One thing left... No wait, two... Or maybe three?

After a fabulous Memorial Day weekend spent with family and friends, I am going to have to agree with my husband; this is easily my favorite holiday. We went hiking, went to a picnic, and then just relaxed. Now it's back to work! 
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Self publishing is a multi-faceted task, and I am sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that is involved in producing work like this in a professional way. This is not my first rodeo, but to be fair the first two were relatively simple. It was, "Make book. Publish eBook. Tell Family and Friends about it." I've learned so much since then. This article is a little bit of a recounting of what I've done this time, and what I still have left to do for my latest book, "How to DIY Anything: The Ultimate Maker Mindset."

Things I've done...

• Wrote the book (This is a huge process in and of itself, and requires a whole 'nother blog post!)
• Contacted Bloggers to be featured as a way to help readers see DIY-ers in action, and boost visibility of the book itself. I got three professional Bloggers/YouTubers and two Hobbyists... That is five more people who have a somewhat vested interest in seeing my book do well. It's exciting!
• Self-edited at least three times.
• Formatted my manuscript for editing
• Hired an Editor; Best thing I could have done.
• Created a fun little freebie as a gift to my readers, published a PDF (which is free) and print version (Which is not free:-)), and distributed using Bookfunnel.com and Lulu.com for distribution
• Created the cover art for all formats (ebook, print book, audio book, freebie journal) with help from many of you!
• Formatted my manuscript for beta readers.
• Uploaded the Beta Version to Book Funnel for distribution
• Asked for friends to Beta Read (I got 12 people! That's more than I expected, and the second best thing I could have done.)
• Uploaded the beta version to Kindle, and Kobo for pre-order.
• Made changes to the final Manuscript. I used Word to build my print manuscript and published it on Amazon. I used iBooks Author to create my ePub file, and uploaded the FINISHED, POLISHED, AWESOME eBook to iBooks, Kindle, and Kobo.
• Every time I make a change or complete a task, I update my website, and book page. 

It's been a lot of work, but I have really enjoyed every bit of it. Tomorrow my book goes live in the eBook markets, and I am so excited for that. It can be pre-ordered today, or ordered in print now, (I couldn't figure out how to do a future release date on the print version:-) the freebie has been available for awhile, and will be available indefinitely. My product page is robust and I really love how it all looks. You'd think I'd be finished, right? 

Well, not exactly.

I still have a list, albeit a short one, of things to do.

• Edit book for audio recording
• Record Audio book
• Distribute audiobook. (I've been looking up how I want to do this and I think that I am going to have it available for purchase on my website and also I will distribute it through an audiobook aggregate like Author's Republic.)
• Short-term Marketing (Like this blog article, Facebook posts, and paid advertising on amazon) I'm not going to do a whole lot of this. Honestly, since I don't have a very huge following, I don't expect to sell many books in the short term. I am shooting for a  long-term best seller:-)
• Long-term Marketing (I plan on contacting one new DIY Blogger each month for the next year, giving them a promotion code or link to download the book for a preview or review, and asking them to share the book, or a guest post on their website. ) I only want to do once a month because I want to start working on other projects. Some authors suggest once a week, but I have other books to write, and I have limited time as a homeschooling mama:-)

I'm so happy about how this process has gone. It's been difficult for sure, but I really am looking forward to doing it again. I just have to finish this one first! Now I have to remember - "Focus, Lindsay! Focus! You are almost to the finish line!"

Have you read my book yet? If not, click here. That link will take you to my book page where you can find all of the ways to read it. If you have, would you mind leaving me a review? You can comment here, on facebook, send me a personal email, or review it on Amazon, iBooks, or Kobo. I'd really appreciate it!