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7 Steps to Self-Publish Your First Prayer Journal in Less Than a Day

So, you want to publish your first prayer journal. Here's how you can get it done in less than a day. In this blog I'm breaking down 7 steps. Let's dive right in.

Step 1: Choose a day to create your journal when you will have at least a full work day 6 to 7 hours. Maybe a weekend if you work full-time or some vacation time you have coming up. I would not recommend you trying this after work or when you have a lot on your plate for the day. Because this is your first time you will need to give yourself time to learn with ease and it's hard to do that if you're tired.


Step 2: So now that you picked a good day you are going to need to create a Canva account. They usually offer a free trial. You will be using Canva to create your prayer journal.


Step 3: Once you are in Canva you are going to search for templates you like. I recommend picking no more than 3 to start as there are many options and you don't want to get lost searching for templates. Set your timer to 1 hour. When the timer stops you have to make a decision.


Step 4: Now that you have decided on your template it's time to start creating and I'm going to tell you actually what you can include for your first prayer journal. After you self-publish your first one you can move on to the next and get more creative but if you want to get done in less than a day this structure will work for you.

  • Title Page

  • Copyright page

  • Opening letter with how to use it or what's included

  • Opening scripture or prayer (if you like to pray then just type up an original prayer)

  • Include 10 scriptures throughout the journal specific to a theme in your journal. I.e., if you're journal is about hope then 10 scriptures on hope, etc.

  • 1 page on gratitude

  • 1 page to reflect on and write scripture

  • 10 blank writing spaces

  • Repeat every 12 pages until you reach 120 pages (make sure to include a scripture page in between each 12 pages)

  • Include in the back a prayer list tracker

  • When done you will have a prayer journal between 120-150 pages max.


Step 5: After you have created the interior now you will start to create the cover. Research and find a prayer journal on Amazon you like as an inspiration piece and model it as you redesign your own prayer journal. Very important to make sure to use the 6 by 9 cover template from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). It's the most common size sold on Amazon. Having the right dimensions is very important to uploading and self-publishing on KDP. The wrong size can prevent your book from being approved for publishing. You can also outsource this step by using Fiverr, Upwork, or 99desgins to create your cover. When you outsource then skip step 5.


Step 6: Once your interior and cover is complete now you will need to create a KDP account. It's free to create an account and self-publish, however, Amazon does take a cut of your book sales. You will need to put in tax info and have your bank account ready to input for direct deposit when they need to pay you royalties for any book sales.