Things You Forgot to Do to Your Book
You're excited to finish your book, but you probably forgot to do these things
When you finish your book, you are either anxious to be done with it and never want to look at it again, or you don’t feel like you’ll ever be completely done and want to continue to tinker with it.
Either way, here are a few things you might have forgotten to do.
Make sure your title isn’t taken.
No doubt you searched when you started your book, but many months have now gone by, and it’s very possible someone else has written a book with the title you’re using. Check this again. It can be a nightmare to market your book if there is a recent book with the same title.
Format your headers.
Go through the book and use H1, H2, H3 etc. formatting. In Word you’ll find this under Home. In Google Docs it’s a dropdown in the main header where you can see “Normal text.” Even if your book is fiction without headers, it still has chapter designations and possibly an acknowledgement section you’ll want to format.
Accept all changes and stop tracking.
If your book was edited or you gave it to someone to do a beta read, you will want to be sure you accept all the changes you agree with (and reject the ones you don’t). Resolve or delete all comments and then turn off all tracking. If you can’t get it to stop tracking, copy the entire manuscript and paste it into another file.
Put it in one file.
It’s common to create your chapters in separate files (or even separate scenes if you’re using software like Scrivener). But you now need to paste them all together in one document, whether you are sending it to your publisher or you are uploading to Amazon to self-publish. Be sure to put page breaks between the chapters.
Thank people.
Write an acknowledgements section to go at the end of the book. It’s common to thank your agent, editor, cover designer, the team at your publisher (if you have one), book coach, spouse, family, and friends. But don’t forget to thank people who helped you with research, people who read the book and gave feedback, friends who encouraged you or listened to you moan, and those who supported you on your writing journey.
Write your bio.
Include a bio at the end and make sure there is a way for people to reach you. Including your website is the easiest way to do this (but make sure there is a Contact Me section on your site!). You never know what opportunities could come your way,and you want to make it easy for people to find you.
In My World
I just hit send on an edit of a monster-sized holistic health book, which will come out in 2026.
On Friday, I had a very productive meeting with a client during which the pieces of her book suddenly fell into place for us during the call. We had been poking at it and talking about it, and then suddenly it was like the skies opened up and shaft of sunlight illuminated the answer. When that happens, it is magic. And it’s absolutely why I do what I do.
Obsessed With…
This morning, I finished reading Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton. This is unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s a (fictional) auction catalog of items that follow a couple’s relationship. It’s made up of photographs and descriptions of each item, as they would appear in an auction catalog. Through these artifacts and their sparse descriptions, you infer the ups and downs of their relationship. Truly fascinating.
I binged the new season of Couples Therapy on Showtime and blew through it far too quickly. It was riveting as always.
Good Goods
I am allergic to cats. I have two cats. Therein lies the problem.
I get allergy shots for my cat allergies, but after five years of shots, it hasn’t eliminated the allergy entirely. Despite taking a daily antihistamine and using eye drops and nasal spray, I am constantly struggling. I feed the cats Purina LiveClear dry cat food which reduces the enzymes in their saliva that trigger the allergies. But they also eat canned food that doesn’t have that.
My two new tools are Pacagen allergy spray and a Levoit air purifier. The spray does essentially the same thing as the cat food I buy - it counteracts the enzymes. I spray my office, the bedroom, and the family room once a day with it, and it makes a huge difference.
The air purifier also helps immensely. I run it all night in the bedroom.
I’m not waking up with my eyes crusty anymore. The constant sneezing is almost gone.
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