Self-Publishing 101 · Shout hurrah and wait 3-7 days for your book to go live. • Write the next book while learning how to market your work. Self-Publishing 101, Anna Castle Pflugerville

Self-Publishing 101

Part 1: Overview & setting goals

Anna Castle

A four-part series

• Part 1: Overview of the process and a discussion of goals.

• Part 2: Editing: Creating your best book.

• Part 3: Formatting and distribution.

• Part 4: Marketing: Finding your audience.

Self-Publishing 101, Anna Castle Pflugerville Library, Spring, 2018 [email protected]

Definitions• Self-publishers: Authors who produce and publish a book at their own expense.• Indie authors: Authors who self-publish more than one book, hiring their own team of

editors, proofreaders, formatters, and cover designers. They pay these providers when services are rendered, not by sharing future sales receipts with them.

• Vanity press: a disparaging term that should be abandoned.• Author services / book publishing company: Produces and publishes books for a set fee,

typically $3K+. They may do some marketing for more $$. The author pays for these services up front. BEWARE OF SCAMMERS. Always get references and check at Writer Beware, http://accrispin.blogspot.com/ .

• Traditional publisher: Produces and publishes books by many authors. Authors pay nothing up front; the publisher recovers costs from sales receipts. They pay the author a royalty; ~10-15% for hardback, 6-8% trade paperback, and 25% for ebooks (before deducting the agent’s 15%.)


http://accrispin.blogspot.com/


Write a book

Get feedback, revise, repeat.

Format your book

Publish!

EPUB Print MOBI

Amazon

B&NKobo

iBooks

Everywhere!

Smashwords

Get a good book cover

Publishing overview• Don’t publish too soon! Get feedback, revise content, and proofread.

• Covers sell your book! Educate your eye and get a good one.

• Decide on formats and produce them: ebooks and/or print?

• Decide where to sell your books and which distributors to use.

• Upload, fill in the metadata, proof-fix-proof, and set a price.

• Click Publish! Shout hurrah and wait 3-7 days for your book to go live.

• Write the next book while learning how to market your work.


Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

• KDP: a tool for distributing books through Amazon’s global network of online retail outlets. This is not one of Amazon’s trad-pub imprints.

• They call your sales receipts royalties, but that’s a misnomer. They’re receipts. Amazon takes a cut, like any retailer - typically 30%.

• Amazon is NOT your publisher. They’re a a distributor; a retail outlet. YOUare the publisher.

• Their ebook format is called mobi. Read them on Kindles or other devices.


Other distributors for ebooks

• All ebook retailers take a cut of each sale, typically 25-30%.• Retailers: B&N, Kobo, iBooks, Scribd, Smashwords, lots of smaller outlets.

Also library outlets like Hoopla and Overdrive.• Everyone but Amazon uses the EPUB format.• Distributors take a cut (~10%) to distribute your book to many retailers.• Draft2Digital, Smashwords, & PublishDrive are all distributors.• More about distribution in Part 3.


Amazon-exclusive vs wide distribution

• Kindle Unlimited: Amazon’s subscription library. For $9.99/month, you get free downloads of thousands of books.

• Authors are paid for each page read, through a complex formula that changes often. Still, many authors earn a living through KU alone.

• Downside? Amazon could change its rules at any moment or go under. Also, many readers want to buy books elsewhere.

• Decision? Beginners should start with Amazon for simplicity. Give it a year or two, publish 2-3 books, then decide based on your tastes and your genres.


Stop right here!

• Have you ever read an ebook on a Kindle or another device?

• If not, why not?

• Get yourself an e-reader or an app for your phone, go to Amazon, and buy some ebooks. Spend some time browsing, reading book descriptions & reviews, looking at covers. You gotta know the territory!

• Buy books by indie authors, read them, and post reviews.

• Sign up for a book promotion newsletter like BookBub, Fussy Librarian, RomanceReads, BargainBooksy, etc. Load up your e-reader for pennies.


Define your goal

• Lots of reasons to write & publish books!• Here’s a few: Make a living in your pajamas; gain respect for your work;

share your stories or experiences; promote your expertise…• Is writing a hobby? A career? A one-shot expression?• Give this quality time, because your goal determines your plan.• Read this: http://blog.janicehardy.com/2014/12/three-questions-to-ask-

yourself-before.html


http://blog.janicehardy.com/2014/12/three-questions-to-ask-yourself-before.html

Goal 1: The bucket list

• Motivation: • You have one story burning a hole in your brain,

• Or you have life experience, expertise, or a family history to share,

• Or you want to give this book-writing thing a whirl purely for the fun of it.

• Strategy:• Write whatever you want -- but still polish it! Don’t spend much and price it low.

• Distribute through Amazon only, because it’s simplest.

• Let friends & family, colleagues, fellow travelers know, but otherwise don’t market.


Goal 2: the hobby writer

• Motivation: you love telling stories and want to share them, but don’t care (much) about money, reviews, or public acclaim.

• Strategy:• Write what you want, publish when you feel like it.

• Free editing (critique groups), budget covers (but not cheesy!)

• Price like other books in your genre or a little lower.

• A little light marketing; mainly just let your writing groups & friends know.


Goal 3: support your real job

• Motivation:• You have skills and expertise, like psychology, bass-fishing, or playing the guitar.

• You write books to extend your professional reach & add a revenue stream.

• Strategy:• Publish high quality books in ebook & paper formats, one or more a year. Keep your

content up-to-date!

• Market mainly to your natural client-base, both online and in person at events.

• Support your books with a blog and do guest-posts as widely as possible.


Goal 4: Make a living writing fiction

• Motivation: You are obviously a crazy person, but what can we do?• Strategy:

• Choose a selling genre (next screen) and stick to it!• Learn to write briskly – cut out the agonizing and the screwing around.• Produce books at a regular rate, preferably 4-6 per year. Write 4 before you start.• Hire pros for editing and cover design and spend time working on your brand.• Learn how to market & do some every day. Be prepared to spend money.• Keep your ear to the wind and your nose to the grindstone! Hook into groups like SPF

Community on Facebook and the Indie Author Society.


Choose a selling genre - genres favored by whale readers: contemporary romance, space opera, thrillers…

What you like to read

What sells a lot of books

What you like to write


Goal 5: custom career design

• Motivation: You want to write what you want and you don’t need to make a living, but you still take your writing career seriously.

• Strategy:• Acquire an alternate source of income – although you can make enough to support your

writing habit.

• Follow your muse in terms of what you write and when you publish.

• Act like a pro: hire editors & cover designers to produce beautiful books.

• Market like you mean it, but less than Goal 4 people. Your financial goal might be just to break even – let the writing pay for itself and maybe a nice trip.


Resources – the World Wide Web

• If you want to publish your work through online retailers and market your work online, you MUST learn how to use the Internet.

• Know how to look stuff up and separate wheat from chaff.• Know how to fill out forms online.• Know how to use PayPal – covers, editors, marketing services, etc.• Know how to participate in online forums – Yahoo, Facebook, etc.

• ALWAYS BE POLITE!!! Wear your company manners when you go online.


Resources - people

• Find your tribe! Join some writers’ groups for support, news, and in-depth information. Make new friends who share your interests and dreams.

• General: Indie Author Society, Alliance of Independent Authors, Writers League of Texas , KindleBoards

• Genre groups: Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction Writers Association, Historical Novel Society, Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators…


http://indieauthorsociety.com/

http://allianceindependentauthors.org/

http://www.writersleague.org/89/Organizations-for-Writers

https://www.kboards.com/

http://www.sistersincrime.org/

https://www.rwa.org/

http://www.sfwa.org/

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/

https://www.scbwi.org/

Last words

• My goal is not to discourage you with this information deluge; au contraire! My goal is to encourage you to take yourself seriously as an independent author.

• Hugh Howey, indie pioneer, is one of the good guys. Read this:

• http://www.hughhowey.com/my-advice-to-aspiring-authors/


http://www.hughhowey.com/my-advice-to-aspiring-authors/

Documents

Self-Publishing 101 · Shout hurrah and wait 3-7 days for your book to go live. • Write the next book while learning how to market your work. Self-Publishing 101, Anna Castle Pflugerville