{"id":6569,"date":"2015-01-06T17:12:03","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T17:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/?p=6569"},"modified":"2023-12-07T21:37:44","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T21:37:44","slug":"book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/","title":{"rendered":"Book review: 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Jill Ronsley sent me a review copy of her new book just two weeks before Christmas 2013, I set it aside, fully intending to review it after the holidays.<\/p>\n

A year later, 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed: How to Put Your Best Book Forward<\/em><\/a>\u00a0published in August 2013 has won first place in\u00a0the\u00a022nd Annual Writer’s Digest<\/em> Self-Published Book Awards (winners will be announced publicly this month). Seems like now’s a good time to write that review, eh?<\/p>\n

Here’s what I like about this book: Ronsley packs a lot of useful information into\u00a0under 125\u00a0pages. In her 10 steps, which range from “Publishing Basics” to “Proofreading,” she focuses on the essentials — buying an ISBN, what an editor will do with your manuscript, and the difference between offset and digital printing, for example.<\/p>\n

The emphasis is on printed books<\/h3>\n

The majority of the book focuses on topics related to publishing\u00a0printed books, but there’s definitely information useful to e-book-only authors, too — including the importance of high-quality cover design.<\/p>\n

Authors-to-be should heed Ronsley’s advice — and she shares it generously. That’s another one of this book’s best features — readers benefit from the author’s years of experience as an editor and publishing consultant. She stresses the importance of not taking the DIY route, recommending instead that authors hire outside editors, cover designers, and interior book designers. Here’s a sample of her wisdom:<\/p>\n

“. . . if you are publishing independently, you cannot afford to have mistakes or omissions that brand your book amateurish after publication.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n

The book is loaded with gems that will help novices avoid costly or embarrassing mistakes.<\/p>\n

Marketing, publicity, and promotion<\/h3>\n

I was happy to see that the longest chapter addresses marketing and promotion, since your book will go nowhere without a well-thought out marketing plan<\/a>. I was disappointed, though, that in a section titled, “What are book marketing, publicity and promotion?,” Ronley doesn’t offer definitions for all three of those terms and the two\u00a0she does offer are weak, at best.<\/p>\n

What’s more, she seems to equate “publicity” with exposure in general. Those of us with public relations degrees will tell you that it has a specific definition: “Publicity” is that free media exposure you get when you or your book are mentioned by the news media. Her advice is solid, though, and as with the rest of the book, she hits on the key points authors need to know.<\/p>\n

If you’re looking for a concise guide to getting your book out of a Word file and into print,\u00a010 Steps to Publish & Succeed: How to Put Your Best Book Forward<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Jill Ronsley is definitely worth reading.<\/p>\n

What’s your favorite “how to get published” book? Tell us in a comment!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"10<\/a><\/p>\n

When Jill Ronsley sent me a review copy of her new book just two weeks before Christmas 2013, I set it aside, fully intending to review it after the holidays.<\/p>\n

A year later, 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed: How to Put Your Best Book Forward<\/em><\/a>\u00a0published in August 2013 has won first place in\u00a0the\u00a022nd Annual Writer’s Digest<\/em> Self-Published Book Awards. Seems like now’s a good time to write that review, eh?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[529,530,310],"class_list":["post-6569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-book-review","tag-jill-ronsley","tag-self-publishing"],"yoast_head":"\nBook review: 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed - Build Book Buzz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here's a review of "10 Steps to Publish & Succeed: How to Put Your Best Book Forward," which has won first place in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book review: 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed - Build Book Buzz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's a review of "10 Steps to Publish & Succeed: How to Put Your Best Book Forward," which has won first place in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Build Book Buzz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buildbookbuzz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-06T17:12:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-07T21:37:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10Steps_FRONT_Cover10_Nov2014_LS300-3-199x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sandra Beckwith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sandrabeckwith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sandrabeckwith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sandra Beckwith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sandra Beckwith\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/53c9c171a6b15dc6f2562736f36a9dc6\"},\"headline\":\"Book review: 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-06T17:12:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-07T21:37:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/\"},\"wordCount\":458,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"book review\",\"Jill Ronsley\",\"self-publishing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/\",\"name\":\"Book review: 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed - Build Book Buzz\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-06T17:12:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-07T21:37:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"Here's a review of \\\"10 Steps to Publish & Succeed: How to Put Your Best Book Forward,\\\" which has won first place in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/\",\"name\":\"Build Book Buzz\",\"description\":\"Do-it-yourself book marketing tips, tools, and tactics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Build Book Buzz\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/transparent-site-name-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/transparent-site-name-logo.png\",\"width\":1191,\"height\":137,\"caption\":\"Build Book Buzz\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buildbookbuzz\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sandrabeckwith\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sandrabeckwith\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/sandrabeckwith\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/53c9c171a6b15dc6f2562736f36a9dc6\",\"name\":\"Sandra Beckwith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/db35d56572c746572f0eecebc8cbce31?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/db35d56572c746572f0eecebc8cbce31?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sandra Beckwith\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/author\/sandrab\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Book review: 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed - Build Book Buzz","description":"Here's a review of \"10 Steps to Publish & Succeed: How to Put Your Best Book Forward,\" which has won first place in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Book review: 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed - Build Book Buzz","og_description":"Here's a review of \"10 Steps to Publish & Succeed: How to Put Your Best Book Forward,\" which has won first place in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards.","og_url":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/","og_site_name":"Build Book Buzz","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buildbookbuzz","article_published_time":"2015-01-06T17:12:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-07T21:37:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10Steps_FRONT_Cover10_Nov2014_LS300-3-199x300.jpg"}],"author":"Sandra Beckwith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sandrabeckwith","twitter_site":"@sandrabeckwith","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sandra Beckwith","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/"},"author":{"name":"Sandra Beckwith","@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/53c9c171a6b15dc6f2562736f36a9dc6"},"headline":"Book review: 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed","datePublished":"2015-01-06T17:12:03+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-07T21:37:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/"},"wordCount":458,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["book review","Jill Ronsley","self-publishing"],"articleSection":["Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/","url":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/","name":"Book review: 10 Steps to Publish & Succeed - Build Book Buzz","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-01-06T17:12:03+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-07T21:37:44+00:00","description":"Here's a review of \"10 Steps to Publish & Succeed: How to Put Your Best Book Forward,\" which has won first place in the 22nd Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/book-review-10-steps-to-publish-succeed\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/","name":"Build Book Buzz","description":"Do-it-yourself book marketing tips, tools, and tactics","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#organization","name":"Build Book Buzz","url":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/transparent-site-name-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/transparent-site-name-logo.png","width":1191,"height":137,"caption":"Build Book Buzz"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buildbookbuzz","https:\/\/twitter.com\/sandrabeckwith","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sandrabeckwith\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/sandrabeckwith\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/53c9c171a6b15dc6f2562736f36a9dc6","name":"Sandra Beckwith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/db35d56572c746572f0eecebc8cbce31?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/db35d56572c746572f0eecebc8cbce31?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sandra Beckwith"},"url":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/author\/sandrab\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":126,"label":"Reviews"}],"post_tag":[{"value":529,"label":"book review"},{"value":530,"label":"Jill Ronsley"},{"value":310,"label":"self-publishing"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10Steps_FRONT_Cover10_Nov2014_LS300-3-199x300-1.jpg",199,300,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Sandra Beckwith","author_link":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/author\/sandrab\/"},"comment_info":2,"category_info":[{"term_id":126,"name":"Reviews","slug":"reviews","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":126,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":34,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":126,"category_count":34,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Reviews","category_nicename":"reviews","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":529,"name":"book review","slug":"book-review","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":529,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":530,"name":"Jill Ronsley","slug":"jill-ronsley","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":530,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":310,"name":"self-publishing","slug":"self-publishing","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":310,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":10,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20153,"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569\/revisions\/20153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}