So, you’re a writer who’s just finished writing their book? Congratulations! Or, you’re someone who’s thinking about writing their own book. Well, you’re in the right place either way. This is where you learn how to publish a book in Canada.
Whether you’re looking to self-publish or you want to reach out to a publishing company, let us guide you. You’re going to be an author of an actual book soon! Aren’t you excited?
2 Major Ways You Can Publish Your Book in Canada
Before anything else, you must choose how you want to publish your book. We’ll show you the 2 major ways you can publish your book and base your decision on that.
1. Traditional Publishing
Although there are new ways you can publish your book, nothing beats traditional publishing. It’s a great way to become a successful author but, don’t give in to the misconception that it’s the only way you can be a successful author. It’s not. Now, this route is going to be challenging but you’ve just written a book! You can do anything.
So, how does traditional publishing work? The first thing you’re going to do is send a manuscript to your chosen literary agents or publishing houses. You’ll need to wait for a bit. If they like your book, they’ll contact you and tell you the great news.
You’ll then receive an upfront advance for the rights of your book. You’ll sign a contract with the publishing house. It’s their job to edit and distribute your book.
2. Self-Publishing
If you prefer to keep every right of the book to yourself and you’d rather design and edit it yourself, self-publishing is the way to go. It’ll take some time and effort but, nothing good comes easy.
Self-publishing is exactly what it’s titled. You publish your book yourself. We’ll discuss how you can self-publish your book in Canada later in this article. Here’s a summarized version for now.
Choose a self-publishing platform. Edit your book, design a cover, and format your book so it looks, well, like an actual book. Upload your novel and everything else necessary to your chosen platform. Hit publish.
How You Can Self-Publish Your Book in Canada
If you want to independently publish your book on platforms like Amazon, we’ll show you how.
1. Choose a self-publishing platform
There are tons of self-publishing platforms available for you to use. Some are Kindle Direct Publishing owned by Amazon, CreateSpace, and iBooks.
Choose the one you want to publish your book on. You can choose several if you’d like. Print services usually charge around $950 for 100 copies. You can also choose to keep it as an eBook.
2. Edit your book
Once you have a platform in mind, edit your book to perfection. Get rid of all the typos, all the mistakes in grammar, and all the unnecessary words.
Create a novel/book you can be proud of. You can also hire someone else to edit your book. There are great editors available through freelancing sites like Fiverr and Upwork. The cheapest goes as low as $5.
3. Design a cover
Next up, you’ll want to design a cover. Make sure the cover is aesthetic and eye-catching because as much as people say don’t judge a book by its cover, lots still do. Again, you can hire freelance graphic designers through sites like Fiverr for at least $5.
4. Upload your novel to the platform
Once you’ve completed all those steps, it’s time to publish. Upload your novel to the platform you’ve chosen.
5. Publish it
The last step is to hit publish and you’re done! Although you’ll need to market your novel well for people to go and read it, you’ve published a book. Be proud of that.
How You Can Publish Your Book in Canada the Traditional Way
If you decide to go the traditional way, here’s how you can do that.
1. Send a query
First off, you’re going to need to send your manuscript to your chosen publishing companies or literary agents. Some really good ones in Canada are Rick Broadhead & Associates Literary & Media Agents and the Bukowski Agency.
2. Wait for contact
Once you’ve sent a query or your manuscript, you’ll need to wait a bit. They’ll contact you if they’ve selected or rejected your novel. If they’ve rejected it, try again! J.K. Rowling was turned down by 12 publishers. Her book later became a worldwide sensation.
3. Discuss everything with your publisher
If your book has been selected, congratulations. Now, you should discuss deals with your publisher. They’ll buy rights to your work right off the bat, set up a contract for you to sign, and more.
Talk to them and make sure you aren’t getting cheated out of the deal. The publishing company will work on designing a cover, editing, and distributing your novel.
The Takeaway
This is it. The last stretch. You’ve spent long hours finishing up your novel and you’re finally going to get to publish it. Who knows? You might have written the next Harry Potter.