You want to write a book. You have a strong idea about what the book should be about, and you have solid people on your team. Then it's time to make a good plan and think about the actual content of the book. You can create an outline where you list all the topics that should be included. In addition to the main content, you should also consider other common elements in a book. An example of an outline might look like this: - Cover - Title page - Colophon - Table of contents - Foreword - Introduction to the topics - Topic 1: Text, photo - Topic 2: Text, photo, text box - Topic 3: Text (interview), illustration, map - Etc. - Afterword - Glossary - Index What goes in and where? Once you've gone through the outline a few times, you can start gathering material to be included: images, texts, and things to be photographed. Is there anyone you need to speak to who has information? Can you get access to an archive with images? At this stage, you're starting to get an overview of the entire project. Is the outline clear enough?

The person or entity responsible for publishing the book is the publisher. This can be a publishing house, a business, an organisation, or an individual. It's good to think about who will be the publisher of your project. Amongst other things, it says something about who has rights and obligations in the project, and it has very concrete consequences for the process. If you want to publish a book, you can try your luck with the big established publishing houses. An editor there has many manuscripts on their desk to read through, and the competition is fierce. If you send in your text for evaluation, it can take a very long time before you hear anything from them. And if you should be so lucky as to be accepted by an established publisher, you'll go through several rounds of critique, rewriting, polishing, and copy-editing before you end up with a finished manuscript. And after that, it can take time before the design and marketing get underway. If you work with a publisher, it's not unusual for it to take several years before a manuscript (which you thought was finished) is reworked into a finished printed or digital book. And what do you get in return for your efforts? A small percentage for every book sold. Everyone involved in the process must have their share. I want to present another path for you. A path where you yourself have much greater control, and where the book project is completed relatively quickly. In recent years, book production has become accessible to most people. Better and faster tools are available from designers and printers, and if you believe in the project, there isn't much standing in the way of you realising it yourself. Welcome to self-publishing! Releasing your book yourself requires a fair bit of work. But if you have someone who can guide you, it's just a matter of following the recipe. So, who should be the publisher of your book? Unless you have all the time in the world, I would advise you to put together a working group. It can be composed of colleagues at work, a local community group, an organisation, good friends, enthusiasts, or people who care about what you want to say. Make sure some people can do things that you yourself cannot – language, finance, sales, planning. Together, the group becomes stronger.

Many people get the idea to publish a book, either on their own or with help from others. It could be a collection of poems they've written over the years, or a novel they're working on, or perhaps some business advice they want to share. But before we move too fast into a book project, let's take a step back. Is it really a book? If you have ideas you want to communicate, there are many ways to do so. You can make - an article series in a magazine or newspaper - a podcast series - an online lecture - a searchable website - a Facebook page - an email series - a YouTube channel - a Skool community Or other forms of expression and channels. Whatever you want to communicate, think through different ways to tell the story. Not everything needs to be a book lying on the table in a bookshop. Putting together a good book is often a long and complex process with many people involved. It takes time and can become expensive. And even if the book turns out well and can be ordered in bookshops or bought online, there's no guarantee there's a large enough audience for significant sales or wide distribution. But of course, if you are a decent writer (or know someone who is), you've had signals from people around you that they'd like to have a book in their hands on the subject – and you strongly believe in the idea yourself – then you're well on your way to starting a book project! If you'd like help planning the project and designing a good book, you can always message me here on Skool or book a call to see if we can work together.

Looking at graphic designers, self-publishing services, Kindle Direct Publishing grifters and aspiring authors today, it seems like book design is an undervalued skill and service. Even the tools to design books and publications have basically become free, and all it takes to produce a decent-looking document is some time and effort. Of course, busy entrepreneurs would still like to spend money just to get the job done, but with the hoard of available freelancers on Upwork and Fiverr, it costs next to nothing to turn a Google doc into a printable book. That work certainly doesn't seem to have a lasting quality, but busy creatives don't care. Is the typographic art commoditised now? Can one sell book design services for a premium these days?

May all your words be well read and your page compositions pleasing!