Self-Publishing Made Simple – Part 5

Book Production for the Indie Author

This is Part 5 of my Self-Publishing Made Simple blog series.

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You have a polished manuscript. You have bought a block of ISBN numbers. You’ve determined how you want to present yourself as a publisher re using an imprint or not.

Now you’ll need to decide if you will be publishing an ebook, paperback, and/or hardcover edition. Finish the copyright page by adding ISBNs for the format of your choice.

Note: If you’re simply going to upload your book to Amazon and participate in their KU program, likely you can use the ISBN number assigned by Amazon. This is true for certain other distributors as well. But keep in mind that this will register them as the publisher on record rather than you. See Part 4 for how to assign book titles to an ISBN number.

Book Descriptions and Tag Line

Write a one-sentence tag line for your book along with short and long story descriptions. If you need help, go here:

Blurb Writer: http://www.blurbwriter.com/

Blurb Bitch: http://www.blurbbitch.com

Karen’s Blurb Service: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/BlurbService.html

Killion Group: http://thekilliongroupinc.com/

For a paperback, decide if you want a longer blurb on the back cover or a shorter one with review quotes. Remember to leave room for the bar code. You do not need to buy this. Distributors will provide their own bar codes, or you can get one free online. Prepare the back cover copy to send to your cover designer.

Author Biography

Prepare your author biography. This should be written in third person in an engaging manner. List your writing awards, professional organizations, genres, and special interests. Have a long bio, a short bio, and a couple of speaker introductions geared to writers and readers. You’ll need a shorter bio for the online book distributors, where you might want to include the URL to your website or newsletter.

Keywords

Make a list of your keywords. These are phrases readers might use to search for your book. They don’t have to be one word. You can use phrases such as, “mysteries with humor” or “cozy mysteries with pets” or “mysteries set in small towns.” Here’s an example of more keywords for mysteries. Look at the bestseller categories on Amazon for more ideas. https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201276790

Cover Design

Think about a scene or two that you’d like to see depicted on your cover. Also consider your series branding if your book isn’t a standalone. Colors, text, and placement should be consistent from book to book. So should the art style. Look for a cover artist who has a portfolio of books in your genre. Join the writing community to get recommendations.

Pricing

If you’re unsure what to charge, look at other books in your genre with similar page counts to see what the going rates are. What are readers in your genre willing to pay for a print book or a digital copy? 

Formatting

Formatting comes next. You can do it yourself, hire a professional, or use one of the third party aggregates, such as Draft2Digital, to do the conversions for you. What you’ll need will depend on where you plan to upload your book.

Distribution

Before we get into particulars on book distributors, decide where you want your book to be sold. Are you planning to sell it at Amazon alone, perhaps with their Kindle Select program so people can get your book through Kindle Unlimited? Then all you need is a mobi file. For BN, Kobo, and Apple, you’ll need an ePub file. For print, a pdf file is required.

Ebook Distributors

Amazon: https://kdp.amazon.com

Barnes & Noble Press: https://press.barnesandnoble.com/

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/p/writinglife

Apple Books: https://itunesconnect.apple.com

Google Play: Access through one of the Aggregators below

Third Party Aggregators

Draft2Digital, https://draft2digital.com

Smashwords: www.Smashwords.com

PublishDrive: https://publishdrive.com/

Print Options

Amazon KDP Print: https://kdp.amazon.com

IngramSpark: http://www.ingramspark.com/

Barnes & Noble Press: https://press.barnesandnoble.com/

Once you have all these pieces ready to go, you can start uploading to the various book distributors. 

Self-Publishing Made Simple, Part 5 - Book Production for the Indie Author #indiepublishing #amwriting https://wp.me/paLXP7-4q6
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Coming Next: Ebook Distributors  

Did you miss our earlier posts on Self-Publishing Made Simple Blog Series?

Go here to catch up:

Part 4 – Buying and Assigning ISBNs https://wp.me/paLXP7-4pO

Part 3 – Adding Front & Back Material https://wp.me/paLXP7-4pz

Part 2 – Manuscript Preparation for the Indie Author https://wp.me/paLXP7-4oX

Part 1 – Getting Started as an Indie Publisher https://wp.me/paLXP7-4oQ

CONTESTS

April 15-21 RONE Awards

Please VOTE for Body Wave Audiobook in the RONE Awards THIS WEEK ONLY! Sign in or Register at InD’Tale Magazine, https://www.indtale.com Be sure to click the email confirmation link if you are registering for the first time. Once logged in, go to RONES in upper right corner, hover over 2019 RONE Awards, and click on 2019 RONE Awards Week One that pops up. Scroll down to the Audiobook: Paranormal/Mystery Category and vote for my title, BODY WAVE. 

April 1 – 18 Booklovers Bench

Enter to win a free book from the Prize Vault at Booklovers Bench, including a copy of SHEAR MURDER, #10 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries. https://bookloversbench.com/win-a-free-book-april-2019/ #giveaway #cozymystery