Self-publishing really isn't hard, and you can do everything by yourself.If you check my blog, I have an article on Why You Don't Need Editors - don't be fooled by the online scams.
Essentially, this guide will work best with e-Books, which are the easiest to publish, because all you need is a PDF File Viewer , a Word editor such as AbiWord , OpenOffice or Microsoft Word - maybe a fancy font or two, and that is essentially it. You will also need a Formating Template - you can get these through an online publisher (if you choose to sign up with one), or if you'd like, I can send you the one that I personally work from. Alas, you can also use this little how-to if you'd like to create proper books - but remember that the easiest way to reach to a wider audience is to have an e-Book on Amazon , or maybe get a popular blog to host a teaser for your e-Book for free!
Anyway! Let's get to it!
- Write your novel, novella or short story: usually, a novel equates to around 100,000 words, a novella is around 70,000 words, and a short story averages at 10,000 words.
- Get your formating template! Ensure it is the right size for the book cover you will create. You will also need a book cover template, but we can discuss this in another post; my book is usually something we call " 6 x 9 " - this is the size of the trim. Don't worry if you do not understand all of the words, I will create a glossary at some point ^__^
- Edit your novel/novella/story.
- Put the book into the template correctly. Ensure you have all of the things filled in, such as copyright, page numbers, page headers (usually the Authors name, then the Story name and so forth).
- Save as a .PDF file. Check the file in a PDF file viewer such as the Adobe PDF Viewer , and if it looks good then you're set!
- Start selling it as an e-Book. Remember, that short stories won't sell with ease - you're best to sell your first one for free, then work up to higher prices. With a very long novel, however, you can set the initial price at around £10/$10. Remember about your royalties. If you self-publish, you are likely to get all of the money from what you sell, if you have an agent or publisher, they will get most of the money, and you get around 2.5% to 10% of the book in royalties (i.e you sell as book for $10, you may only get $1).
- You can also sell pysical copies! Get already-published authors to review it before you stick it on the internet for sale.
Ways to sell
You can sell on the internet, such as eBay, Amazon, or make your own site and/or blog. You may also go to something called a "Writer's Fair" - this is by far the easiest way to sell copies of books quickly, as there will bemany free-lance authors there, all of them will be more than happy to take a copy of your book!
Warnings
- Online scams run rampant when you publish. Never, ever, use a site which makes you pay more than $4 to get a 200 page book printed. CreateSpace costs around $2.60 for a 200 page book. AuthorHouse is around $3.
- Don't use an editor (refer to my blog!)
- Shipping can get very expensive when you print books. When you buy in bulk, it won't be so steep, but of course, it can get into $100 if you buy over 100 copies. If possible, print your own.
- Never use a professional design service. I never have, and I never will. My books sell just fine without them, because you can easily design your own. If you ever need help, leave me a message on my Talk Page.
