Timeline to Write & Self-Publish the Pricing Workbook for Creatives

When I began my book writing research, I was curious how long different parts of the process might take.  I really didn't find many people who provided comprehensive timelines of book writing, editing, or design processes, so I'm making this blog post for anyone else who wonders about what it might take when self-publishing.  I had no idea what to expect, how much time it would take, or what issues I might run into.  Thankfully, I have learned to expect problems, so I planned for problems, and because of that, was still able to make the deadline.

The short answer for this book: 20 Years from beginning self-employment experiences to print.

Let's break that down into more real life details.... 

The biggest thing I learned during the book writing, editing, designing, and publishing process was to make progress wherever I could, rather than waiting for one process to finalize before beginning another.  You'll notice that several of my timelines below overlap dates with other timelines, because I didn't wait for one process to end completely before beginning the next.  This made it easier to move forward on the next step even when the last was taking a while.

Book Design & Print Proofing Process (3 months):

• May 5, 2019 - First Edition Kindle & Paperback Publicly Available on Amazon.com!
• Paperback USA: https://amzn.to/2LiezQm
• Kindle: https://amzn.to/2vADxzZ
• May 3, 2019 - Get 3rd email about spine text not being within margins.  Resist the temptation to put my fist through a wall.  Decide to scrap the spine text completely with only two days left to going live with publication.  Designer makes 4th cover without spine text.  Upload new cover.  Praying I don't get another email about spine text when it's not even there.
• May 2, 2019 - Get 2nd error about the cover text overlapping the safe zones.  Designer tries another fix, this time with smaller font in all caps for readability.  Upload 3rd Cover with Corrections for Paperback Edition.
• May 1, 2019 - Get 1st error message about text overlapping safe zones.  Designer tries different approach and sizing of text.  Upload 2nd Cover with Corrections for Paperback Edition.
• April 30, 2019 - Upload Paperback Cover and wait 24 hours for approval.  See more things I want to fix in the manuscript, but discover the Kindle manuscript is now on lock-down with no ability to edit or update while Amazon prepares for pre-orders.  Let go of desire for perfection.  Make notes for future book changes.
• April 29, 2019 - I see the Paperback Printed Proofs for the first time in person in NYC, and it definitely looks like we need to redo the cover design so the spine text all fits more narrowly.  Email designer about the issue, and designer offers a new cover to upload.
• April 28, 2019 - Printed Paperback Proofs arrive in the mail, Alex sends me photos of proofs while I'm traveling and I can see that we may need to redo the cover closer to guidelines.
• April 26, 2019 - Place Amazon orders for Paperback Printed Proof copy of workbook to be delivered to my home and designer's home.
• April 25, 2019 - Submit request for Paperback Printed Proof copy of workbook.  First message regarding Paperback Cover printing guideline errors, but I wait until I see the proofs to take action on the changes.
• April 24, 2019 - Make final tweaks to book manuscript.  Power editing session in person in Michigan with designer on Kindle Cover, Kindle Manuscript, Paperback Cover, and Paperback Manuscript.  We make decisions about whether or not to number the blank pages in the print edition, taking blank pages out of the kindle edition, spacing of headings and margins, and addition of extra pages.  We run into errors, fix them on the spot, keep testing, keep finding issues, and keep uploading new versions until everything seems to come back OK.
• March - April - Bring the printed workbook manuscript with me everywhere to keep looking it over for design tweaks while celebrating my 40th birthday with 5 weeks of travels. 
• February 28, 2019 - Contract designer for branding, website, and book design.
• February 4, 2019 - Do first test print of entire workbook on paper to determine layout issues.
• January 28, 2019 - Reach out to designers to get quotes to help me with book design and get my messy online branding situation cleaned up.

Legal Consideration Interviews with Lawyers (3 days):

• February 14, 2019 - Talk to third lawyer about copyright and trademark protection.  Suggests declaring copyright on every page of the book.  Recommends branding for Anne Ruthmann.
• February 13, 2019 - Talk to second lawyer about copyright and trademark protection.  Suggests declaring copyright on every page of the book.  Recommends making Anne Ruthmann the larger trademark brand more than the book itself.
• February 12, 2019 - Talk to first lawyer about copyright and trademark protection.  Suggests declaring copyright on every page of the book.

Book Release Date and Amazon Pages Set-Up (2 weeks):

• February 20, 2019 - Set up Amazon Author Bio page and KDP select service
• February 14, 2019 - Set up pricingworkbook.com and pricingworkbookforcreatives.com to direct to a quick email capture form to announce book release and email only specials
• February 12, 2019 - Receive first online pre-order of kindle from someone in India, decide not to direct people to Kindle pre-orders, but to capture emails in order to offer direct specials
• February 9, 2019 - Set Book Release Date on Amazon Kindle, upload first draft of manuscript, freak-out about deadlines, create timeline of work to be done before deadline

Eco-Friendly Book Printing Research (1 month):

• February 27, 2019 - Blog about my research on Self-Publishing an Eco-Friendly Printing
• February 21, 2019 - Having done the math on eco-friendly printing and amazon distribution, I realize that it's not going to be feasible to do both, and that Amazon is going to end up getting all of the printing business for the first print run, but that I could do an eco-friendly print run for a series of in-person workshops with alternative schools or after-school programs that may happen in the future and would be great for rallying a kick-starter campaign for as well
• February 20, 2019 - After receiving only 3 quotes and samples for eco-friendly printing from 15 different printers, I decide it's time to stop focusing on research and make a decision about a printer and how I'll be funding the first print run
• January 31, 2019 - Consider the pros and cons of doing a kickstarter for an eco-friendly print edition of the workbook, friends are encouraging of going for it, but the numbers and shipping timeline may not work out with my travels to kickstart the first edition of the workbook
• January 30, 2019 - Get first eco-friendly printing quote, start to strategize about what it might take to support the cost of eco-friendly printing
• January 28, 2019 - Decide on binding style, cover and paper expectations
• January 25, 2019 - Start reaching out to various eco-friendly green printers

Book Editing Process (5 months):

• March 17, 2019 - Blog about my Workbook Editing, Testing, & Revision Process 
• February 9, 2019 - Share book with second editor for additional fine-comb editing on grammar and details
• December 12, 2019 - Continue recruiting more creatives and business owners to try out the Pricing Workbook on their businesses and needs for feedback and clarity
• November 15, 2019 - Started sharing book-in-progress with first editor to check clarity and understanding of material as I continued to finish writing material
• September 14, 2019 - Start recruiting creatives and creative business owners to try out the book, provide feedback, and use the material to DIY their business numbers

Book Writing Process (3 months to write book after 10 years of writing creative business blogs):

• January 31, 2019 - Create table of contents and decide on checklist format for book 
• December 11, 2018 - Finished writing Part 3 and completed entire first draft of Pricing Workbook for Creatives
• November 20, 2018 - Finished writing Part 2, started outlining and writing Part 3
• September 14, 2018 - Finished writing and formatting Part 1
• September 13, 2018 - Started outlining and writing Part 2
• September 11, 2018 - Started outline and first draft of Pricing Workbook for Creatives
• 2008 - 2019 - Wrote many blog posts, worked with hundreds of creative clients as a photographer/musician/writer/performer/marketer/educator, presented at several different conferences, and worked with many different types of creative consulting clients on pricing and business concerns
• February 9, 2008 - Wrote my first blog post specifically dedicated to Formulas for Pricing Products & Services after feeling like there were too many people in our creative industry that weren't doing numbers around what they needed to support their work

Real Life Experiences with Pricing Strategies in Creative Businesses (20 years of experiences):
The most important thing about my prior experiences is that I regularly reflected on what I was doing and how I could do it better.  I didn't just keep plodding on and doing the same thing and expecting to get the same results.  I constantly checked in on what was and wasn't working, and found ways to make it better.  Some of this was forced with each move and change in my business, but even in the years where the economy dropped, I found new ways of working and identifying ways to do it better.

• 2018 Annual Review - Wrapped up retirement from photography business to shift focus onto book writing, traveling, consulting, and reiki teaching
• 2017 Annual Review - Spent more time consulting other creatives and developing a reiki teaching practice alongside a thriving commercial architecture & interior photography business
• 2016 Annual Review - Moved exclusively into architecture & interior photography, continued consulting other creative businesses, began developing reiki practice
• 2015 Annual Review - Developed better pricing models for architecture, renovation, and design clients
• 2014 Annual Review - After better understanding the local market and opportunities with my personal goals to have more weekends to enjoy, changed my photography business model from portraits and events to focus on architecture & interior design market and started licensing work on usage
• 2013 Annual Review - Moved photography business to New York City, redid pricing and packaging for market
• 2012 Annual Review - Took 8 months off to travel the world, and picked up clients in Brisbane, Australia
• 2011 Annual Review - Did country-wide Smarter Business Workshop tour on pricing for creative businesses, launched local publication project, prepared to travel in 2012
• 2010 Annual Review- Started working with clients who purchased five-figure photography packages
• 2009 - Moved photography business into Western Ave Studios, where I did more studio portrait and commercial work and picked up a recurring contract for UML marketing photography
• 2008 - Moved to Lowell, MA, needed to completely redo pricing and packaging for East Coast market expenses and client preferences
• 2007 Annual Review - First year my photography income exceeded what I would have earned as a teacher, launched PhotoLovecat Blog to start helping other creatives figure out the business
• 2006 Annual Review - Moved to Terre Haute, IN - My first year of full-time self-employment as a photographer, traveled a lot to other cities to work for clients who valued photography
• 2004 - Detroit, MI - My first year of working for myself as a professional photographer.  This is one of the Recital Posters I mentioned in my TEDx Talk, created the first year I started offering to photograph for my music college friends.
• 2002 - Detroit, MI - My first year of freelancing as a professional musician
• 1998 - Lansing, MI - First time I freelanced as acting/model talent, paid as an independent contractor