How to Self-Publish a Book, The N.E.W. Way (Part 2)

So… you want to self-publish a book, eh?

You might want to start with Part 1 of this blog post series. Or, you know, go get a degree in English or something. Really, learning from me will just teach you how not to do it. Or how to do it badly.

Regardless, here’s the continuation of how I managed to self-publish three books.

Step 4 — Interior Design

This is the fun bit! At least, I find the subtle design options one has for the interior of a book to be mesmerizing. I can spend hours contemplating the benefits of one font versus another.

(Oh, there’s a distinct different between fonts and typefaces, but I use the terms interchangeably. I know, you can kill me later.)

But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. The first thing you need to decide about the interior of your book is the format (or formats) of your book.

Will you self-publish in ebook (digital) format? This is the most modern and convenient format in today’s market. I’ve done away with most physical books. I save my miniscule real-life bookshelf space for reference books or truly amazing books (most of these are non-fiction). I almost exclusively only read on my Kindle. That means ebooks only for me!

Even so, there are still a lot of folks who like a paperback. What about a hardback?

And have you ever considered a large-print paperback for the visually impaired?

My brother has a hard time with small type. So… I offer a large-print paperback.

All those formats mean you may have different template requirements for each with subtle differences to optimism how the text is delivered, whether that’s on an ereader, 6″ x 9″ sized paper, or something else.

There are hundreds of Microsoft Word templates out there you can use. Search the web but use caution for hidden viruses. There’s also the possibility that the distribution site you choose (see Step 5 below) may offer book templates you can start with in a file format you can easily use (usually Microsoft Word).

But I find Microsoft Word tedious and finicky. So, I use Atticus.

What is Atticus?

It’s a pared down book formatting software that allows you to apply formatting styles to an entire manuscript. You enter in your barebones text with key headers, section, and page breaks, then it does the rest. I got it primarily so that I could use custom chapter images and section breaks, but I found it particularly useful in formatting for large print, making it easy to choose between trim sizes.

Give it a try. It may work for you.

Another popular choice is Vellum, but it’s a bit more expensive and I think it is Macintosh exclusive.

Step 5 — Choose a distribution site

Knowing the formats you want to use for your book often leads you to where you may want to self-publish said book in all the formats you have chosen above in Step 4. Or vice versa. You may choose your distribute site first and that will dictate what book formats you’ll publish. Either way, these two steps often go hand in hand.

Additional note: most book distribution sites publish most, if not all, book formats.

However, keep in mind you don’t have to go with just one distribution site. You can opt to self-publish in as many places as you like. But that means you have to keep track of all those accounts and ISBNs!

What’s an ISBN (International Standard Book Number), you ask? Read on!

In this section, I’ll explain Amazon.com the most thoroughly (because I know this best) and mention two other popular sites (Draft2Digital and IngramSpark). However, I’m sure there are other book distribution sites I am unaware of. Please leave a comment if you have a favorite you’d like to share.

Amazon.com

Oof – everyone loves Amazon and hates it, too. We love to hate it and hate to love it. They are the huge elephant in the room we all have to feed and step around.

The huge advantage to using Amazon.com to distribute your book is the very fact that the vast majority of books (in all formats) are sold through Amazon. In 2023, Amazon’s book revenues totaled somewhere around $470 billion (yes, with a ‘b’), while Barnes & Nobles (the second largest book retailer) was only around $4 billion. The difference is staggering.

Since most folks go to Amazon to buy their books, well, don’t you think that’s where you should try to sell your books?

Okay, I convinced you to sleep with the devil. How to do it?

Well… that involves a set of sub-steps, that require a lot of attention to detail. I won’t go through them here, but feel free to comment below with any specific questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. I suggest reviewing these pages on the Kindle Publishing Guidelines. It’ll help clear up a the mystery of self-publishing.

Hint: it’s a lot of work. Be prepared to learn the hoops.

The same goes for Draft2Digital and IngramSpark. They each have their own requirements that you’ll have to master to ensure your book gets the best change of reaching your readers.

But to touch on ISBNs, they are the unique identifier assigned to each and every book regardless of format. So, your paperback gets an ISBN. Your large-print paperback of the exact same book gets a different ISBN. Your hardback, again, of that same book, gets yet another unique ISBN. Even ebooks get identification numbers but they don’t need to be ISBNs (ASINs are used for any ebook on Amazon).

And here’s the clincher – ISBNs cost money. You can buy them here (get them in bulk!). Ooooorrr, if you publish through Amazon, they’ll give all your book formats a free ISBN. (Kind of makes it hard not to go with Amazon, huh?)

By the way, Atticus provides guidelines for formatting your manuscript for both Amazon and IngramSpark.

Now, after you’ve spent hours learning how to format your book and diligently learned all the things needed to actually publish on your chosen book distribution site (i.e., genre, keywords, logline, the blurb, cost, specifications unique to that distribution site, etc.), now what?

Well, again, this blog post has gone on too long. Next, I’ll get to your book’s cover (exciting!) and marketing (not so exciting!).

Until then, write as if the world is on fire. (Kind of feels that way, huh?)