How Fast Should You Publish Your Book?

Have you ever heard something like this from another fellow writer? (Or in this case would-be writer?)

“I want to publish my book, but I don’t have time or money for an editor, and I have this important message to tell people.  In fact I’ve worked for a while now.  I think it needs to be published now.”

For my own sanity, my answer is something of this sort: the faster you publish a book, the sooner people will see a poorly written book. I think that without editing, and proper editing, you leave yourself in a very hard place as a writer and a publisher.  If you publish too quickly, then you might find mistakes too late.  I still find sentences I don’t like in some of my work.

The flip side is that you can also publish a book too slowly.  If you are on your tenth draft and finding spelling mistakes, then you aren’t publishing too slowly.  If you are on your tenth draft and deciding if this chapter title should be in a particular font or not, then yes, you’re publishing that book too slowly.

So, how fast should you publish your book?

In my mind, the answer is that it depends.  If you are writing fiction it will possibly take less time to write it, but if you are writing non-fiction you need more time — at least take time to check your facts.

It is important not to go too fast but also not to go too slow.

How fast should you publish your books?

Publish them fast and slow enough so that people will value your message and know that what you have written is your message.  Choose your words with care.  This is also why publishers value a well edited and well written book.  This is what gets published by publishers.