Publishing Biographies with Palmetto
Share your wisdom and grow your brand with industry specific books.
Publishing a book can feel like a monumental task, especially when you do it on your own. There’s a whole world of design choices, marketing strategies, and printing options that you need to navigate before your book finds its audience. Count on Palmetto Publishing to guide you along the way.
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Biographies allow readers to delve into the lives of real-life people, including celebrities, historical figures, or even new names. They offer unique insight into the experiences and mind of another person, expanding our perspectives as we read along. When writing and publishing a biography, authors should be aware of the formulas and publishing methods of this genre to ensure the success of their work.
Publishing a biography can be hard for anyone– even for seasoned professionals. Deciding the right publishing method for your book is a personal process that can also get complicated. Palmetto Publishing grants authors access to expert resources and self-publishing services to get their books out there –– the right way. Palmetto provides guides to help you throughout your writing process, as well as editing, marketing, and other services to ensure your success.
Continue reading to learn more about the biography genre, publishing a biography, and the benefits of choosing self-publishing.
What is the Biography Genre?
A biography is a nonfiction account of a real person’s life written by someone else. Biographies may offer detailed accounts on people’s lives, specific important experiences, the historical impact of someone, and more. A biography may be about a celebrity, historical figure, politician, or other well-known person. However, a biography can also be about any real person, dead or alive.
Some examples of well-known biography books include:
- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
- Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
- Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- Churchill: A Life by Martin Gilbert
- Mad Girl’s Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson by Andrew Wilson
- A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
Palmetto Publishing has assisted with the self-publishing of numerous biographies and memoirs written by talented authors, many of which may be found in our online store.
Authors of a biography must do extensive research on their subjects, which typically involves interviewing the subject, their relatives, their friends, historians, industry experts, and other primary sources. Other types of biographies include an autobiography, in which the author writes about their entire life, or a memoir, in which the author writes about a specific time in their life.
While the format of a biography is usually in chronological order, they may be written non-chronologically as well. Biographies may cover the whole life, a large portion of the life, or a short time period of the life of the subject matter. A biography often includes one’s early life, pivotal moments, hardships, and accomplishments.
Writing and Publishing Biographies
All genres have unique formats and strategies for success in their categories, and biographies are no different. To write a successful biography, authors should consider the following elements:
- Writing about a well-known individual
- Getting permission from the subject or family
- Conducting extensive research with primary sources
- Completing fact checking processes
- Organizing a timeline of the subject’s life
- Using chronological and non-chronological elements, such as flashbacks
- Including one’s own opinions
In addition, publishing a biography comes with its own set of guidelines to follow. For biographies, crafting an intriguing title that includes the subject’s name helps it stand out, as well as having a recognizable picture of the subject on the cover. Additionally, media coverage is an important aspect of biography marketing, as it helps to legitimize the author’s expertise. Self-publishing can be an excellent publishing route for biographical authors, as there are fewer limitations and more creative control.
Self-publishing also provides many benefits to authors over traditional publishing, such as:
- Publishing work quickly and independently
- Earning much more royalties than publishing house percentages
- Being able to start advertising right away
- Remaining in control of content and marketing
Overall, self-publishing is a smart publishing method for biographies. Being a personally-sensitive genre, many authors typically want to have creative control of the final product, as well as make sure it’s tastefully announced. Self-publishing, with the help of Palmetto Publishing experts, lets authors do just that (and more).
How Palmetto can help
When you’re ready to self-publish your biography or other novel, Palmetto Publishing is here to help. Palmetto Publishing is a leading self-publishing service provider that assists authors throughout the entire book publishing process, giving them the tools to succeed. From writing to marketing, Palmetto has you covered with the following expert services:
Writing and Editing
Palmetto puts authors on the path to success from the start — beginning with the writing phase. We provide authors with expert resources on the book writing process, formatting, genre specifics, and more to help them craft their content. Once your book has been written, Palmetto provides leading editing services to polish your work to perfection.
Before publishing a book, having at least a second eye is crucial to catching mistakes, assessing cohesiveness, and receiving feedback on your work. When it comes to book publishing, Palmetto Publishing’s professional editors make sure your work is ready to print, as well as provide feedback to take your work to the next level.
Cover Design
As most people do in fact buy a book by its cover, it’s essential to make sure your book’s cover stands out. Palmetto’s cover design services provide eye-catching covers to attract the right audience in your genre. Our cover design services also include conceptualization, Getty Images, and custom illustrations, depending on your desired package.
Interior Formatting
To ensure your book looks professional and is up to standard in your genre, consider using Palmetto’s interior formatting services. The interior formatting of books looks different between genres, and following the general format is essential to having a professional final product. Palmetto Publishing takes care of this process for you, finalizing the format of your eBooks or print book, for custom and complex formats specific to your genre.
Illustrations
Have the written content of your book ready, but need the illustrations to go with it? Palmetto’s illustration services have you covered. Palmetto matches authors with one of our talented illustrators to bring your visions to life. We offer half-page, full-page, and spot illustrations for all of your illustrating needs.
Printing
One of the most important steps of self-publishing is printing — getting your book into physical form. Palmetto provides authors with custom printing services for professional, high-quality copies so you can start selling your physical work.
Marketing
Palmetto also offers leading book marketing services to advertise your new book. We have over 780,000 media contacts, and we ensure that your book reaches the right audience. Our book marketing services include author website creation, marketing copy, press releases, and media outreach, providing all the tools you need to successfully market your book.
Get Started with Palmetto
Publishing a biography can be complicated for anyone, but partnering with a self-publishing service provider like Palmetto Publishing makes this process a breeze. We help you through the crucial book editing, printing, and marketing processes so you can share your work with your audience in no time. Contact us today or give us a call at (888) 408-8965 to get started.
Book Cover Design
We create genre-appropriate book covers that will catch readers’ attention. We offer several different packages to fit every budget and artistic need.
Editing Services
After you have spent countless hours writing and revising your book, your familiarity with the text can make it difficult to pick out continuity and grammar errors. Our book editing team will provide comprehensive feedback, from copyediting to in-depth developmental editing.
Marketing
One of the most challenging aspects of publishing is making sure that readers can find and purchase your book. We provide book marketing services that make it easy for you to share your book with a diverse audience. For example, we can design intriguing back cover text and produce a custom author website.
Authors Love Our Work
Incredible experience! From the cover design to the complex interior design to the delivery of my author copies, Palmetto Publishing exceeded my expectations in every way! When we hit a few bumps in the road with distribution and Amazon, the Palmetto Publishing team acknowledged the issues, took ownership, and worked quickly to resolve all problems and pain points!! In the end, they gained my respect 100%! The quality of their author’s copy was AMAZING, and I cried tears of joy when I held the first copy in my hands! HIGHLY RECOMMEND! I’ll be a returning customer!
– Amy Hobbs
