Book Project Self-Evaluation

Are you aware of the many and varied avenues available to you as the author/writer of a book. Each book project is an entity unto itself and as such should be evaluated by a professional for specific direction to satisfy your needs and goals. One of those goals should be finding the specific type of publisher that your project needs. Confused about the different types of publishers, then here is a brief definition of each.

Take a look at the Book Publishing Options Chart to get a handle on what responsibilities are involved with the different types of publishing opportunities available to you.

Every book project is unique! Take a look at these actual case studies to get a better idea of where your particular project might fit in.

Once you have an idea of which direction you want to pursue in the publishing of your book, take a look at the Steps in the Creation of a Book Chart. Most people don’t realize everything that is involved in creating a quality book project. With this chart you can evaluate which of the steps your particular project needs, as well as a rough estimate of the costs involved to get that Trade Quality Book.

Let’s evaluate the book project you are working on to see just where you currently are in the whole “book creation” process. No matter which publishing route you decide to take, these are a few questions you need to ask yourself.

_____	Do you have your manuscript finished?
_____	Do you have hard copy as well as a disk of your manuscript?
_____	In what software do you have your manuscript saved?
_____	Do you belong to any peer organizations in your genre that cater to authors?
_____	Have you had your manuscript evaluated by a professional or critiquing group?
_____	Have you worked with an editor for content and flow of your story?
_____	Have you had a copy editor check your grammar utilizing the Chicago Manual of Style?
_____	Do you have an outgoing personality and enjoy public speaking?
_____	Have you tried submitting your manuscript to various publishers yet?
_____	Do you have enough rejection letters to wallpaper your office?

If the publishing route you decide to take is that of an independent publisher, here are a few questions you should also ask yourself.

_____	Why do you want to publish a book?
_____	What goals do you hope to attain by publishing a book
_____	What is the genre of your book?
_____	How much of an investment are you willing and able to make?
_____	Are you willing to work with professionals to make your book the best it can be?
_____	Do you realize that publishing a book is an expensive endeavor?
_____	Do you know what Prnt-on-Demand Publishing is and have you considered that route?
_____	Would your project be a good project to take directly to E-book status vs. printed books?
_____	Are you willing to invest time and money to aggressively market a book project?
_____	Do you belong to any civic or networking organizations?
_____	Do you support any nonprofit with a large volunteer base?
_____	Have you thought about what direction your marketing efforts should take?
_____	Does your book project have a specific market you can target?
_____	Would illustrations or photography enhance the content of your manuscript?