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How to Publish a Book in India

How to Publish a Book in India: Traditional, Self Publishing and Hybrid Publishing

So, you have written a book. After shedding your blood, sweat and time. You have a semi-cooked product in your hand. It’s your baby. And like a good parent, you want it to outshine itself. You go to the web and start looking at complete guide on how to publish a book in India. But, market is filled with so called “guru” with their so called “expert advice.”

It’s your good day today. Because, My pal. I am going to explain all these things to you with my wand of magic. Yep! Like in your book.

Traditional Publishing – The Big Boss

Think of traditional Publishing as getting selected to IPL (Indian Premier League). You get money, jersey, healthcare etc. Same is with Traditional Publishing. You submit your manuscript to them. You may need to contact a Literary agent in India as well. They will edit, format, distribute and market for you. Seems too good to be true? Right? Well, they take a cut aka royalty every time you make a sell. So, you end up making very less sale. Your royalties can be 10-15% or less than that. It’s like getting paid in bookmarks instead of cash.

Big Names like HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Rupa Publications dominate this space.

Self-Publishing- Be the Boss

This type of publishing is for someone who doesn’t mind different types of hats- author, editor, formatter, designer and marketer. Either you hire experts in their field and pay them yourself or you do everything yourself. You are the boss. You decide who to hire or fire.

Advantage of talking all this headache is you get all the creative control with higher royalties which can be 100% part of the profit. But beware of this “With power comes responsibility”. You need to hire the correct people or your book might end up as that dusty paperback no one picks up.

Many self publishing houses provide all assistance like editing, designing, marketing and promotions. Some of the top self publishing companies are:

self publishing in india - how to publish

Astitva Prakashan

Amazon KDP

Notionpress

Hybrid Publishing- The Best of Both Words?

Aka partnership publishing. For authors who wants the best of both the words- aka-Hybrid! Hybrid Job! Guess… We just love hybrid. It’s like sharing the load. They are already experts in their field. They have the resources to provide you with the best of best in editing, formatting, designing and marketing.

In this model you invest money and they promise to give to royalties ones your book starts sell X number of copies.

Astitva Prakashan

They are a leading publishing firm. Something I have used for my own book. If you are someone like me who wear multiple hats. Studying, Working, Creating Content, you will need someone to guide you. It’s an investment. Not an expense. Many writers confuse themselves about this. But take action. Expert advice comes with a price, but it takes you way up on the ladder. You don’t earn. If you don’t spend. They will give you genuine quotes with a free sample attached. It’s a cherry on a cake.

Above I have explained all the type of publishing. Now, I believe in ‘Knowledge is power is time is money’ by Robert Their. If you have come here. I want you to have this holistic guide below. As above said “Time is money”. Instead, of scrolling to different website with different confusing content. So, my friend to wear the tiara of your knowledge. Read on!

Let’s Start from the beginning – Writing to Publishing and Marketing

Writing a book

You need a good product first. Something you can call yours. Proudly. Your baby. There are two ways to do that. You write one yourself or you use professional writers aka Ghostwriters in India.

Ghostwriters-> They are people who are specialised in a specific genre and write beautifully. Their role is to write based on writer’s voice, style and their perspective.

Beta Reading

There is a thumb of rule to this. Ask at least ten people to read your book. Try to get readers in your genre. Because they will provide a holistic view. Rather than someone who reads a different genre. I know the feedback hurts. But, in the long run it will help you write more appropriately.

One way to get Beta Readers is by asking your friends and family. However, I would recommend asking a professional eye on it. Someone who is specialized in that genre. They will tell you things your friends couldn’t tell you. They charge money. However, I believe it is worth it.

Editing

I know… you have already gone through your book through a fine-tooth comb in self editing. Still, there are things which won’t be detected by your own eyes. A second eyes help out a lot. Now, this is the most important part of the book. It’s your most important investment. No one want to read a book filled with typos. Trust me! It just spoils a story.

Hiring a professional editor in India will cost you an arm and leg. No Pun intended. Manuscript editors charge ‘by the word’ or ‘by the hour.’ I would recommend you to go by the word. There is no issue of the timing involved in it.

Now, Editing is of many types. Comprehensive Editing, Developmental Editing, Copy-Editing. Every editing has a different price range. With Developmental being the highest and Copy-Editing being the lowest. The top book editing companies have group of such editors.

Proofreading

I know… It feels like I am confusing you. You must be thinking that proofreading is a part of the Editing. Alas! No. It’s different. It is the last set of eyes on your book. Until the final product is ready. They check typos, grammar and repetitions.

Tada- our book is ready!
Umm! Not yet!

Formatting

Now, the book is ready to read. But it should be easy to read. It should be beautiful to see. The things we do for our readers. Phew!

A good formatting is one which doesn’t feel like one. Dang, it’s confusing. Now, all of us want our book to be different. So, in order to make that happen. We use such complicated, loud and cursive font that our reader has problem deciphering. I mean it’s beautiful but not legible. So, use simple fonts. Pretty Please! Use Simple Font.

Pro tip: Like Garamond, Baskerville, Cambria and Lora. They are the font used in 99% of the publishing.

Book Cover

Please give your reader an eye candy to look at. A book cover is the first thing a reader see. It’s an investment.
Your cover should be a teaser for your book. Do not add fantasy elements if it is not fantasy. Do not misguide the reader. Do not be mysterious. Clean and Consiece work better than mysterious.

Marketing

No matter how good your book is. If no one knows about it. No one will buy. I know this hurts. But we need to market our book. I would say that editing and the marketing are the life blood of your book. Rest of the steps are important too. But the above two make the foundation of the castle. The castle on which your book will stand.

Build a social media presence- Be active in posting your readers raving reviews on your Instagram (IG) page. IG and LinkedIn are the author hubs. You will find your community there.

Make a mailing list

This is a hidden gem! You can share snippets from the book you are writing. You can do your book promo by giving out the first two chapters as free. The average email marketing conversion rate is 15.22%. Go figure!

Make a website

This is important for future reference. It tells everyone that you are a serious writer. You can start with a free website. With a free domain and hosting. But for the long run you should go for the paid way. You don’t need to hire someone to code. Online pre made templates are already available. For Free. They have drag and down option. So, having a website is the easiest thing in todays world.

Sample of author website: https://authorvaidehi.com/

Some of these websites (with free version) are

  • https://www.hostinger.in/
  • https://www.wix.com/
  • https://www.bluehost.in/

Book Video trailer

Aha! To see your book in its glory. As readers and writers, we think with our brain and the characters we make -believe. But, the way we see our book characters is in our fantasy. Sadly, current technology doesn’t allow us to project it worldwide. If it was, the world would have a tsunami of Book characters. Haha! Jokes Aside. A Book Video Trailer is a great way to market your book. You can edit snippets from the Blockbusters, Web series, Memes. The possibility is endless. You can add music. Make the world see the book the way you see it. This is tread is really common nowadays. Go to YouTube and search Book Trailer. You will find a lot of inspiration.

Book Reviews on Blogs

Even thought how we readers find book? Bookstore (Obviously!). But I mean aside to Bookstore aka web. Yep, we readers crawl through blogs to find the books. Every book is categorised in a category in a Blog with a Non- Spoiler Review with triggers and warnings. These Blogs are a goldmine for an author. It helps them advertise their book in the long run. Initially, you will receive a boost with the Book review. Then your book will be placed under a category too. It will hep readers of your genre to find it easily. Plus, it helps in building up authority.

Recommended Blogs

Pro Tip- Try to get your book in a https://www.goodreads.com/ book category list it’s a to go website for every reader. We really breathe it. Popular lists will help your book in boosting it.

Podcasts

It’s the new trend. It gives an unfiltered view of other person. Something that is unscripted. Nowadays, writing podcast and Book Review Podcast are also talking off. You can also try this method to get your book to become omnipotent.

Recommendation:

  • If books could kill
  • Backlisted
  • Book Reviews Kill
  • Books Unbound

Conclusion

I know the list is huge. But Just Start. Take action. It’s the most effective advice. The list might seem daunting. But you will find your own recipe. You will know what work and what doesn’t when you start doing it. Every author has different things that work for them. So, Go ahead!

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Article by: Vikram Singh Thakur

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