Your book is written. You’ve researched your options for getting it published. You’ve heard the good news and the bad news, which can be summed up in one sentence: Today, anyone who wants to get a book published gets a book published. This means there’s more competition in the marketplace than ever. In the past year, 328,259 new titles and editions were published in the U.S. and 206,000 new titles and editions were published in the U.K. That’s your competition.

The two paths to book publication are traditional publishing and self-publishing. Within the traditional arena, the choices are major publishing houses or smaller, independent publishers (including university presses). To understand the different types of publishing, check my past posts by going to the Categories list on my blog page and click “For Authors”. Regardless of the path you take, preparation is the key.

While writing is a solo first act, every subsequent act requires other players, anywhere from a duet to an ensemble. Because you may get only one turn on the publishing carousel and want to grasp the brass ring, your book should have a professional content reader and a proofreader before it is submitted to an agent for traditional publishing or goes to press with self-publishing.

Your book deserves the same diligence you would give in choosing someone to help you buy or sell your house. A flashy website with boasts of success is as easy to inflate in the publishing world as it is on an online dating site. Don’t automatically believe what you see; check it out independently. If a friend or colleague recommends an agent or publisher, look at the track record. I’ve heard some writers recommend individuals and companies they’ve used but, when asked how well their book was marketed and sold, the results were lackluster.

You wouldn’t hand your baby off to a caregiver and never look back. Doesn’t your brainchild deserve the same attentiveness from you? Ask questions to understand what the people handling your book will do. Who will be responsible for design, for distribution, for promotion? How will those services be paid for?

Before you sign any contract, have it reviewed by someone who is experienced in the field. Once you select the people and company to get your book published, follow up regularly to be sure your book doesn’t become lost in the shuffle and that the process continues as promised.

You can’t afford to sit and wait for your book to hit the market. Once your book is in production, you need to budget your time, money and other resources so you can hit the ground running, building up a ready audience waiting to buy your book. While professionals are handling various stages of your book prior to publication, research all the possible ways to market it. Whether self-published or working with a major publisher, your book’s success will rely on your own marketing. If this is a field you’re unfamiliar with, get professional help.

In a future, Book●ed Blog post, I’ll share some of the ways authors are breaking through the hundreds of thousands of new books each year to successfully sell their books.

For starters, what’s a “doozy”? My dictionary defines “doozy” as “something that is unusually good, bad, big, severe, etc. It’s a good descriptive word for the first step that a novice author might take on the road to getting a book written, produced and read by others.

Recently, I received several queries from people asking the best way to become successful writers. Almost every word of such a request begs definition and clarification. Let’s assume, for brevity’s sake, that one wants to hone one’s writing skills in order to create pieces that will be published; better yet, that the published pieces will be paid for.

If you are starting on this journey, you have many options to hone your skills and learn about the process from imagination to realization of a book. Your education can range from casual to informal settings, from free to fee-based, from solitary efforts to group experiences. Here is what I tell the writers who come to me for advice about getting started:

1. Determine the boundaries of your desires. Every writer I’ve met wants to have his or her work read and paid for. Do you need to make a living at writing or would it be okay to be a hobby with a limited readership? Probably somewhere in-between. Knowing what you really want and need – and knowing the difference – will guide how much time, effort, money and emotion you might invest into the endeavor.

2. Start cheap. Public libraries are a great place to look for free workshops, as well as books and magazines about writing (see my Footnotes post for recommended reading). Look for local writing groups online; they are often free or low-cost (if there’s a membership fee, ask if you can monitor one meeting before committing). Click the “For Authors” category on my Book●ed blog and you’ll find a wide variety of posts I’ve written (many with links to additional information) to help you navigate the changing field of publishing).

3. If/when you feel you need more than a writing group, consider writing classes and workshops offered by reputable schools and organizations. You can find many of them by checking with your local colleges and universities, as well as listings in writing magazines. In addition to checking schedules and prices, find out who is teaching and their credentials. Don’t forget to ask your writing colleagues for recommendations.

4. Write. Write. Write! It doesn’t have to be the book that’s in your head but it does have to be your voice, demanding to be heard in some form. It doesn’t have to be published but it should be committed to paper or computer. As you create something that seems promising, start sharing it with family, close friends and trusted writing colleague. Ask for honest feedback, for the strengths and weaknesses.

5. Read. Read. Read! Seek variety. Consider writing styles that engage you or turn you away. How do those styles compare with yours? It’s not about what styles sell to the general public; it’s about what feels authentic to you.

Success is measured, above all, by feeling successful. These are the first steps toward becoming a successful writer. In future posts, I’ll address other critical aspects of moving from the dream of a book to success getting the book to readers.