Want to Self-Publish?
For the first three months, I was learning everything I could…reading blogs and soaking all the information in. I suggest you do the same. Use your instincts when making a decision about when or where to advertise. See if something works for you. There is no one-step process to self-publishing. Every writer will have their own journey. Pixel of Ink and other advertising sites work great for some and not so well for others. For myself, I believe in trying everything.
Don’t worry about failing. What’s the worst that can happen after you self-publish? Maybe you won’t sell right away, but you need to be patient. If you’re really passionate about writing, write another book while you let readers discover your first book. Nobody is going to believe in your stories more than YOU. Becoming an independent author has been life-changing for me. I now get to write every day. For the first time in nearly 20 years, I am making money doing what I love best. If you want to succeed, you must work hard. Never stop learning and growing. Good luck!
1. Write a great book.
3. Find a cover artist. Dara England has done all of my covers for $60 and under. She has covers on clearance for as low as $18.
4. Hire a formatter. For about $40 you can hire Lucinda Campbell to format your manuscript. Click on this link, send her an email and get started. In a matter of weeks, depending on her schedule, she can have your manuscript ready for download.
8. If later on you find that you have minor changes, typos, etc., make changes to your word doc that Lucinda sent you and for $10 she will update your files in a timely manner and then you re-download.
10. You can also buy ISBN’s from Bowker if you want to. Go HERE to learn about ISBN’s. I never bought any of my own. I used the $10 Smashword ISBN for Smashwords. And I let B&N and Amazon assign an ISIN #. When I used Createspace (see #11) for print books, I used their FREE ISBN. The reason I spent $10 for the ISBN at Smashwords is because I wanted my name to show up as the publisher…not smashwords.
11. If you want a print book, I did it for FREE at Createspace. If you need help, Bob Sanchez walks you through the process HERE. Ignore the part about the Pro Plan, since that is no longer available.
12. Book Tours. Start with Indie Book Collective - IBC. I did a book tour with IBC using Finding Kate Huntley. It was a huge success because I was able to connect with hundreds of readers. I believe it’s important, as a new author, to get exposure. You want people/readers to remember your name. Doing a book tour takes time. Although you might not see a spike in sales, doing book tours is all about exposure and getting your name out there.
13. Once I was making some money, I used Pixel of Ink, The Romance Reviews, Eye on Romance and Digital Book Today to advertise.
Miscellaneous:
Books on Self-Publishing:
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STEP BY STEP SELF-PUBLISHING
COVER ART
Cover Art - Dara England - Love Dara's covers!
EDITORS
Proofreader, Faith Williams @ The Atwater Group
Freelance Editor, Pat Thomas
Freelance and Formatting - Lucinda Campbell
Freelance Editor - Glen Krisch
Victory Editing
FORMATTING
Lucinda Campbell
Brett Battles
Formatting - Rik Hall
Take Pride in Formatting your Ebook by Guido Henkel
IndieRomanceInk - Cate Rowan and Carly Carson started a group for independent and self-published authors to share information. Anyone can join.
Kimberly Killion - Writer Resources
Joan Swan - positive nice person/author who likes to help everyone!
Dr. Debra Holland, Indie Author Shares $$ Numbers
Carey Corp some great info for indie authors
REVIEW SITES
Tracy Riva Reviews
Journey of a Bookseller
We Write Romance
Everybody Needs a Little Romance
Alisha Robinson
Caroline Clemmons
MISCELLANEOUS:
ISBN FAQ
Copyright your work
ISBNs at Bowker
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Pubit! Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
iStock Photos (pictures and music for covers and/or making book trailers)
Brenda Hiatt - Show Me the Money
The Book Deal - An inside view on publishing - lots of great articles
Tools For Writers - Pam Roller
Joe Konrath's A Newbie's Guide to Publishing
Jennifer on Writing - print vs. Epub ArticleREVIEW SITES:TIPS, RESOURCES, WHAT'S NEW IN E-Publishing
The Writer's Guide to Epublishing
