How to Develop a Project Timeline That Covers All Aspects of Publishing from Start to Publication
Authors should create a schedule for their deadlines and how they spend their time intentionally to make it all happen
When it comes to publishing a book, planning out each step along the way is essential to ensuring it all goes smoothly.
This is why we need to start planning and mapping all of our tasks at the beginning of writing our book.
Now, I understand that this may feel like you are jumping ahead and becoming overconfident with your ability to meet the timeline you plan, but it isn’t. Why? Because what you are doing is creating a roadmap for yourself, one that you can adjust and tweak as needed along the way.
No one ever said that once you planned your process it would be set in stone.
Now the question is, what parts of your publishing process should you be scheduling and outlining?
Deadlines
Throughout the publishing process, you will be faced with several larger deadlines to pull you closer to publishing your book.
Finishing your first draft
Editing and proofreading
Finishing your second draft
Finding alpha readers
Sending your manuscript to alpha readers
Receiving feedback from alpha readers
Editing
Sending the manuscript to professional editing
Receiving professional edits
Applying edits
Finding beta readers
Sending the manuscript to beta readers
Receiving feedback from beta readers
Making any last edits
Finding ARC readers
Sending the book to ARC readers
Publishing the book
All of these need to be planned ahead of time in order to be achieved.
However, there are smaller deadlines we need to set and achieve as well.
Researching the market of your book genre
Creating a cover or hiring someone to create it
Keyword research
Creating marketing images and material
Researching book bloggers/ reviewers that pair well with your book
Reveals (cover, description, characters, research, locations)
Sneak peeks
Additional content (maps, pop-up websites, short stories in your book universe)
Planning for each of these deadlines is crucial to ensuring you not only avoid missing anything important but also that you meet your intended deadline.
Being Intentional with Your Time
Many authors tend to write most of the time, while the other portions of their time are spent editing or creating character mock-ups.
However, when you are trying to stick to your publishing timeline, there are ways that we can be more intentional with our time to make sure we hit all of the areas we need to get our book to publication.
My suggestion would be to allocate a small portion of time each day to each of these areas or a day a week.
Writing:
Set a time of day that you can regularly stick to. A time of day that doesn’t get sacrificed for soccer practice or your next gym session. Having this time every day will help to make sure you reach your writing goal.
And while we don’t always have the creativity to write every day, there are other ways of writing that can help us.
Writing short stories in your book universe
Writing prompts to help when you have writer’s block
Writing character bios or detailing book scenes to help your writing process
Marketing:
Marketing is by far the toughest part of the publishing process because you have to:
Do enough before the book is published to build momentum
Entice the reader enough without bothering them with ‘buy my book’ marketing pitches
Appeal to them in a way that tells them they need your book
So, this is why it is so important to set aside time to focus on marketing.
You may spend your time:
Creating eye-catching images that include quotes from reviewers or your book along with the cover
Looking for potential readers who are more likely to give you a review after reading
Researching your target readers
Researching potential book bloggers/ reviewers that pair with your book
Without all of this information, our target audience won’t be able to find our book.
Networking:
A large part of publishing a book involves networking with other people in the writing and reading community.
By this, I am referring to putting all the research you have previously done into interacting and contacting book bloggers/ reviewers and early readers for your book.
Did you notice I put two steps there?
Interacting with these people should come first. Meaning, that you are going to comment, share, or start conversations on their content over a few months. And by doing so, you make yourself recognizable. So that when you make it to the next step they are more likely to say yes.
Contacting these people is done after the interaction portion. For book bloggers/ reviewers, you will see what their book submission guidelines are by checking their social media bio, blog, or website. For early readers, you reach out in an email or message on social media explaining your book, how you feel they would be a good fit, and ask if they would be interested in receiving an ARC copy of the book.
Networking also extends to authors in the writing community.
There are tons of authors in your niche or genre who you could collaborate with via a newsletter swap, an audience swap, reviewing one another’s books on Goodreads, and more. But it won’t happen overnight. Because like the other readers you were interacting with and contacting over the span of months, you need to apply this to these authors as well.
It’s all about building relationships.
For more see: How Networking with Bloggers, Authors, and Reviewers Furthers Your Career as an Author.
The key thing to know about creating a timeline to publish your book is that planning ahead can help you avoid numerous obstacles that could pop up without planning.
If you feel stuck along the way, consider creating yourself a checklist to make it all happen.
Because when you plan your process and your time wisely, you can achieve great things.