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Self-Publishing 4

08 Oct

Do it yourself self-publishing can be a scary thought, but if you can write a book and get it ready to publish, then you do have enough skills to get that book out there. I took the plunge and so can you.

What made me change my attitude from scary to possible? Sure, I talked to others who had done it, but I was still hesitant, until I came across a book by Lucinda Moebius called Write Well Publish Right. First of all, I was interested in reading a book about writing from a high school and college teacher. Her book is what she teaches her students from beginning to the end at publishing. Mainly, I thought maybe I could implement some of her concepts into ideas for teaching language to small groups. Moreover, what I really took away from this book is that it is possible for me to self-publish a book.

Lucinda states that it is easy with the use of the formatting guides available through ePublishing platforms. She hired a formatter for the Kindle version of her science fiction books, but formatted the Smashwords version on her own. Also, she had help with her cover, hired an editor, and went through Amazon CreateSpace as her printer. Many times she states that it is up to you to do your own research and do what is best for you.

Yes, she inspired me, so I went to createspace.com and got started. There an author can put in the title and paste in your manuscript and cover. Remember you have to have an ISBN number for your e-book, another one for your print book and CreateSpace can provide them for you. I did have to hire help with the e-book, my son did the front cover work, then I hired Fiverr for the spine and back cover for which I paid a little extra. Instead of five dollars with Fiverr, it was ten dollars and I’m very happy with their work.

I learned that the CreateSpace process for me was somewhere between adding art and print to a Vistaprint writing advertisement to doing my own taxes (on an easier year).

Yesterday, I went to hear multi-published author, Joanne Pence, give a talk about self-publishing at my local writers group in the Boise area. After already using CreateSpace, I learned the following information:

For those of you that want to add a publishing name to their self-pubbed books, Joanne says that you can go through SBA.GOV for your assumed business name. Registering a name will cost you $25.00. For my writing business name of Melland Publishing, LLC, I went through the Secretary of Idaho and paid $100.

Joanne also says that off-white or cream is the paper color of most fiction books. The 6 x 9 inch book size is becoming the industry standard and costs less than a book sized 5 ½ x 8 1/2 inches. You can buy a cheaper, older version of Adobe Photoshop on eBay for making your own covers.

Finally, Joanne adds that, especially for multi-published authors, the value of going to kdp.amazon.com and using them exclusively to sell your e-book for your first 90 days can give you five free days on Amazon. It’s a way to get your name out there in hopes of readers choosing to buy and read your other books. After 90 days you can renew with them, or you can put your book into an .epub format and download it to other bookselling sites.

Yet, as Lucinda says, you need to do your own study and then decide what is best for you.

http://www.maryvine.com

 

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13 responses to “Self-Publishing 4

  1. Janis McCurry

    October 8, 2013 at 7:17 AM

    Mary, this blog series on self-publishing has been very relevant to our changing business. I’ll put them all together in on doc and keep it handy. Thanks.

     
    • maryvine

      October 8, 2013 at 6:11 PM

      Ooohhh, thanks Janis!

       
  2. Judith Keim

    October 8, 2013 at 12:06 PM

    Thank, Mary, for your very complete information. I’m copying it and filing it away for the time when I decide to pub some of my old novels…

     
    • maryvine

      October 8, 2013 at 6:16 PM

      Well, get at it, Judith. Time is wasting away 🙂

       
  3. Jennifer

    October 8, 2013 at 1:35 PM

    Very interesting Mary. Thanks for sharing what you’ve learned on this subject to help make it easier for the rest of us.

     
    • maryvine

      October 8, 2013 at 6:16 PM

      Jennifer-Well there is so much to learn, I thought I should write about it and may even have to look back at it myself. Thanks.

       
  4. Leti Del Mar

    October 8, 2013 at 4:31 PM

    I find that every Indie has their own journey. It can be scary,but it can be done. I’ve self-published and have never once regretted it and love the process so much I wrote (and self-published) a book on how to do it.
    http://www.amazon.com/How-To-Self-Publish-Do-It-Yourself-ebook/dp/B00EP1O5BA

     
  5. Leti Del Mar

    October 8, 2013 at 4:31 PM

    Whoops… I didn’t realize leaving a link would create a big huge image. Sorry about that.

     
    • maryvine

      October 8, 2013 at 6:14 PM

      I don’t see the image, so I guess you are okay.

       
  6. stephanieberget

    October 8, 2013 at 6:37 PM

    Thanks, Mary. This is so interesting. I’ll keep all of your posts for my someday.

     
  7. Lynn Mapp

    October 8, 2013 at 7:14 PM

    Mary, you came to the meeting with prior knowledge. I was enthralled. The business has changed so much, but I see self-publishing as…something good.

     
  8. patyjag

    October 10, 2013 at 8:45 AM

    It’s fun following your plunge into the new world of self-publishing. Congrats!

     
  9. Peggy Staggs

    October 11, 2013 at 11:26 AM

    The whole issue of self-publishing is intriguing. Thank you for all the great information.

     

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