Self-Publishing: Your Options

[image error] Let's start this by giving you some confidence in me. I'm not a publishing expert and I haven't published yet. BUT! (always a but) I have done lots of research on self-publishing, and I've had people come to me in the past with questions about self-publishing.



You shouldn't have to spend a penny to self-publish. Unless you're paying for an editor, cover artist, formatting professional etc.

The following sites are FREE to publish your writing through.



eBooks

Everyone who self-publishes needs to publish their writing as an eBook, it's the only way to actually have readers these days. Here are a few sites that I would recommend.

Smashwords: I've used Smashwords to publish two poetry collections, and they've both made it to the Premium Catalog. The Premium Catalog allows your eBook to hit several high distribution channels: Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, Apple, Diesel and Scrollmotion. And they are also working something out with Amazon. I would recommend this to anyone who wanted to self-publish. You can set your own price, the minimum is $0.99 and you get over half that for each book you sell. And they have their own FREE formatting guide, so you shouldn't have to worry about paying people to format for you.(Smashwords -- Upload)

Pub It! Barnes & Noble: I have yet to use this, but because of it being a part of Smashwords I don't want to use it, that and I'm from the UK which means that there's all this finance faff that needs to be done, and it's all too complicated for me to do. However, indie authors have self-published like this and through Smashwords. They also have their own Formatting Guides and software so that you can look at what your Nook, eBook etc. is going to look like, and it does seem fairly easy to use!(Pub It! -- Barnes & Noble)

Kindle Direct: Here, you can sign in with your Amazon account, it's great if you have a Kindle, and because Kindles are very popular eReading mediums there will be lots of Kindle users on Amazon Kindle Store looking for eBooks. Your book will be on sale at • Amazon.com • Amazon.co.uk • Amazon.de. The formatting for this seems a lot more complicated as there is a lot of HTML coding, however there is a lot of easy to read, no jargon, step by step process information. There is also 70% royalty scheme in play, similar to it's sibling CreateSpace.

(Kindle Direct -- Sign In)

I would do all three! Smashwords would be a priority and Kindle direct would be my next in line.

Paperbacks

The first thing you need to know about publishing paperbacks is that you're publishing-on-demand, this is when you don't have to buy it yourself, but if you did then you'd pay them and they would publish however many you wanted. However, there is something you must keep your eye out for, and that's vanity publishing, this is when someone will publish your book, but you must buy 500, 1,000 etc. copies of it, and sell it of your own back.

CreateSpace: I've played around with CreateSpace, and it's totally free, they're not going to pressure you into buying things, except a PRO pack, which is totally worth it as a one off fee, fees decrease when ordering your own books, and your royalty goes up. It's also very useful if you plan on self-publishing more than one book with them. They will sell your books through Amazon (I can't find fault with this) all you need to do is put it to market.(CreateSpace)

Lulu.com: I've also had a go at playing around with this. Every page you turn to (more or less) is trying to sell you something, they have a lot of packages, and they look great, but you don't have to be fooled into buying them because you could probably piece the cover art and editor yourself (probably costs less). The plus for me, is they charge and pay in any currency here, including £. And formatting seems very easy also!(Book Publishing -- Lulu)

Lightning Source: I have not seen this in action but an independent publishing house I've been talking to do use this, apparently they have their own distribution channels. If you are going to use these I would recommend more research, there website looks very professional so there is no worry on the scam front. They do have a lot information as they work with independent publishing companies, going through the advantages of being a small company through to big. So, if anyone is deciding on becoming and indie publishing co. then check that out.(Lightning Source)

I do will recommend CreateSpace as I have yet to see anyone publish through Lulu or heard of an indie author self-publishing through Lightning Source.

Happy Writing & Happy Reading!And hopefully, if you do, Happy Publishing!

~Joseph Eastwood