How to Self-Publish a Book

Written by Terri Chrisman (M.Nutr, Dip.ACLM)

Plant-based nutritionist speaker, and author of the book FABULOUS HEALTH: A Simple Plan To Get Well And Stay Well, Terri Chrisman, gives the lowdown on how to write and self-publish your first book.

Step 1 - Dictate

No one has time to write a book anymore. My book took me two years to write because I did it old school. The smart way to write a book is to dictate the body and refine it with editing later. The Vegan Publisher has a fantastic course that can take you from concept to finished book in no time.

Step 2 - Beta test

You may think that your book is better than Shakespeare's, but before you unleash it to the world, let the market give you honest feedback. For my book, Fabulous Health, I enlisted the talents of a book club consisting of whole plant food experts for their honest opinions on the text. I asked them questions like: Did you understand everything in the chapter? If not, what was confusing? Did I cover everything you wanted to know? If not, what was missing?

When you ask these questions of people in your industry who are invested in helping you produce a quality book, the responses you get will be invaluable. Don’t expect praise and accolades. Instead, be prepared to be criticised and questioned. There is no room for ego here if you want to produce a top-notch product.

Step 3 - Editing

You may have read the book five times, and your beta readers, your mum and your spouse, have all given their five cents’ worth of opinions and corrected your grammar. Your book still needs a professional editor. Professional editors look at the book as a whole. Does it flow? Are the chapters in the correct order? Is the tone of the book consistent? Then they fact-check. They look at sentence structure. It's a whole ordeal and can take from a couple of weeks to over a month. When you get your baby back from the editor, you may not recognize it. But, after spending a couple of grand on the editing, it had better be an improved version. You can find editors on Reedsy.com.

Step 4 - Testimonials

The back of the hardcover of Fabulous Health is completely covered in testimonials from my heroes. People like Dr. Neal Barnard, Chef AJ, and Dr. Nitu Bajekal. I sent them a printed draft of the book and asked for their testimonials. To my delight, they obliged. These testimonials give my book gravity and legitimacy. Being endorsed by these titans of the plant-based world sets my book apart, making it more appealing to readers.

Step 5 - The cover and formatting

Expect these items to cost twice as much as you anticipate and take three times longer than you would like. Unless you have a degree in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, don’t even try to do these things by yourself. Use professionals.

Split test your covers with your target audience. Post two very different covers on your socials and get your audience to vote on their favorite. Repeat until you have a winner.

Formatting a book is a beast I would not unleash on my worst enemy. It’s tedious and time-consuming, and the e-book/Kindle version requires separate formatting from the printed version. Loading it onto Amazon’s publishing arm, KDP, and the print distributor (I used IngramSpark) is another headache you can avoid by hiring someone else to do it. Head back to Reedsy.com to find an expert for all of these tasks.

Step 6 - The Launch and reviews

People don’t buy books with no reviews. You need to put in the hard yards here and ask your friends and family to review your book. I could write another article about the launch, but I’ll save you some time. I signed up for a course at BestSellerPublishing.com, which promises to make any book an international bestseller in a week. It worked!

Step 7 - Selling and marketing

You may have thought that all the hard work was over. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now that you have birthed your baby, it’s time to let the world know it exists. Publicity is a full-time job unto itself. You can do the hard slog yourself and reach out to media outlets, podcasts, and journalists, hoping they will pick up the story. Or you can hire someone like vegan publicist Sandra Nomoto, who can help with the heavy lifting. I’ve done both and I’m delighted with the results.

Step 8 - Keep going

Just because your book is out does not mean you can move on to your next project. The life of a book should be years, not months. Use your book as an introduction to your services. Send it to potential clients so they can get a feel for who you are. Use it to get speaking gigs—or better yet, sell it at speaking gigs. Use it to your advantage.