Last week I was catching up on Nathan Barry’s podcast. I listened to a couple of episodes where he had a round table discussion with a number of ebook publishers who had read his book Authority.
I can really recommend Authority if you are thinking about publishing your own book. It has some great information on how to go about launching your book – in addition I found it a huge confidence boost. Having a plan to follow is really helpful once you are outside of the enforced framework of a traditional publishing process.
During the podcast, the conversation turned to editing and whether or not the authors had been through any kind of editing process. It occurred to me that many ebook authors would not have any idea of the likely costs involved in hiring a technical editor, or how that process might work. If you have never published through a publisher, you wouldn’t be aware of how much influence a good technical editor can have on the finished work. It seemed like an ideal place to put together a kind of productized service, offering technical editing for authors.
I’ve written technical books for publishers for over ten years, contributing to multiple-author books and writing books as a sole author. My last two books were self-published. However I’ve also acted as a technical editor on a number of books, and a technical reviewer on many articles and posts. I really enjoy the chance to work with another author, helping them to make their book the very best it can be.
I’d also already outlined plans for a new self-published book of my own, a book about the technical side of creating books. Nathan Barry’s podcast discussion helped me form up an idea for a site for self-publishers, based around the services that I can offer and that upcoming book.
After a Sunday of pulling together a Bootstrap theme and building a site on Perch, I’m launching The Book Toolkit today. Hire me for a fixed price as a technical editor, take a look at my upcoming book, and keep an eye on the site as I build up a collection of resources for self-publishers.