One of the most important things to do when starting the process of publishing (whatever channel you choose) is to educate yourself. You are starting a business, and that means juggling lots of hats as you navigate through a process which has it's unique pitfalls.
Publishing is full of choices. Do you go a traditional route? Self-publish? Print books? Ebooks? Editors? Designers? There's choices and choices and more choices! So many of them that it can be overwhelming. So take a deep breath and grab a piece of paper and a pen (I'm still old school when it comes to starting a project... I like to make lists!).
Decide on the route you plan on taking... traditional or self-publishing.
Traditional: The publisher picks up all the pre-publication expenses. They may or may not pay an advance, but do pay royalties. They will ask for specific rigths to your work (your copyright should remain yours), and you will offer you a contract. Have an experienced professional review your contract. Your job in this path is to write to the best of your ability and start marketing, marketing, marketing. You need to build yourself as a brand (you should be doing that before you start the publication process).
Self-publishing: This is the biggest business investment. You are starting a comprehensive business and it's good to have a defined plan. You will be hiring (maybe firing) freelancers and managing them. You'll be the accountant if you can't afford to hire one, you'll be the publicist, marketing department. You'll be in charge of inventory control, quality control, data control and product flow. All of these, and more, are important roles. In any given day you will likely wear multiple hats, so it's a good idea to know what those hats are going to entail.
Luckily you don't have to learn it all by scratch like many of us did. In the world of digital information, full plans can be found online. There's tips directly from bestselling authors, there's marketing advice from professional marketers. Press release writing templates, ebooks on process... anything you need, you can find. And don't stop at the advice of just one person. Read voraciously all sorts of bits and pieces. Make notes on that pad of paper and choose the bits that apply to your situation and get started. But don't stop there. Constantly educate yourself. The industry is changing so fast that it's critical to keep up with the news of what is happening.
