Whether you’re writing a book and are looking ahead, or you’ve finished writing and are determining where to go from here, congratulations! Writing a book is one of the most common bucket list items out there and you are doing it, which is pretty darn awesome.

But what now? Indie publishing is a fantastic route to take in bringing your new book into the world. There will be plenty of work to be done along the way but it will truly let you make the most of your publishing experience.

Why opt for indie?

There are so many benefits to indie publishing:

• Control: In indie publishing, you’re in control. You’re either handling tasks yourself—like making edits, designing covers, and choosing marketing tools—or hiring someone to do them for you, with your input guiding them along the way.
• Earnings: With indie publishing, all of your profits, or at least a decent chunk of any royalties earned, will come to you. In most cases, you won’t need an agent (who would take a cut of their own) and there are generally few middle-men along the way.
• Effort: If you genuinely want to get into the nitty-gritty of how your book is made, there’s no better way that by publishing it yourself (or with a small press who’ll involve you).

So…now what?

The actual writing of a book takes a ton of effort. As you enter the indie publishing world (be that through self-publishing or an indie publisher), you’ll have even more work to do in terms of researching, planning, and preparing:

• Assemble your team: If you’d prefer to work with a small press, you still need to find one. Research indie publishers and be sure to read their submissions guidelines thoroughly before hitting send. If you choose to self-publish, it’s still a good idea to avoid going totally solo. Know your own strengths and look into freelancers or other professionals for tasks like editing (a must!), cover design, formatting, and marketing.
• Prepare your manuscript: Go through your manuscript until you think it’s ready, then go through it once more. While you might not want to rely on self-editing alone before submitting or publishing, it can’t hurt to put in a little extra work so your editor can focus on the important things when the time comes.

Juliette Sebock is a Best of the Net-nominated poet and writer and the author of Mistakes Were Made, Micro, How My Cat Saved My Life and Other Poems, Three Words, Plight of the Pangolin, and Boleyn, with work forthcoming or appearing in a wide variety of publications. She is the founding editor of Nightingale & Sparrow, runs a lifestyle blog, For the Sake of Good Taste, and is a regular contributor to Marías at Sampaguitas, Memoir Mixtapes, and The Poetry Question. When she isn’t writing (and sometimes when she is), she can be found with a cup of coffee and her cat, Fitz. Juliette can be reached on her website, juliettesebock.com, or across social media @juliettesebock.