Blog

Self Publishing Inquiry

Maggie

Bookshelf with books

I know many of you have self-published books and shared that experience on your blog. I am dipping my toes into the water and would appreciate re-reading what your experience has been.

I do not expect anyone to tutor me, but if you would leave links to any blog posts you wrote about your experience, I would appreciate it more than I can say.

Thank you in advance!

58 thoughts on “Self Publishing Inquiry”

  4. I am glad we went down the Amazon self publishing route, especially when we could create paperbacks as well as ebooks on Kindle. My first book was published in 2012, my latest ( hopefully not last ) in 2019. My late husband used to help with the technical side so my next aim is to have a go by myself. I haven’t a new novel ready, but do have plenty of short stories for another collection. The mechanics of working with KDP changed slightly each time so I am going to approach it as a beginner. The process is laid out step by step. I don’t sell lots of books, but it’s unlikely I would have found a publisher otherwise! I have sold books on several continents. It is worth having a go.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I appreciate hearing how others tackled self-publishing. Right now it feels overwhelming to me.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. And when we talked with Mark Petruska about his publication of No Time for Kings he had a self-publishing company that he loved. I asked him for the details again and he said,

        “I used Booklocker to self-publish and couldn’t be happier with them. They are very author-focused and also less expensive than most of the other publishing companies out there. Here’s the link, though I’m sure you would have figured it out. https://booklocker.com/“

        Liked by 1 person

  8. I wish you well if you decide to self-publish. I’ve known people who’ve done that with varying degrees of success. Are you ready to promote your book once it’s finished? That seems to be stumbling block, from what I’ve heard.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. That’s how I started blogging with WordPress, then the blogging took on a life of its own. It is very hard promoting your books and of course you are competing with so many other hopeful authors.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Yes, I remember walking into Barnes and Nobel yesterday and thinking to myself – look at all these books that represent SO MANY authors!

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Oh, I remember that discussion on Wynne and Vicki’s podcast and I have watched that journey unfold with several other bloggers here. I know that is a huge effort and one I must be prepared for!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I hope it helps. I have been wanting to get some technical writing samples together for potential job opportunities that come my way. So, do let me know if you use this and have questions anywhere that I can clear up and explain better.

        Like

  10. While you can pay a self-publishing company to produce your book for you, this is (almost always) very expensive, and you can publish (with little or no cost) using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, KDP, which allows you to publish an ebook, a paperback or a hardback free of charge. Most of my books are available in both Kindle and paperback and I would recommend producing both versions, as some people prefer ebooks while others like paper ones. One of the few expenses I do have is paying someone to proof read my manuscript. You don’t need to do this, but I am not the world’s best formatter of books and I think the money is well spent as it avoids readers complaining that an author’s books are full of typos or other errors. A good site to check out (to avoid being scammed) is Writer Beware. I hope this helps. Good luck. Kevin

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you, Kevin. I appreciate the insight. I have bookmarked Writer Beware and will refer to it frequently. I appreciate the advice about hiring a proofreader. I can see how that would be helpful.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Maggie, I received this by email from Gavin in New Zealand. I have coopied it as he sent it.

    I have self published several blooks & run courses on such, particularly an autobiography which is different & often someones first foray.
    PLANNING
    A time line of years & months to ensure accuracy of events.
    Lay your Chapter titles out first.
    FRONT PIECE
    Just copy what you see in other books.
    COPYRIGHT
    If you not sure what you say is original or you can’t find a quote, say you have endeavoured to find.
    WRITING
    I do all my writing straight into an ordinary Microsoft Word document (so MS Office or 360 is needed). This gives you a spell checker & allows you to standardise all punctuation.
    TEMPLATE
    Chapters always start on the right. MS Word will do your numbers & margins. A5 size is easiest to read & cheaper to print.
    PAGE LAYOUTS
    People today like pics in line with text but this needs clever adjusting. People are happy with B&W pics. Its cheaper. make sure you greyscale them as you clip them into your doc.
    PROOFING
    Many will read your book to check your grammar, punctuation & font choice – not what you write. My use of ampersands infuriates many as does using dashes. Make sure your proof reader does not “read” your book for the story but checks the writing.
    PRINT
    Convert your Word doc to a PDF & email to a print shop – check out your local university.
    ISBN number if you wish to do so is easy & free in most countries.
    DISTRIBUTION
    Few books can be sold, so you can sell privately but either way there will be many complimentaries for sure.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. I have read more than I’ve written, Maggie, but if you have any questions, feel free to send me an email. I have shared my experience with a few people directly, and I’d be happy to help if I can.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. You might want to check Draft2Digital (https://draft2digital.com/), as they have a lot of advice, and distribute to not only Amazon but many other sellers as well. The advantage is that they don’t have complicated formatting or rules before you can publish, and they are usually good at replying to any questions. I am sure they will be included is some of the advice you’ve received already. There are also plenty of writers who have published books about it, but it is difficult to keep them up-to-date, as things keep changing. Best of luck, Maggie.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.