How long does it take to publish a book?
This is a question I hear often. As with most questions having to do with “how much” in this industry, the answer is an unhelpful and disappointing, “It depends.”
With traditional publishing houses, a publication date two years after the manuscript is complete is not unusual. With self-publishing and assisted self-publishing, it’s much faster. The timeline depends mostly on how long it takes the author to write the book and how long it takes the editor to edit it. The formatting and publishing stages are fairly standard and swift. All told, a couple of months after the manuscript is complete, it could be published.
To get a better idea of how long it would take to get your book out into the world, we’d need some information from you. If you’d like to tell us about you and share a little about your project, we’d love to give you a consultation about your book and see if we are the right fit for you or if someone else might be. As always, my number-one goal is to get you exactly what you need, even if that’s not me.
A normal book takes anywhere from months to years because there are a lot of moving parts and different stages a book has to go through if it’s going to be a quality book that changes lives.
But with something I’ve gotten into recently, the entire process—from ideation to creation to publication—can take just days and still provide value.
You read that right. Days. What can be done in just days?
Planners, log books, journals, and notebooks can be done in just a matter of days. For years, I’ve helped authors make workbooks and such to go with their books. Recently, I started creating my own. I will tell you the details, but first, let me tell you a story about it happening in the wild.
Total Life Freedom gets members great results.
In August 2021, I attended a retreat for a group I’m in, which is called Total Life Freedom. Exactly what it sounds like, TLF is about building a life of freedom regarding business, family, health, and more. People ask me many questions as the longstanding writer/editor/publisher in residence there, which I love. I’m always happy to help people, especially good people like the ones I affectionately named TLFers in 2018. During the approximately 60 hours I spent with them at one of the retreats, several people asked me to help them with their books, to my complete and continuing delight. Members of this group take action and do amazing things.
Meet Courtney Wisely.
One of the TLFers is the not-quite-five-foot-tall powerhouse named Courtney Wisely. When she heard about the journals and such that I’ve been creating, she got excited. Courtney asked me if I could help her publish something that had been sitting on her computer for a couple of years. Succinctly, she explained that a designer had helped her put together pages that she wanted to turn into a log book for entrepreneurs to keep track of the books and courses they’d purchased in their pursuit of learning. She just needed someone to put it into book form and publish it.
I said, “Of course!”
She asked how long does it take to publish a book in general and how long it would take for hers specifically.
I told her we could do it that very evening, right there at the Total Life Freedom retreat in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Her face lit up, and she squealed with an endearing vibrancy you see in sitcoms or on stage (which is thoroughly appropriate, considering she’s a community theatre organizer and star).
It made my heart swell.
Seconds later, her manuscript winged its way via email to one of my formatters—my husband. I was already calling him to fill him in on the impromptu weekend project. It was his day off, and he had his hands full with kids, doggos, and household (I was gone for nearly a week for the trip). Nevertheless, he hopped on his computer right away and formatted her files into a book.
The files were not in the software we needed them to be in, so that was the first thing he had to take care of. Situations like that change the answer to the question, “How long does it take to publish a book?” Anything that is out of the standard way of doing things makes it take longer because those things have to be remedied. Remedy he did.
After a hiccup with a few pages being out of print range (it happens, and he fixed it), he sent Courtney the Amazon-ready file.
She uploaded it right there at the retreat. A crowd of people cheered, and even more asked me, “How long does it take to publish a book?” It led to some great conversations.
The Entrepreneur’s Notebook went through Amazon’s mandatory review process (which usually takes a couple of days), and that’s it. Her answer to “how long does it take to publish a book” was “a couple of days after you decide to do it.”
Now she’s a published author! This is her product. It’s clean and functional, and it is designed to help you keep track of all the potential learning materials you access as you go along. You know you’ve collected a number of books, courses, YouTube video links… Organize them with this cool tool! Click it!
You can publish low-content and no-content books.
The last few months, I’ve been creating my own journals, planners, logbooks, and notebooks for various interests and needs. These are what people mean when they say low-content and no-content books. Not “books” in the usual sense of a collection of text on pages, they are still physical printed objects. In most cases, the e-book format won’t work for these.
Bored kids: Summer Journal for Kids
Horse-loving kids: Horse Journal for Kids
Adults who love horses: Horse Journal
For women with one of the 10 most popular names from the decade 2000–2010 (This one is for people named Ashley): Food Journal for Summer
I create in my spare time, which I don’t have much of, thanks (many thanks!) to publishers and clients sending me books to edit. That means my own publications will come slowly.
But yours doesn’t have to! Just set up a time to talk with me. We’ll discuss getting your planner, journal, log book, or similar creation onto Amazon quickly. How long does it take to publish a book? After we have a conversation, I can give you a much better idea of what the answer will be regarding your book.
Courtney Wisely heard someone at the retreat saying that I’ve been creating these low-content/no-content books and that they love them and bought some. A coach piped up that I had helped him just that morning to plan his anger-management log book for his clients. At that moment, the sweet and sassy ball of energy whirled toward me and asked the question that changed the trajectory of our evening there (and my husband’s at home). I’m so glad she did!
Get your copy of The Entrepreneur’s Notebook or any of mine simply by clicking the images or links, and enjoy!
And if you’re interested in joining a group of generous action takers that will change your life for the better, check out Total Life Freedom, and tell Vincent Jennifer Harshman sent you.