In this guide, we'll walk you through the art and science of professional book publishing for fiction authors. By the end, you'll have a clear idea of your next steps to take, as well as support and guidance backing your decisions.
What professional publishing means for fiction authors
Professional publishing for fiction authors means that your book has to hold up in three areas where readers can be brutally judgmental:
The thumbnail test
People using eReaders or similar devices to discover new books to love will meet your book as a tiny rectangle on a screen. If your cover design doesn't immediately make it clear about the genre, tone and quality of your story, you won't get the click no matter how good your blurb is.
Not a graphics wizard? With BookBaby, you don't have to be. Our cover design services are designed to make your book stand out on store shelves and digital storefronts alike.
The first page test
Fiction readers want to fall into your story, and fast. Anything that jolts them out of the environment, from awkward sentences to typos, breaks their immersion. That's where professional editing can make the biggest difference.
We offer multiple editing levels, including proofreading, copy editing and line editing, so you can match the service to what your manuscript needs most.
The "this feels real" test
Even if your story is jaw-droppingly amazing, the physical and digital reading experience both have to be smooth. That means a clean interior layout, readable typography, consistent chapter styles, correct eBook formatting and print files that won't lop off half your subtitle when they're trimmed.
You can combine our book design services including cover design and interior formatting with eBook formatting, giving you the complete "publish like a pro" experience.
Traditional publishing isn't the only path to getting "professionally published"
Professional publishing doesn't have to mean "your book was chosen by a traditional publisher". Professional book publishing comes through in many other ways, including:
- Editorial quality
- Design quality
- Production polish
- Distribution and reach
- Credibility and authority signals
The good news is, you can have all of those things while still keeping your rights, your timeline, and your creative input. BookBaby has been built from the ground up to support independent authors at every stage of the book publishing process. We can even help you get your print and/or eBook into retail and digital shops around the world.
So rather than asking yourself if you should go the traditional route or choose to self-publish, consider these questions instead:
- Do I want speed or do I want to have to rely on someone else making decisions about my book?
- Do I want control over my pricing and presentation or to leave that in someone else's hands?
- Do I want to build a long-term author engine or chase a one-shot launch?
There is no right or wrong answer. Some people are more than happy to go through several layers of editorial feedback or leave the pricing and presentation up to the publisher entirely. However, it's important to note that your choice will need to mesh with your overall strategy when it comes to marketing yourself as an author. Think and choose carefully.
Breaking down the professional fiction publishing pipeline
As we mentioned above, publishing isn't just a single moment. It's more like a pipeline with several stages that fiction authors need to go through in order to make sure their book is as ready for readers as possible. Let's take a closer look at each stage and what it involves:
Manuscript readiness
Before you pay for anything, whether it's editing, cover design, or formatting, make sure you're not polishing a moving target. Consider this your pre-edit checklist:
- The draft is complete (and not just "basically done")
- You've done at least one revision pass focused on structure and pacing
- You've done at least one line-level pass for voice consistency
- You've gotten feedback from people who read your genre (not just friends and family)
- You can summarize:
- The protagonist's core desire
- The central obstacle
- What changes by the end
- What makes your story different
If you can't do these things just yet, slow down and take your time to make it right.
The different types of editing
Editing isn't just a single service, nor should it be. It's more like a ladder. There are many different types of editing services that your book may need, but here's a quick refresher:
Proofreading - Best for manuscripts that are already polished but need a final typo and grammar sweep.
Copy editing - Designed for sentence-level correctness, consistency, and style polish.
Line editing - Ideal for voice, flow, rhythm, readability and tightening the prose.
The most important thing to know is that no matter which of our editing services you choose, your editor isn't going to change your voice. Instead, they'll amplify it by removing unintentional noise so that your style truly shines.
Cover and interior design
In publishing, your cover isn't just art. Yes, a gorgeous cover should stand out artistically and draw the eye to it, but it also has a great deal of heavy lifting to do in order to create a great first impression with casual readers who are browsing the shelves (online or offline). Your cover has to:
- Make your genre clear instantly
- Pique their curiosity
- Look professional alongside competitors
- Stay legible in a thumbnail mode on e-readers
BookBaby's cover design services are designed to create professional-grade covers that make your book stand out and compete in real marketplaces.
There's also interior design, and it's the difference between the book feeling "real" versus one that rolled off your grandma's old Epson printer. Inside the book, your readers experience your font choices, spacing, chapter styles, scene breaks, and more. That's why consistency across headings and the front and back of the book all matter.
They might seem like almost miniscule choices to think about in the grand scheme of things, but that's because when they're done well, nobody notices. When done poorly, everyone notices, and they notice constantly.
You'll be glad to know that BookBaby's professional book design services handle both book cover design and interior layout and formatting, saving you from the stress of looking at your pages and going, "Wait, what's kerning?"
eBook formatting and conversion
Many first-time authors who are considering converting their print books to eBooks mistakenly think it's just a matter of saving it as a PDF. Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth. eBooks are a different format entirely, and with a different format comes different rules.
If your eBook has odd spacing, broken chapter navigation, inconsistent paragraph indents, or missing scene break styling, readers won't go beyond the first chapter, and that can have a ripple effect on your credibility.
By letting BookBaby handle your eBook formatting and conversion, you sidestep all of the pitfalls that can come with previewing your book on different devices with different fonts, image sizing and other conversion disasters. Your readers get a correctly formatted file that's a joy to read on whichever device they choose, whether it's an eReader, a tablet. or their phone.
Printing decisions
It's common for fiction authors to not think much about printing until it's time to order. Then suddenly you're frantically googling "What is trim size?" or "Which paper stock do I choose?"
You can decide, for example, to focus on eBooks first, and leave print options for superfans, gifts, and events. Or you could make your book print-first as the main experience, and focus on getting it out to bookstores, signings, or sell it directly to readers. You could also choose a mix of both.
Whichever print strategy you choose, it should match the reality of your genre as well as your audience's buying habits for the best possible results.
You'll also want to think about whether you'll be going the offset printing route or choosing Print On Demand (POD). If you don't know how many copies you'll sell (common for first-time authors), Print On Demand reduces your risk. This way, books are printed as needed instead of having to pay upfront for a huge run. BookBaby's Print On Demand services give you that kind of flexibility and distribution without forcing you to keep stacks of books in your office or in your garage.
Offset printing still has its place, of course. It's ideal for when you know you can move volume, or you want a special edition run. For many fiction authors, however, POD is the professional and practical choice.
Distribution and reach
Publishing your fiction book without a distribution plan is basically printing a beautiful work of art and then whispering: "Good luck out there." BookBaby can help you distribute your book worldwide through Amazon.
For eBooks, we give authors the ability to choose Amazon KDP Select Publishing as well as an additional 50+ eBook online retail opportunities. You can opt in or out of any of our partner stores, and your book can be available in any territory where a given bookstore does business.
Without proper distribution, your book is simply invisible. But combine distribution with things like:
- Professional packaging (cover and formatting)
- Consistent marketing and
- Clear genre positioning
And you'll have the beginning of a book marketing strategy that puts your work in a variety of sales channels.
Marketing your book
Marketing your book doesn't have to feel cringey. Thankfully, professional marketing for fiction books doesn't mean begging your friends to share or hounding family members to write a review. It also doesn't mean discounting your book until it feels worthless.
If you're curious about how to market and sell your self-published book, here's what you'll need:
A great product page that includes your blurb, keywords, and categories and a professionally designed cover. Wherever you choose to sell, you want these to be as optimized as possible, so your book is discoverable on major sites like Amazon and Kobo.
A content engine. That doesn't necessarily mean "launch your own blog and post every day", but a system where you can publish things like teasers, character quotes, micro-scenes, reader reviews and more to whet the appetite of your genre's audience.
A way to capture readers. If you do nothing else, at the very least, build an email list. Entire fiction author careers have been built on not just reaching readers the first time, but consistently building a following who love your work and want more of it.
A launch plan that plays the long game. Having just a "launch week" isn't enough. Sure, you'll likely get sales during that week, but eventually the momentum will fizzle and you'll be left going "okay, what now?" Instead, you want:
- Pre-launch buzz
- Launch push
- Post-launch follow-up
- Periodic promotions based on reader behavior
Your fiction author publishing roadmap
Now that we've covered all the essentials, it's time to break down your next steps and show you how BookBaby can act as your professional book publishing partner at every stage of the process.
First, choose your publishing goals
What is your main goal for this book release? Do you want new readers to discover you as an author? Do you want to build up your professional presence, your portfolio or your authority? Do you want to grow your income? Publish quickly and iterate later? Leave a lasting legacy?
All of these are important questions to ask and each one is a valuable publishing goal in and of itself. Choosing the right kind of publishing goal will have an effect on everything else in this roadmap, so be honest with the things your book must have.
Next, lock in your manuscript with the right kind of editing
Match the editing service you need to the manuscript. This isn't the time to guess. Use the editing ladder (proofreading/copy editing/line editing) as your mini-framework to help you decide what kind of editing you need and when.
Nail your genre positioning before you handle cover design
Whether you're designing your cover yourself or you're hiring a professional designer, it's important to make it clear how you want your book to be positioned in the genre you've chosen. If you're working with a designer, it can help to give them:
- The genre and subgenre
- Comps (3-5 similar books whose art or style you like)
- Tone (dark, dozy, whimsical, epic, etc.)
- Any key symbols or motifs
- What you don't want (just as important to include as what you do!)
This helps your designer as much as it helps you and can do wonders for helping you build your brand as an author, as well as create an irresistible first impression with your book.
Double-check professional interior and consider eBook formatting
Your book is the product. Book design services take care of the readability and layout of the interior, while eBook formatting makes sure your book can be read easily on a variety of devices. Making sure both of these steps are handled professionally lets readers immerse themselves in your world without stopping and fidgeting with font sizes or layout constraints.
Decide on a printing strategy
If you're not sure whether to choose bulk or Print On Demand, go with Print On Demand. You won't need to keep inventory, and your book will be printed as orders come in. Print-on-demand also centers around speed, so if you need books printed quickly for an upcoming launch or event, you can have them on hand within days.
At BookBaby, we use industry-leading printing technology, so you can relax and know that the job will be done right the first time.
Consider your distribution and sales channels
Give your book and eBook the widest possible availability if that's your goal. Decide whether or not you'll focus on retailer first, direct sales first, or a blend of both. Each one has a number of advantages, and choosing a hybrid distribution process, for example, makes sure that your book is purchasable in the format your readers prefer, whether that's digital or print.
Create a rinse and repeat marketing plan
If you need extra support with selling and promoting, BookBaby's marketing services can help. From our Ads for Authors program to marketing consultations that help you get the most out of various social media networks, having this level of guidance and direction is priceless when it comes to formulating a marketing plan that works for you.
Regardless of what marketing services you ultimately choose, you'll still want to focus on building your own email list as well as your social media presence. Consider adding a call-to-action to the back of your book, such as encouraging readers to follow you on Facebook or Instagram or to sign up for your mailing list.
Your readers are waiting
Right now, there are readers waiting who are the perfect fit for your story. They love the genre, they crave the tone you naturally write in. They want memorable characters and stirring plots. Whether your book is full of tenderness, dread, wonder, grit, humor or all of the above, soon they won't be able to get enough of it.
At the same time, though, they have a thousand other books clamoring for their attention. They scroll fast and judge even faster. It's not intentional and certainly not a slight toward you the author, but it happens.
That's why you'll want to give your book the best possible professional publishing treatment, and BookBaby makes that easier than ever. From cover design and editing to formatting, printing, and distribution, our knowledgeable team of experts are here to support you every step of the way.
Remember how far you've already come: You wrote the book! The hardest part is over. Now, your story deserves to make its appearance into the world as if it belongs there, because it does. The last thing you need to derail your efforts are a cover that looks like it was slapped together, a file that formats weird on Kindle, or an interior that feels "off" to readers.
If you're ready to take the next step into professional book publishing and give your book the polish and care that take it to the next level, the BookBaby team is ready to help. Visit our website today and start your free quote. Choose the services you need, learn more about trim sizes, paper stock, and other options, and launch your book into the world like the published professional you are.
TLDR
Professional fiction publishing is about making your book feel polished, credible, and easy to read. That includes strong editing, professional cover and interior design, proper eBook formatting, smart printing choices, wide distribution, and a realistic marketing plan. You do not need a traditional publisher to publish professionally, but you do need the right services and strategy to help your story reach readers and stand out in a crowded market.