Writer Room

What It's Like To Publish a Book

There are a few questions I get over and over here on Wattpad. I'm trying to answer all of them here in my Writer Room so I can eventually point people to these longer answers. 

Some, like "do you make your own covers," are easy to answer. Others, like, "What's it like to be published on Wattpad," aren't easily summarized in a quick note, so that's what I'm going to write about in this chapter. 

The short answer is that being published by Wattpad is awesome. It's truly a dream experience.

But I'm going to give you a longer answer about why. To do that, I have to tell you a bit about my publishing experience. 

DRIVE — the book that Wattpad published in March of 2022 — was not my first published novel. I've worked with two other traditional publishers, and I've also indie published myself so I feel like I have a good handle on the process. 

Wattpad blows everything else away in my opinion. And I'm not just writing this because I'm being paid by them! I promise. 

Here's a quick rundown of my publishing background. My first two romanmce novels were published by a small press, one that was well known within the world of romance. I jumped at the chance to work with them because the editor was well-known and respected. 

This is TIP #1: if you get the chance to work with a good editor, DO IT. More often than not, editors will make your book better, and they will help you become a better writer for future books. This was definitely true of my first editor. He sent me a multiple-page edit letter for my first book and I rewrote almost the entire thing. I learned a LOT. Same with my second book. 

Most of my other books, I self-published on Amazon. I'll do a post later of why I decided to take all of these books to Wattpad, but I should point out here that I did hire a content editor on most of my books. Constant Craving and Tell Me a Story were heavily edited and I tweaked a lot, thanks to my editor. 

TIP #2: when hiring a content editor for an indie project, or to help polish your book for submission to traditional publishers, make sure you look at their testimonials and their previous clients. Good editors will encourage you to contact former clients and will provide references. Some editors will offer to edit a chapter or a set number of pages for free, so you can get an idea of whether you will work well together. I would highly suggest this. 

My other publishing experience is with my mystery publisher, Crooked Lane Books. I've written three books for them (the third comes out in October of 2022) and I just signed a contract for a fourth mystery. 

Working with Wattpad was in many ways VERY similar to Crooked Lane. It's also a little different in some key ways, and I'll explain. 

For all three publishers, the process has gone like this: after the publisher and I both sign the contract, I send my manuscript to them. At this point, my book is polished to the best of my ability. This means that it's largely free of spelling errors, altough there might be a few at this stage. There are also likely some grammar issues and formatting problems. 

The publisher (let's just use Wattpad as the example here) then assigns my book to an editor. In my case, it was Deanna McFadden. 

Deanna spends several weeks, possibly a couple of months, on reading my book closely. Then she sends me the first edit letter. 

Friends, these edit letters are LONG. They are often daunting at first. I tend to read them ver carefully, and then set them aside for a few days to let all the editor's thoughts sink in. Diving in immediately might work for some authors, but it doesn't for me. I need to absorb the suggestions. 

I don't get offended by the suggestions, and I think this is an important point. The edit letter is not an attack on you or your writing — it's a way to make your book BETTER. 

Tip #3: Editing should be a collaborative experience, and you should be open to all suggestions. Having an editor tell you exactly what is and isn't working, where you need to boost characterization, where you need to add more sensory details, and where you need to tighten plot is GOLD. It is one of the most important parts of the entire book publishing process. In many ways, this part of the process is the most important. This is where the book is shaped and comes alive.

Once I absorb the edit, I get to work and rewrite. By this time, I haven't seen the book for a couple of months, so I'm also looking at it with fresh eyes. Not only do I change the things suggested by the editor, but I'll tweak the prose in places. Then I send it back to the editor. 

Deanna will read it again, and send it back with a shorter edit letter. Usually at this point her suggestions are very specific and targeted. This second round of content edit isn't long or as difficult as the first. 

 Once I make changes on the second round of edits, it goes back to Deanna. Then she sends it to a copy editor, who will catch all of the grammar/spelling/formatting errors. Copy editors also catch continuity errors, such as, "I thought her eyes were blue in chapter three, now in chapter six they're brown." This is SUPER IMPORTANT, as you can imagine. Copy editors save your butt, basically.

The book winds its way through two rounds of copy edits, and I look at each after the editor is finished. Then it goes to a proofreader, and I also get the chance to proofread it one last time before it goes to print. This is how Wattpad handles its edits for their printed books, and it's been almost exactly the same with my other two publishers. I suspect this is a standard way of doing things in the industry. 

When I've indie published, I've tried to follow this general workflow. It can get expensive! 

I did mentioned that Wattpad was different from my other publishers. Here's how: marketing. 

Wattpad is much more savvy about marketing and social media than most traditional publishers. The company has kept me in the loop about their marketing decisions every step of the way. They told me when they were advertising on certain blogs, told me when they were hiring an instagram blog tour for my book, told me when my book was on NetGalley. 

Compare that to my first small publisher for my romance, who basically said, "it's all on you." That is SUPER common, unfortunately with small publishers, and possibly even larger publishers if you're not someone they're actively promoting. 

Wattpad once told me that it's their job to sell my book, and my job to write. This was a RELIEF. I can't tell you how difficult it is for a new author to write a book, edit the book, then have to figure out how to market it. Marketing is NOT my strong point, although I've learned a lot in my publishing journey. I'll do a marketing post or two later, but I want to leave you with 

TIP #4: If you are offered a book contract, don't hesitate to ask your publisher what they will do in terms of marketing. The answer may surprise you. I wouldn't let a lack of marketing dissuade you from signing a contract, but you will at least be aware of what you're facing. 

Do you have questions about the process of publishing? Do you have any more Wattpad specific publishing questions? I'd love to answer them, so ask away in the comments!