When it comes time to publish your first book, there are so many unknowns. What kind of publisher do you need? What’s the process of getting that publisher? What kinds of components do you have to have ready before you start querying? What things go into self-publishing? The number of variables can make it impossible to figure out the right publishing path for you.
In reality, none of these questions take into account the most important factor in choosing your publishing path: YOU!
The Traditional Way to Choose a Publishing Path
When I first started in publishing, I always suggested that authors think about the difference between traditional versus self-publishing along three different axes: time, money, and control.
First, time. How long does it take from the time your manuscript is finished to the time your reader holds your book in their hands? Self-publishing is always faster. Traditional publishing is a slog. So if timing is important, go with self-publishing.
The second factor is money. If you don’t have a lot of money that you want to invest upfront, a traditional publisher is almost always the way to go, even though the money that you’ll earn on the back end is going to be significantly lower with a traditional publisher.
Third, creative control. This one is the one that is so close to the hearts of our authors. I know almost every manuscript that we look at, that author has such a clear voice and a vision. That book is their baby. It’s so hard to trust the creative decisions of professionals who haven’t been there throughout the process, particularly when you’ve got a vision for things like your title and cover, which can change so often in the publishing process.
These factors are still a great way to think about publishing. But they’re very generic—they don’t take into account your particular priorities. So how can you center your voice and vision as early as possible in your publishing journey?
The answer is the Book Style Quiz.
Finding Your Book Style
Knowing your book style will give you powerful insights on literally every stage in publishing. I’ve written about this in depth elsewhere, but for our purposes here, let me share a couple of brief examples.
Let’s start with the book style type that we call “The Mentor.” The mentor is usually someone who wants to help other people in their career, their industry, or their area of expertise. If you’ve been around the block in terms of your career and work life, you might be a Mentor—they typically aspire to help other upcoming professionals avoid the pitfalls of early career life.
The Mentor has an incredibly clear sense of purpose—they want to help others in their career journeys—and often they’ve had this purpose in other areas besides their book. Maybe they do some consulting or coaching, maybe they do an occasional panel or keynote presentation, or maybe they even do some teaching at a local college or university. Those are all common for the Mentor.
“Knowing your Book Style will help you determine what to cut and what to keep, depending on your purpose, goals, and audience.”
They’re also extremely helpful when it comes to writing and publishing a book!
Mentors often feel confused and uncertain about publishing—they’re used to delegating and prefer to stay within their own area of expertise. But here’s one thing we know about Mentors—Mentors are some of the most capable self-publishers out there! If you know how to effectively market and sell a product or service, you’re more than ready to get your book into readers’ hands! Often Mentors just need a little coaching and support to give them the confidence to put their book out into the world.
We almost always suggest that Mentors publish independently (with some specific, targeted guidance, of course!).
At the other end of the spectrum is the Whistleblower. Whereas the Mentor was really worried about reaching young professionals, the Whistleblower is trying to reveal some injustice in the world. Of course, that comes with its own set of risks—specifically, as many Whistleblowers realize, there is a huge risk of someone taking legal action against you.
For instance, Whistleblowers wonder what will happen if they reveal all of the things that happened to them in childhood. They worry that they might face a defamation suit from someone who wronged them in the past. They wonder what will happen if they make private information public. They don’t want to land in court trying to defend something they wrote.
Just like the Mentor, the Whistleblower wants to help other people. But in the Whistleblower’s case, “helping others” looks very different—the Whistleblower needs to make sure they help themselves first!
Unlike the Mentor who is well-equipped to independently publish, the Whistleblower almost always benefits from an established traditional publisher. The team approach of a mid-size to large publisher can help make sure any legal risks are addressed before publication, and they may even have an in-house legal department to ensure you’re covered as well as you can be.
In between these two types, we have the Record Keeper, the Inspirer, and the Researcher. Just like the Mentor and the Whistleblower, they have particular goals in mind. And just like the Mentor and the Whistleblower, they have hidden superpowers they can embrace…and hidden traps they need to avoid.
The Top 5 Areas to Avoid Generic Publishing Advice
While I can’t get into every detail in this article—an excellent reason to take the quiz and get your own personalized results!—I want to share some of the areas where generic publishing advice just doesn’t cut it.
Outlining vs “Pantsing”
Authors like Stephen King are famously known for their “pantsing” technique—an approach that simply involves sitting down and starting to write (the “pants” term comes from the phrase, “flying by the seat of one’s pants,” because that’s what these authors do!).
Some people definitely need to just sit down and start typing. But others feel much more comfortable mapping out their book in advance. When you know your Book Style, you can adjust your approach based on what works for you. And, yes, we explain exactly what to do in the free training you’ll receive after you take the quiz!
Independent Writing vs Team Support
I often see discussions about the writing process that assign one-size-fits-all advice, particularly when it comes to write your story. Since many writers are introverts, online writing advice often suggests that authors need to hide themselves away in a cabin in the woods and get all their ideas on paper themselves.
But while this process works for some, others need the support, encouragement, and accountability of a team. Your Book Style will give you insights into which makes sense for you so you can avoid the trap of locking yourself away on your own (hint: the solo-writing strategy does not work for the Inspirer, but it’s a must for the Researcher!).
What to Cut vs What to Keep
No matter who you are, you’ll need to revise (that’s the one piece of generic advice I can get behind!). But the decision of what to cut and what to keep is deeply personal, and contrary to what you may have seen online, you don’t always need to cut ruthlessly—it just depends on your goals.
“Rather than letting fear bog you down, embrace your purpose.”
The Mentor, for instance, is speaking to busy junior professionals. This audience tends to prefer concise, clear content. The Mentor definitely needs to make some difficult cuts if they want to keep their readers involved.
The Record Keeper, on the other hand, has an audience that’s invested in the topic. Whether that’s family or organizational members, their readers are willing to spend a bit more time to get every last detail. The Record Keeper should not cut ruthlessly, because many omissions actually hurt the value of their book.
Knowing your Book Style will help you determine what to cut and what to keep, depending on your purpose, goals, and audience.
Niche vs General Audience
Most online writing advice is designed for fiction authors, and most fiction authors think they can reach everyone.
Unfortunately, this is simply not the best strategy for every book. The Mentor, for instance, probably has a very well-defined niche who are already looking for their particular book. The Inspirer, on the other hand, will be able to reach a much broader group of readers. Knowing your Book Style will help you determine how best to reach the audience that matters to you.
Social Media vs Trade Marketing (vs Other Strategies!)
Most online book marketing advice is actually social media marketing advice. Gurus will tell you to spend hours on Canva creating custom graphics, book mock-ups, and other content.
But generic marketing advice is literally always a terrible idea. By definition, marketing is about positioning your product (your book!) in the place your readers already visit. That might be social media. But it also might be the library, your family gathering, trade magazines, GoodReads, or elsewhere.
Your Book Style can give you clarity on what types of marketing make the most sense for your particular book. That saves you all those hours spent creating graphics, PLUS it makes you more likely to meet your goals!
The Most Important Reason to Find Your Book Style
When we don’t have quality, personalized advice, we often default to making decisions out of fear.
We’re afraid to take too much time planning, so we just sit down and write. We’re afraid to share our ideas with others, so we try to go it alone. We’re afraid our book won’t be seen as successful, so we try to target everyone in the world with our message.
All of these decisions are driven by fear, and all of these decisions can be incredibly harmful. So if you take only one thing away from this article it’s this: when you are choosing a publishing path, do not let fear call the shots. Don’t waste your energy wondering if your book is good enough. Don’t spend time worrying about whether you’re capable of promoting it. Don’t let the months go by because you’re too afraid to share your publishing dreams.
Instead, embrace the lessons you learned that are driving you to write the book in the first place. Your experiences are powerful, and they deserve to be shared. That’s more important than fear any day!
So rather than letting fear bog you down, embrace your purpose. Did you set out to help early career professionals navigate the job market? Did you set up out to pull the curtain back on injustice? Did you set out to record your grandparents’ start in this country?
All of those goals are so much more important than your own fear, because they’re about others. And when you set out to genuinely think about others—their needs, their goals, their dreams, and, yes, their fears—you’ll find that your own worries become a lot less important.
The Book Style Quiz is a tool to determine which of the five book styles best fits you, your personality, your purpose, and your goals. It’s designed to replicate, on your own schedule, the kinds of personalized advice we give to our clients.
The entire quiz takes about 90 seconds and returns in-depth feedback on your book style. It also gives you a free training on how to get through the writing process with minimal problems, and a second training on how to pursue the publishing path that makes the most sense for you and your book.
If you haven’t taken the Book Style Quiz yet, now is the time! Spend about 90 seconds answering 7 questions, and you’ll have all you need to move forward in your purposeful, personalized publishing path.
The video format of this post can be found here.
