Self Publishing is the Best Idea You’ve Ever Had

You’ve come up with an incredible idea for a book. You’ve dedicated countless hours, tons of energy, and a tremendous amount of effort to develop the plot, storyline, characters, climax, and conclusion. You’ve painstakingly edited and revised your drafts, and finally, you have an impeccable manuscript and a story that you can’t wait to share with the world. In order to do that, of course, that means publishing your book. 

When it comes to publishing, you have two options: you can go the traditional route and try your luck with a publishing house, or you can do it yourself and self-publish your book. The latter option is becoming increasingly popular in recent years, as it yields more creative and pricing control, offers more financial rewards, enables you to have 100% of ownership of rights, and allows you to forego the many stresses and difficulties that are associated with traditional publishing, which has sadly become highly politicized, and has turned many publishing houses into gatekeepers of truth and creativity (we’re truly living in crazy upside-down times). In other words, with self-publishing, publishing your book yourself is a lot less stressful and guarantees you’ll be able to get your book out to the public.

With all that said, if you’ve decided that self-publishing is the way you want to go. Now there’s just one big question: How do you do it? Keep on reading for some handy tips. 

Explore your options

There are a few different ways to self-publish a book, so the first thing you’re going to want to do is explore your options to determine which method will work the best for you. Options include: 

  • Hire a service company. This entails employing a service company, which will essentially act as your publisher. You won’t have to deal with figuring out the elements of publishing. Do note, you’ll have to shell out some cash, the amount of which will vary and depends on which company you use; however, if you don’t want to make the process as easy as possible, it may be worth your while. Girl Friday Productions and Scribe Media are two reputable companies to consider.
  • Work with a hybrid company. Also known as “assisted publishing”, with this option, a company will assist you with the self-publishing process. In other words, they’ll help you with some of the steps the process entails. 
  • DIY publishing. With this option (obviously), you’ll take on all of the elements that publishing involves. There are several services available that you can use to self-publish both print and ebooks, including Draft2Digital, Amazon KDP, and IngramSpark. 

Self-Publish a print and an ebook

Of the three above-mentioned options, the third – DIY publishing – is ideal. It’s the easiest and most affordable; plus, you can easily publish both a print and an ebook. 

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing is one of the easiest platforms for self-publishing authors. You simply upload your book and list it on the platform for free. Once it’s uploaded, readers can then either opt to purchase the ebook on their Kindle or they can get a printed version. 

Print on demand (POD) is another option that allows authors to upload files of their books to a printing service. The service will then generate copies of the book as they’re purchased. While the cost per book is a bit higher than having a traditional publisher print it, there are fewer risks, which make it a better option. IngramSpark, as well as Kindle Direct Publishing (discussed above) are two of the largest and most popular POD service providers. 

Market, Market, Market

Once your book is published –whether digitally or as a hard-copy – you’ll need to market it. Come up with eye-catching catch-phrases and taglines, create compelling copy, and offer snippets of the juiciest, most captivating sections of your book to hook your audience and make them want to read more. Use social media, market on Amazon, try email marketing, and maybe enlist the help of your friends and family to spread the word. 

 

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