you can quickly publish on platforms like Amazon’s KDP, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, and other places.

You keep more of your royalties. Depending on where you publish, you can expect 70% commission on ebooks and 60% on print versions (minus the print costs, which come out of your 60%).

Traditionally published authors typically make between 5-18% off the retail price of their books, and that’s after their sales have earned back the initial advance from the publisher.

And just because you’re traditionally published doesn’t get you off the hook for book marketing. Those publishers still expect the author to actively market their book. Marketing a book is harder than publishing it. There’s a sea of other books, and most readers have a backlog of books on their to-be-read shelf.

8. Cover Design and Book Blurb

If you’re self-publishing, you’ll want to find a book cover designer. It’s not advised for the author to do this in-house. Your cover is the first detail that will catch a prospective reader’s eye. It needs to fit your genre and your story.

If you can’t afford a $100-$300 professional cover, there are sites that offer these services cheaper and will likely still be better than what the average author can design themselves.

With all the hype that book covers get, it can be easy to forget another essential ingredient in the marketing recipe: the title. I’ve seen self-published books with titles like Searching for [insert fictional place here]. Believe it or not, I saw a memoir titled Too Much. Those titles aren’t going to sell.

Take a look at popular (or even classic) book titles. They’re intriguing and creative. You spent countless hours writing. Don’t waste it by giving your book a subpar title.

A note on popular book titles: fads rise and fall. Some readers are turned off by overly used formulas. If you write certain romantasy tropes, A Noun of X and Y may work fine, but know that some readers are tired of seeing that and may actively avoid books with that framework title.

Next up: the dreaded blurb. Why is the book blurb harder to write than the book?

While your cover artist is designing the cover, this is a good time to work on your book blurb. The blurb is the enticing bit of marketing on the back cover that tells your reader what to expect. This is not a plot summary. It’s not a space to ask questions. Will the hero save the day before it’s too late? Stop. Don’t do that. Write a concise, interesting snapshot of your book and leave some room for the reader to ask questions.

When the reader wants to know what happens, they’re more likely to buy the book. For more about writing book blurbs, check out this article on the subject here.

9. Formatting, Printing, and Distribution

If you’re traditionally publishing, the publisher will take care of this step.

If you’re self-publishing, you’ll need to do it. The good news is that it’s easier than ever to format and print a book.

DO NOT PAY a company to format and publish a book for you. This is at best an unnecessary expense and at worst a scam. Beware of scammers—they prey on the unknowledgeable.

You can pay for programs that help with formatting; some authors swear by them. I didn’t bother because both KDP and Draft2Digital (publishing platforms) offer formatting for free. That’s not to say you’re 100% off the hook. You will want to keep a few formatting considerations in mind when you’re writing.

• Books are not left justified, they’re full justified. That means each line (except for a partial line at the end of a paragraph) is stretched all the way across the page evenly, eliminating ragged right edges.

  
  

• The first paragraph of a chapter or new scene is not indented.

  
  

• Paragraph indents are 1/4 inch (as opposed to the standard 1/2 in. from the tab key in Microsoft Word).

  
  

• Avoid windows at the end of a chapter. Don’t let a few words or a single line dangle on its own page. This will take a bit of work to tweak the spacing of some chapters to avoid.You’ll still need to decide on a book size. This will depend in part on the length of your book. A 5.5”x8.5” may look nicer than a 6”x9” for a 300-350 page book. It also comes down to personal preference. Hardcovers tend to run slightly larger than paperbacks.

  
  

  To see more formatting tips for windows and orphans, read this article from Kindlepreneur here.

  
  

• When it comes to printing and distribution, you’ll want to find a self-publishing platform or multiple platforms. Your book will be listed online and offered as print-on-demand (POD). POD reduces costs by only printing the book once someone orders it. This is how indie authors sell books at places like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

  
  

Keep in mind that the more platforms you list your book on, the more work you’ll create for yourself every time you have to make an update. Not all places allow unlimited free updates to print versions. KDP does, Draft2Digital limits users to one free update to a physical copy per 90 days.

Publishing on more platforms also increases the places you’ll need to track sales on.

There’s a difference between a single platform and a wholesaler or distributor.

KDP can be a single platform, but they also offer the option for extended distribution, which will allow Amazon to list your book on other markets like a wholesaler. This is probably the easiest option, but it lowers your commission.

Since Amazon is my largest market, I don’t do the extended distribution because I want the full 70% (ebook) and 60% (print books) commission. I take my books to Draft2Digital (D2D) for their wider distribution. They used to focus solely on ebooks but in recent years expanded to POD for physical books as well. With D2D, my ebook and paperback book are automatically listed in other stores like Walmart (online), B&N, Apple Books, and more.

IngramSpark is another wholesaler, but they don’t offer free formatting. If you format with D2D, you can download the PDF file of your book and take it to other sites.

As a note: all of these sites are free to list your book—they just take a portion of your sales (you get paid 70% on KDP; they keep 30%).

These sites also offer free ISBNs if you don’t buy your own. If you use KDP’s free ISBNs, you can’t take them elsewhere, so you’ll have different ISBNs if you go to D2D or IngramSpark. Personally, I don’t see why this matters, and I just let my books have different ISBNs on each site.

You can register your book online with the U.S. Copyright Office here.

10. Marketing and Promotion

• Create a Marketing Plan: This is a strategy for promoting the book. This could include book tours, interviews, social media campaigns, and book signings. I used social media for my book launch (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and BlueSky). Some authors report success with BookTok (TikTok).

  
  

• Press Kits and Media Outreach: You can provide press kits with information about the book and author to journalists, bloggers, and reviewers. Consider offering a free advanced reader copy (ARC) to bloggers and influencers to feature your book.

  
  

• Book Reviews and Launch Campaigns: Generate buzz by securing reviews (from critics or readers), using platforms like Goodreads, and organizing online or physical book launch events. This is harder if you’re an indie author. Goodreads allows you to list a giveaway, but it’ll cost $110.

  
  

  A better way, in my opinion, is to do a giveaway yourself on social media in exchange for signing up to your newsletter. You can also reach out to book reviewers to review your book for free to give it the social proof it needs to get readers.

  
  

  I also donated a copy of my book to my local library. They’re planning a local author event.

  
  

• Author Platform: Build an online presence with a website, social media accounts, and a newsletter. Newsletters are the slowest and hardest to build, but Substack helps with that. Offering a lead magnet also helps grow your list. I offered my first book for free for sign-ups to my Kit newsletter.

  
  

• Ongoing Marketing Efforts: You’ll need to continue marketing the book to sustain interest. You can offer discounts, contests/giveaways, or participate in virtual book tours.

  
  

  Once you get some reviews, you can try your hand at ads on places such as Facebook and Amazon. (You’ll want to go ahead and turn down pretty much everyone who messages you on Facebook to offer their services. They stalk authors on that platform. Scammers also lurk, pretending to be Meta and threatening to deactivate your account if you don’t fork over your login credentials.)

  
  

• Fan Engagement: Connect with readers through book clubs, social media, and events, fostering loyalty and support for future works.

  
  

  I have to admit I’m not that great with fan engagement, not because I don’t reply to fans, but because I don’t have a lot of readers who’ve reached out to me. I mostly hear from other indie authors who’ve read my book.

  
  

• Don’t get discouraged: Publishing a book is easy. Seeing results—not so much. Set realistic expectations. Most authors I hear from either have another job, rely on a spouse’s income, or have at least five books published. Your first book isn’t likely to be a bestseller. Move on to the next book. (And it’s probably not the best idea to start out with a trilogy like I did. If people don’t read the first book, they’re not likely to read any of the others).

More Resources: For over 50 free sites and programs for writing, editing, and publishing, download “The Ultimate Writer’s Resource Guide” from my Kit landing page.

Janine Eaby loves to read, write, and garden. She is the author of Beyond the Water's Edge—a fantasy book series inspired by her faith, love of nature, and desire for adventure.