Self Publishings Basics
A Step-by-Step Guide to Self-Publishing Your Book
Introduction:
Self-publishing is an increasingly attractive option for aspiring authors to bring their works to market. Online platforms such as Amazon KDP and Barnes & Noble Press make the process much easier than the limited options of the past. In this article, I’ll detail the steps I’ve used and list some pitfalls to avoid. I use an eight-step method that has worked well.
Step 1: Write and Edit Your Manuscript
Your first step will be the most time-consuming, but the most rewarding. You’ll need to write your story. This is the foundation for which every other step in the process relies. Write the manuscript. Proofread the manuscript. Step away from it for a few days, or weeks. And then come back and re-read it, re-proof it, and step away from it again. After a couple of weeks, re-read it one more time and if you feel it’s ready. Invite another set of eyes, such as an editor, to go over it professionally. This is the process I use, and it can take anywhere from a few months to over a year to get the thoughts from my head into a book I can hold in my hands.
Step 2: Design an Eye-Catching Book Cover
I design all of my book covers. Some say that’s a bad idea, that I’m too close to the story to make an effective cover. But, like most things involving opinion, I’ve read just as many articles that say the opposite. With that said, I’ll caution that unless you have skills with graphic design software, it would be best if you hire a professional. Believe the saying, “don't judge a book by its cover.” I know from experience that your cover will absolutely affect your sales.
If you design the cover yourself, you’ll need to know the publisher’s specifications for the design. With ebooks, it’s pretty straight-forward. The publisher will give you their pixel specs and file size restrictions. For printed books, it gets a bit more complicated. You’ll need to understand several terms, such as front cover, back cover, spine, trim size, bleed, and no-bleed. For hardcover books, the addition terms of dust jacket, back and front flaps come to mind. You’ll need to follow the specs exactly or the cover may get rejected during the upload process. I’ve had covers rejected that were off by only a couple of pixels. Make sure you’re comfortable with your graphic design software.
Step 3: Formatting and Typesetting
You’ll want to follow the formatting guidelines laid out by your publishing platform. This is where you’ll decide things relating to fonts, spacing, and page layout. This is also where it helps to have a good understanding of the software you used to write your manuscript. Visually appealing page layout lets your readers know you didn’t get lazy after finishing the writing and just throw something together to send to the printers. I feel the interior layout of a book is just as important as the cover. If you write in a word processor such as MS Word, be prepared to import the manuscript into an app designed for page layout, such as Adobe inDesign, Vellum, or Kindle Create. You’ll save yourself lots of headaches.
Step 4: Choose the Right Self-Publishing Platform
The platform used to publish your work will depend on a few factors. Will you publish both epub and print versions? Will you want to handle the entire process yourself or farm the work out to a company that specializes in the process? Before you begin, you will want to know things like pricing, expected royalties, and distribution.
You should spend some time during this phase to consider your marketing strategy. Will you do it yourself, or farm it out to a professional? How much capital will you have to invest in marketing? It can get expensive, so take your time to fully vet your options.
CAUTION: If you do decide to hand your work over to a company to handle this process for you, vet, vet, vet, and then vet some more. There are some shady operators out there. Here’s an article from The Authors Guild that details what I’m talking about.
Step 5: Upload Your Manuscript and Cover
So you’ve got your manuscript polished and edited. Your cover looks amazing. Your page layout is spot on. You’ve decided you’re going to take on the challenge of publishing yourself. You’ve researched the requirements of your platform(s) of choice. Now all you have to do is create your accounts and upload everything. You’re almost there. Getting your documents to the publisher is pretty straight-forward, but there are things to consider. For instance, will you publish to just one publisher, such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble? Or will you prefer to go with wider distribution using Ingram Spark? Either way, take the time to read and understand their requirements. As an example, when uploading your ebook to Amazon, you’ll have an option of enrolling in the KDP Select program. While it is an excellent program, you need to know that by enrolling, you’ll lock your book into a 90-day exclusive agreement on Amazon. You’ll give up your right to sell on any other platform during that time period. There are other things like this to consider as well. My point here is to say make sure as you click through the different screens to read and understand what you’re clicking on.
Step 6: Set Your Pricing and Royalties
This is the fun part. Decide on how you will price your book. It’s a good idea to look at other works in your genre and see how other authors have priced their books. Think about your production costs and what profit margin you’re going for. Also, think about where you’ll publish. Will you offer only in the United States or cover more of the globe? You can always change this later, but you’ll need to make an initial decision to complete the process. Once you’ve entered your price, the publisher will calculate the equivalent price in the currency of the countries you’ve chosen.
Step 7: Marketing and Promoting Your Book
As a self-publisher, you won’t have a publishing house team to handle the details for you. You’re your own boss and the responsibility falls squarely on your plate. One decision you’ll need to consider is marketing. How will you get the word out about your book? It’s not enough to just click the “Publish” button. No one will know about it unless someone, you, tells them it’s out there. There are a million ways to market and a million different price structures. You’ll want to consider a combination of word of mouth on social media and, perhaps, getting the attention of bloggers. But eventually you’ll want to set up an advertising budget and launch ad campaigns. There is a bunch of information available online to give you ideas for promotion. You can start with this video. Mandi Lynn - Stone Ridge Books
Step 8: Publish and Celebrate!
Congratulations! You’ve put the work in and completed your journey. Pat yourself on the back and share the news with friends and family. Self-publishing can be a daunting experience, but now that you know how to do it, it will be much easier the next time around. And believe me, there will be a next time. You’ve got the bug now. It’s time to start work on your
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