Chris A. Baird | April 19, 2020
Next Step After First Draft Complete?

So now that you have your very first draft, you're wondering what's the next step after first draft complete? Read below for the best steps that you should do and the tools that you will need.

Today's question is: "I have my first draft of a book I want to publish. What is my next step after first draft complete?" Well, this is a very normal question to ask because initially, we have an idea.

We have a book that we want to write or a basic idea in our head. We have taken the hardest part of the entire process. And that is actually just getting that first draft.

So many people never reach that point at all so I would just say, congratulations! First, you have gotten to the point of even having that first draft in place. That is a very huge accomplishment.

But the problem is the remaining steps, they can be a bit confusing. The other thing that makes it so complicated is that there are tons of options to choose from. That is when you are trying to figure out what exactly it is that you want to accomplish next.

One thing I created in order to answer exactly this question is the right books that sell Power Checklist. You can write the book yourself or order it to be written by a ghostwriter. But you are already here, you have already reached the first step.

Check out this related article: How Much Do Self Publishing Authors Make?

What you are going to need next is a cover that you can create yourself. There are ways of doing that or ordering a cover to be created.

Next, you are going to format the manuscript. It needs to be in a format that is going to work well. I use a program called Jutoh to do the formatting.

But in reality, you can even just use Word. There are ways of even doing it just like that if you want to do it.

Let's Take The Simplest Path

Another issue is if you want to publish the book yourself which I would be of course suggesting. But if you wanted to go through a major dealer, well then go to a publishing house. That would be a different process than this one.

For your first book, I would still recommend you to do self-publishing. So you would learn the ins and outs of the different steps that are required for this particular thing.

You are also going to want to get some editing done when you're in the process of formatting the manuscripts and getting them in. After that, we are going to take it to an e-book and a print copy.

One thing that I discovered when I was first getting started was that there are so many ways to do this. So, you are going to want to just take the simplest way.

Check out this related article: Where Can A Teenager Publish Their Work Online?

For some people, they spend so much time trying to figure out how to do it. The best way or the right way for them or whatever the case might be. It is better just to choose a very simple standard path.

So, what's the next step after first draft complete? The path that I am describing here is by far the simplest way to go about doing that. So we are going to get the cover created. We are also going to format the manuscript.

Find a tool that is going to meet our needs. To get it into a format that we can turn into a Kindle book or Epub if we prefer. That tool should also be able to turn it into a version that we can have as a Print On Demand.

We can then use it on Amazon Kindle or IngramSpark or Lulu. I use most of these services specifically so that you can maximize the profits that you will be making from the royalties on these particular ebooks.

The checklist gives you a basic idea of where to start without the fire hose effect. So that when you are first getting going on this, you can see there's just so much to do. I think it's good to just break it down.

Just A Step At A Time

Just a final question for you. What have you found is the most challenging next step after first draft complete? Have you found where you have reached a particular step and aren't sure how to go further?

You might check out some of the other blogs that I have posted. They address a wide variety of questions on how best to go about this entire process.

I find it very exciting and there's no need to be drowned in all the different options. We just move one step at a time and you are asking the right questions.

You have reached the point that you've got your manuscript and just want to know what to do next. I have put out over 170 ebooks myself onto Amazon.

I am in the process of moving many of them as well over IngramSpark. Most of them are on Audible and other places like that. But the biggest thing is just to start it very simply.

Check out this related article: Can You Edit Your eBook After It Is Published?

We're going to try to see if we can just get those books into Kindle format. You get them in a format that your readers are going to like and that we can start the process.

Each time you put another book out, you can learn things. You can then take your first book back. You can change and adjust it to make the best practices.

But one thing I would suggest not doing is trying to go into everything at the same time. Just do one step at a time and I hope this answered your question.

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