Self-Publishing Process & Timeline

Book Publishing Made Quick & Easy

See How Quick and Easy Self-Publishing Your Book Can Be

Outskirts Press takes the mystery (and the work) out of self-publishing and allows you to maintain control over every aspect of your published book—from how it looks, to how much it costs. It's your book, let's publish it your way.

Self-Publishing Process—6 Steps to Self-Publishing Your Book

Outskirts Press has a simple 6-step process to self-publish your book as shown in the self-publishing flow chart below.

Outskirts Press 6-step self-publishing process. Step 1: Professional designers work to create the author's book cover design & book interior layout and design. Step 2: The author reviews their digital online proof files to ensure their book is error-free. Step 3: The author submits any changes to the digital online proof files and the changes are implemented by our professional cover and book designers according to the author's specifications. Step 4: The author approves their digital online proof files for publication and the files are submitted to our premedia process for finalization and the proper pre-flight settings are assigned to ensure the files are compatible with the printers on the print floor. Step 5: The author finalizes the retail price, trade discount and author royalty for their book (Outskirts Press is one of the only publishers that allows authors to control their own book pricing). Step 6: The book is published and distributed through the world's largest wholesale distributors (like Ingram and Bowker and Baker & Taylor) to over 60,000 retailers worldwide.

Step 1: Professional designers work to create the author's book cover design & book interior layout and design.

Step 2: The author reviews their digital online proof files to ensure their book is error-free.

Step 3: The author submits any changes to the digital online proof files and the changes are implemented by our professional cover and book designers according to the author's specifications.

Step 4: The author approves their digital online proof files for publication and the files are submitted to our premedia process for finalization and the proper pre-flight settings are assigned to ensure the files are compatible with the printers on the print floor.

Step 5: The author finalizes the retail price, trade discount and author royalty for their book (Outskirts Press is one of the only publishers that allows authors to control their own book pricing).

Step 6: The book is published and distributed through the world's largest wholesale distributors (like Ingram and Bowker and Baker & Taylor) to over 60,000 retailers worldwide.

Once you've purchased your self-publishing package and your manuscript has been accepted, the fun begins.

Step 1: You provide information about your book & select your design options.
Step 2: Our professional design team gets to work designing your book's cover and interior print files according to the specifications you provided during the pre-production process.
Step 3: Once your cover and interior proofs are ready, you will review your digital proofs via our online publishing platform.
Step 4: If you have any corrections you would like to make to your print files before your book is published, you can submit them at this step. You can repeat this step as many times as necessary to ensure your book is perfect for its debut.
Step 5: When you have completed any necessary changes to your print files, you will approve your perfected cover and interior files for publication. After approving your print files, you will set and finalize your book’s retail price and your author royalties. Outskirts Press is one of the only publishers that lets you set the retail price of your book and select your desired trade discount for distribution. This flexibility gives you the opportunity to earn more royalties on book sales.
Step 6: You are published! In just a few days you'll be able to see your book for sale on Amazon and other online retailers and bookstores will be able to order copies.

Self-Publishing Timeline

Are you wondering how long this process will take? At Outskirts Press, that depends on you.

Outskirts Press allows its authors to maintain control of the publishing process at all times. This means you can publish at the pace that is right for you. We've published authors in as few as 9 days; but, most authors take more time to complete the process and it usually takes about 13 weeks. Your self-publishing timeline will depend upon a few things:

The services you select (if you select editing or illustrations, for example, your process will take longer)
How long it takes you to gather all of your book's content materials and provide them to your publishing team
How much time you spend reviewing each round of proofs

Some publishing companies claim to publish your book within 24 hours, or even 24 minutes; but think about that for a second. You've spent a long time writing your book; doesn’t it deserve something better than a machine spitting it out the other end? Don’t you deserve a team of professional human beings working with you to make sure your book is the best it can be? We love the books we publish at Outskirts Press—and so will you.

Are you ready to get started?

Start Publishing Your Book Now