The rise and rise of self-publishing has meant an influx of writers into the market, and many established authors with back-lists are also joining the fun.
There is a LOT of information out there on how to publish your book, but I still get emails every day asking me how to do it.
I also get emails from people who have paid $20,000+, have been utterly ripped off and are devastated with the results. This happened to me once, although with a lesser financial impact, and I am passionate about making sure authors don’t fall into these traps.
With big name publishers like Penguin/Random House and Simon & Schuster signing up with Author Solutions to further exploit this kind of vanity publishing, you guys need to know there is a better and cheaper way.
I have a whole page on Publishing options here, but I thought a round-up post was called for. There are options below for publishing ebooks and print books, with DIY options and easy, paid services, so there’s something for everyone.
Some of my own editing
Before you publish
Yes, you need a great book, and I believe you need to go through an editing process, and also get a professional cover design.
If you’re going to produce a print book, then also consider interior book design. You can get a Book Construction Blueprint and reasonably priced Word templates to DIY for Print on Demand services through Book Design Templates.
If you have existing contracts for your books, and /or have been published in the past, check you have the rights before you publish. If you’re a new author, you have the rights and you can do what you like. You can publish in any or all of the following ways. There are no rules and you can sell globally! [woohoo!]
How to publish an ebook – the DIY option
(1) Format your book in Scrivener to create a .mobi (for Kindle), ePub for Kobo and Smashwords (very soon) or Word, PDF or loads of other formats.
Scrivener is only $45 and the compile function is just one part of the amazing writing software, which many authors (including me) swear by.
* Scrivener for Dummies – interview with Gwen Hernandez
(2) Publish on the ebook stores
For the best royalty rates, you want to go direct to the retailers if you can and the process is easy. There’s plenty of help on each of these sites.
Publish on Kindle at KDP.Amazon.com
Publish on Kobo at Kobo Writing Life. You can also watch/listen to this interview from Mark Lefebvre, Kobo’s Director of Self-Publishing here.
Publish on Barnes & Noble Nook at PubIt (still only for US citizens)
Publish on iBookstore, Nook, or any of the other retailers through Smashwords (free but not so easy to use) or BookBaby (costs but is much more user-friendly). Here’s a useful post on Bookbaby vs Smashwords so you can evaluate the services.
How to publish an ebook – the paid services option
I know that some people don’t want to mess around with ebook files. I used to feel like that too, but seriously, if you’re publishing a lot, then try Scrivener. It will save you loads of money. But if you definitely want help, there are lots of services that can do this, so you should shop around, check reviews and testimonials and ask other authors what they think.
I recommend BookBaby who offer packages to format and distribute your book. I use them myself and I am an affiliate. Here’s a short video chat with Brian Felsen from BookBaby about what they offer authors.
How to publish a print book
Most independent authors make more profit from ebooks, so you should only consider print if you really want it for personal reasons, or if you have a live platform to sell it (e.g. speakers). Then you should consider print-on-demand as the best option as you don’t have to pay upfront printing/storage or shipping costs. Only do a print run if you have the distribution sorted out – too many authors lose money this way (I certainly did!)
If you want a DIY option, and the best financial deal, then LightningSource is probably the best bet. However, you need print ready files for your cover and interior and you have to know what you’re doing.
If you want an easier DIY option, with wizards and extra help, then go with CreateSpace.com, Amazon’s own self-publishing company. They also have an option to make the ebook as well. If you have your own print-ready files, it is free to publish. Here’s a comparison post between Createspace and LightningSource.
If you want to do print properly, soak up everything you can from TheBookDesigner.com – one of the very best blogs for self-publishers.
In terms of premium services, there are more companies offering these every day, some of them at astronomical prices, so please be very careful.
Check out Amazon’s Createspace Premium prices here. Then compare what they offer to anything else you check out, since you know if you go with Createspace that you will be able to sell on Amazon.
If you like the look of a company, then check Preditors and Editors publishing guide for red flags, because a professional online site may still mean a rip-off.
Please note that Author Solutions, which is the service Random/Penguin & Simon & Schuster have chosen is marked: Not recommended. A company that owns or operates vanity imprints AuthorHouse, DellArte, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing, West Bow, and Xlibris. Here’s an article about their dishonest marketing tactics on Writer Beware,
What happens next?
Obviously once the book is available at all online book retailers, it won’t fly off the shelves without some help.
Read this post for starters: Help! My book isn’t selling. 10 questions to answer honestly if you aren’t making enough sales.
Then check out this page for more marketing ideas.
Need more help?
I teamed up with NY Times bestselling author CJ Lyons, who has now sold over 1 million self-published (indie) books, to create a multimedia course that gives you all the detailed help you need to successfully self-publish an ebook and a print book.
It includes behind the scenes videos of creating files using Scrivener and how we publish to all the various stores, as well as top tips for self-publishing, the worst mistakes authors make, how to evaluate print-on-demand companies, secrets of book cover design with Joel Friedlander from TheBookDesigner.com, pricing, piracy, maximizing your sales pages at the book retailers – and much more.
Read more about the course here (it’s just $99)
Recommended Books
If you want to read a book on the topic, then I recommend the following:
Choosing a self-publishing service – Edited by Orna Ross from the Alliance of Independent Authors
Let’s get digital: How to self-publish and why you should – David Gaughran
Self Printed: The Sane Person’s Guide to Self-Publishing – Catherine Ryan Howard
APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur – Guy Kawasaki
Scrivener for Dummies – Gwen Hernandez
Writing a novel with Scrivener – David Hewson
Want to join a community of active self-publishers who help each other out with information and advice? Check out the Alliance of Independent Authors. (I’m an active member and advisor). There’s also a great blog: How to successfully self-publish
Do you have any questions about publishing your book?
Please do leave questions or comments below. This is a community of LOTS of authors, new and experienced, so together we can likely answer everything! I’d also love people to recommend any services they have actually used and thought were good. (No posts from companies though – only authors!)
Top image: Big Stock Photo Ebook reader and books, Bigstock Help button,
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Joanna, I know you love Scrivener and have extensive experience in publishing ebooks. I have a couple of questions whose answers will hopefully be helpful to all authors.
1. Calibre is another program frequently recommended for conversion but in Phyllis Zimbler Miller’s blog, she says Calibre is no longer acceptable to KDP and says MS must now be submitted in KindleGen in order to show up properly on the Kindle Fire (See her blog http://www.phylliszimblermiller.com/book-publishing-2/kindle-ebook-looks-good/ ). Does Scrivener conversion work for ebooks on Kindle Fire?
2. Is Scrivener for the Mac working as well as Scrivener for PC? ( I have the option of writing my next MS on either a PC or a new Mac and would like to know which version of Scrivener is best recommended.)
Thank you for your continued wealth of knowledge that you so willingly share with the rest of us.
Hi Dianne,
1) Yes, Scrivener uses KindleGen as part of its formatting process and yes, the files are good with KindleFire – mine have been through the process lately
2) Yes, Scrivener was designed for Mac so it is the PC version that is slightly lacking at the moment, although catching up in terms of functionality.
I use it on the Mac. Have fun!
Joanna;
Did you have any problems using “Exodus” as your title, considering the Uris book by the same name?
I guess my question is; Is there a copyright on the title?
I have titled my third novel which is not yet published, ‘Talisman”, a title that has been used before.
Should I be concerned about this?
Hi Guy, there is no copyright on book titles, although clearly you have to be wary of the resonance in people’s minds, and not use hyper-famous ones like ‘The Da Vinci Code’
The Leon Uris book has some resonance but for me, it was more important than Exodus is a book in the Bible and also an actual journey through the Sinai, which my characters make in the book, so the title is correct. Talisman sounds fine
Hi,
Great blog item. Highly informative. Many thanks.
As regards Scrivener … I saw it advertised a couple of years back and my son, a Mac enthusiast, downloaded a test copy so I could try it. It looked great but … Mac only!
Just over a year ago, he gave me an early Christmas present – Scrivener for Windows. I haven’t looked back!
It is a very flexible and powerful program and, as one poster has commented, there is so much to learn. My suggestion is that, if you get a copy, just start using it and refer to the manual as and when needed. As you get more comfortable, research the manual for other bits and pieces and your understanding will grow as you discover new potential within it.
The Scrivener folks are constantly revising and I have had 2-3 updates in the past 15 months, each adding more functionality. They expect to issue an upgrade that will bring the Windows version more-or-less in line with the even better features found in the current Mac version.
I have used WriteWay Pro. It is a good program but at present does not have the same flexibility and power as Scrivener. However, I understand a new version is under construction. You can download a test copy of the current version, if I remember rightly.
Your site has been a huge help to me. I have developed a series of workbooks for the Private Security Industry that prepares an individual for future employment in Law Enforcement, Loss Prevention, and preparing for a supervisors position in private security. The problem I keep running into, is the publishing companies want to do it their way. I know my target market and I know what the demand is. How can I find a company that will work with me and do it my way or am I being stubborn and they know better?
Thanks
Hi Christopher, the companies I recommend above are all self-publishing companies e.g. Createspace, LightningSource, Amazon KDP, Smashwords, Kobo, BookBaby etc – all will let you do whatever you want – you just upload the files you want and off you go.
Hi!
Great post! It has a lot of valuable information and is well-written! I have a question though. My concern is not so much the ease of publishing as the impression I get that publishing this way will not get books sold. Obviously different people write for different reasons, I write because I love it and want to share my stories, however, I love it so much I want to do it full time and I can only do that if I actually sell books. How does marketing come into play here when you don’t have big publishers doing the marketing for you and setting you up so the media and everyone gets excited about your book? Thanks!
Publishing by any means will not guarantee book sales, so nowadays authors need to know about publishing whether they go the self-published route or get a deal with a traditional publisher. Here’s a lot about marketing http://www.thecreativepenn.com/marketing/ or you start by reading this overview article: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/10/12/help-my-book-isnt-selling/
Hi Joanna
I read over what you have written but I have a different purpose to write a book.
I would like to print a trip memoir of my husband and me travelling throughout Mexico and Central America and give it to him for his birthday
All your sites deal with publishing for marketing a book. I do not want to do this.
Are there sites that just deal with self-publishing to produce a book – a memory book complete with pictures??
Please advise
Darlene
Hi Darlene, yes, the best site for you would be http://www.blurb.com/ which will help you easily make a photo book for personal reasons without putting the book on Amazon etc – I hope that helps
Thanks, Joanna
Darlene,
If you only want a personal gift book w/ fab photos, I’d suggest going to Shutterfly.com (probably way cheaper than Blurb.com) and you can add text. They even have layout templates or you can customize. Great quality, soft or hard cover.
hi, I’ve publish a poetry book through http://www.lulu.com and it was good, the website is user-friendly and it gives you lots of options. The only thing is that since my book is a print book, I would’ve had to pay a quite a bit for advertising and other stuff. I didn’t want to because I published this book just for the accomplishment. But now I’m writing a novel and well I found your article very helpful, wish I had seen it before I published my first one because honestly I didn’t know what i was doing hahaha.
Hola! I’ve been reading your website for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Dallas Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the good work!|
Aw, this was an extremely nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to create a very good article… but what can I say… I put things off a lot and never manage to get anything done.|
Hi fist of all, thanks for helping us, I’m a visual artist and a few years ago, I have been building a story in my head and just recently I’ve been reding a lot, and I really want to writte my book, it’s kinda a erotic but troubled novel, like 50 shades of grey meets Crossfire mets My mad fat diaries, something like that, and you say that we need a professional cover and design and I already know all that stuff to make it look very pro, so were do you recomend me to publish as an ebook and really earn money.
Hi, I’m very new to all this and have little to no knowledge on publishing and all the “lingo” involved. I wrote a “story” that can easily be a children’s picture book. My goal is to produce the story into a ballet. I thought I could publish the story into a print book and sell it at the ballet. I would love to hear back from you via email with any guidance or suggestions. I have absolutely no idea where to begin. Thanks! Grizel
Hi Grizel – as above post, check out Createspace for children’s book options. Also, check out the podcast with Katie Davis http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/01/24/books-for-kids-katie-davis/
Great blog, great content!
My book project consists of 96% downloaded pdf files. Some of them need to be enhanced to get proper print quality. Do you have any resources for improving pdf print quality?
Thanks,
Karl
Hi Karl – I don’t know about enhancing PDFs – I would try http://www.ebookarchitects.com as specialists. But I’d also question why you only have PDFs – there are companies who can scan hard copy and do a better job than that if you have rights to old printed books.
Hi Karl,
Depending upon the quality of the pdfs, if you have Adobe Acrobat, you can use it to undertake the equivalent of OCR on them and obtain text.
The conversion to text will need review to ensure it is correct because it is not great – especially so if the pdf is unclear.
It also uses a hard return at the end of each line, so you have to reformat accordingly.
Apart from that, you can get an OCR package (Abbyy is what I use and it is good – but again, you are at the mercy of the quality of the pdf) and DIY.
Hi Joanna-
Thanks so much- this was very helpful!
Question for you- I’m writing a book for girls ages 9-12 regarding body health and development. Do you know, or at least know where might I find out if this demographic is reading more books in print, or more ebooks?
Many thanks!
Jill Pond
Hi Jill – sorry, I’m not a data girl – but check out Digital Book World for resources. It also depends on where in the world or in the country – since I know in the US in some states, some schools are moving to iPads and devices for schools books so clearly those kids will be more device savvy.
After waiting 4 years for my agent to shop my book around — and another four months to find out that my “done deal” with a publisher had fallen apart — I’m finally self-publishing! One tricky part about my book is that there’s 4-color photography inside (a daily inspirational with royalty-free photos). Do ANY of these self-publishing companies handle 4-color printing inside, and if so, which ones are the best? I’ll be doing ebooks, too. But this is the kind of book that has to be hard copy/print.
Thank you for this information. I have created a small book of unique photographs, the purpose of which is to lift the spirits of those facing adversity ( like cancer, which has affected my family.) I hope to get folks to giggle and to see life from a positive perspective. I have made a prototype using a big- name pharmaceutical photo center, and, according to their terms and conditions, I cannot use the book for commercial purposes. I want to know where I can create more of these photo books so that I can sell them. ( I probably would donate a lot of them, as well.) My dream would be to team up with the American Cancer Society and have some of the proceeds go to cancer research. I also would love to have a website to which people could send their photos to be included in the ” next” edition of the book. Any suggestions on how to proceed with this endeavor?
Hi Tracey – you can have a look at Blurb.com which is great for photobooks, or also check out Createspace.com. You just need to remember that photobooks are very expensive to print, so the volume sold is often much smaller.
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