How to write and publish a book in a year without quitting your day job

Contact us to learn more about self-publishing

First Name
Last Name

Email Address

Phone Number(optional)
Only used for calls related to your projects

Have you published a book before?
What is the state of your manuscript?
What kind of book are you writing?

If you're a self-publishing author who dreams of one day seeing your book in print, you'll be glad to know that writing a book doesn't require you to have twelve consecutive months of uninterrupted creativity or a secluded cabin in the woods. All you need is a workable plan that lays out how to write and publish a book in as little as a year.

You might be surprised to learn that a year really is long enough to write, edit, produce, and self-publish a book professionally. However, you do have to keep in mind that the deadline is only possible if you set up a series of smaller milestones in between. Rather than just telling yourself that you'll "work on the book," you need a plan that tells you what you're working on this month and this week.

Author writing a book manuscript at a desk

A one-year publishing deadline starts with a properly defined project. Just saying "I want to write a novel" or "I want to publish my memoir" is a lofty ambition, but that's where it ends. A plan means "I will write a 65,000-word practical guide for first-time managers and publish it by next September."

You don't even need to have any prior experience writing a book. By breaking the process into small, manageable steps (especially when working a full-time job), you can tackle it one week at a time. In fact, we've broken it down into a simple 4-step process that makes it easier than ever to turn your author dreams into reality.

Break down an annual goal into weekly targets

The exact arrangement on how you want to break down your writing goals doesn't matter nearly as much as finding a rhythm and a routine that fits your real-life work. Daily targets work for some self-publishing authors, but it's only a matter of when, and not if, things like work, illness, travel, or family needs crop up.

A weekly target gives you more flexibility. Missing your writing session on a Tuesday doesn't upend your schedule if you can write a little longer on Thursday or Sunday. We recommend tracking your chapters, completed scenes, research, and revisions as your milestones of exact word counts aren't possible. The overarching goal is to show that you're making progress, not punish you for having responsibilities that fall outside writing your book.

Create a repeatable writing schedule

Finding time to write doesn't mean you have to carve out an empty three-hour uninterrupted block every weekend. It does mean setting aside a smaller block before something else crops up to snatch it away from you.

Consider your average week and look for periods when you have the most usable energy. That could be anything from thirty minutes before work to part of your lunch break, or two evenings a week, or early Saturday mornings. Don't automatically schedule your writing time for "whatever time is left over after everything else." At the end of a full working day, you might technically have an hour available, but zero concentration or focus left.

Use different writing routines for different workweeks

Your writing schedule doesn't have to look identical every week of every year. During quieter months, you might be able to write five mornings a week. During a busy season at work, you might end up with two weekend sessions and a lower word-count target.

Create three versions of your routine:

Your standard routine - The schedule you maintain during an average week.
Your busy routine - A reduced commitment that keeps you connected to your book when work becomes demanding.
Your recovery routine - The smallest, useful action you could take if you missed several sessions, such as re-reading the previous chapter and writing 200 words.

This way, an interrupted week won't snowball into an abandoned month.

Outline far enough ahead to prevent avoidable delays

Outlines can't help you eliminate every problem, but they can reduce the number of writing sessions where you wonder "Okay, what next?" For nonfiction books, outline the reader's progression from their current problem to the outcome your book promises. Each chapter should feed into that promise. For fiction books, highlight the central conflict, major turning points, character goals and the ending. You can leave room for discovery without having to start with a totally blank map.

We've broken down an ideal writing routine into 10 concrete steps that you can take, even if you're a first time author.

Separate drafting from editing

Avoid falling into the trap of perfecting every paragraph as you write it. That's an easy way to make a five-month draft take five years. If you come up against a problem that doesn't need to be solved right away, you can simply leave yourself a note as a comment and keep going. That could be as simple as comments that read "Add statistics here" or "revise this character's motivation."

Getting started with the right preparation

Although you can absolutely train yourself to write faster, one of the best ways to write and publish a book in as little as a year starts with the right writing partner. At BookBaby, we offer a full educational library of self-publishing tips, tools, templates and more to help you bring your writing vision to life. We also offer help with formatting, production, cover design and even eBook conversion.

At the end of those twelve months, that feeling of accomplishment won't be tied back to one massive burst of inspiration. Instead, it will come from hundreds of ordinary sessions, where you opened your manuscript, made progress, and kept going. Get started now with BookBaby's helpful tips and guides at BookBaby.com