What Do You Need to Do to Publish a Book

What comes to your mind when someone asks you this question.  I was asked that very question today.  What do you need to do to publish a book?

Without thinking what this writer wanted when they asked this question I blurted out:  Just write.  I wasn’t completely wrong, but I didn’t think of all the possibilities they meant when they said this.  I will often not think of what a person means before my mind goes into overdrive.

I should have said this answer:  Write, and then edit, and then re-write, and keep on writing.  Afterwards, you need to have someone do this again for you, and learn to accept not everyone will like how you write.  You’ll also learn the hard way that editing comes at a cost of your ever so inflated new writer ego.  That’s the hardest part.  Designing a cover and interior if you self-publish is easier than any of the other things you might have to do in the publishing process.  Then you will publish a book.

Just write?  Yes, but that is only a first step to where you need to be as a writer. You can’t simply let yourself think what you have written is good for people, or that one book will create momentum for you.  The truth?  If you are looking to find a reason why you need to publish a book, then you won’t have a book published, or you’ll do it so fast the book will not be in the best shape you can have it for your readers.

Just write?  Yes, but by this answer I should say “just write another book, and follow the same path all over again.”

Thank goodness they didn’t ask me about how to make money or something like it.  A writer’s life is hard enough trying to make things work without trying to figure out how much money a book which isn’t published or even written can earn.