I stole this from Lexi Revellian who wrote her own fabulous post on this topic. 
Click the image to read her post.
I decided to write this after Penguin’s recent announcement that they were creating a self-publishing program under their manuscript critiquing service, Book Country. I’m not going to get into how bad this is for authors. Others have stated that far more eloquently than I can, so go read J.A. Konrath’s, David Gaughran’s, and Dean Wesley Smith’s posts on this matter.
Basically, what Book Country is offering is the following:
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Professional Print and eBook: $549
Let us do the work for you! When you choose the Professional option, Book Country formatters will transform your raw manuscript file (.doc, .docx, .rtf, or .txt files accepted) into polished print and ePub files. Choose from six different elegant interior styles designed specifically for genre fiction.
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What they do: Format the interior of your book for print and ebook formats, then upload to various distribution sites.
What they don’t do: Editing, and cover design.
What THEY get: $549, 30% of the book price when sold direct at Book Country, and ~51% of the book price when sold through a site like Amazon.
What YOU get: ~49% of the book price when sold through a site like Amazon. You’re also out $549.
What you COULD get if you self-publish on your own: Keep the $549, and earn 70% of the book price when sold through sites like Amazon.
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User-formatted Print and eBook: $299
Are you more the hands-on type? This option provides you with all the tools and services you need to format a professional-looking interior file. Your Publishing Kit includes a special Book Country interior template designed to work for both print and eBook, instructions for preparing your manuscript and front matter for production, a checklist to keep you on track, cover design tips and recommendations, and ideas for marketing your book after it has been published. This option requires Microsoft Word version 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, or 2010.
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What they do: Upload to various distribution sites.
What they don’t do: Format your book, editing, and cover design.
What THEY get: $299, 30% of the book price when sold direct at Book Country, ~51% of the book price when sold through a site like Amazon.
What YOU get: ~49% of the book price when sold through a site like Amazon. You’re also out $299.
What you COULD get if you self-publish on your own: Keep the $299, and earn 70% of the book price when sold through sites like Amazon.
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User-formatted eBook Only: $99
For this special introductory price, you’ll receive exactly the same tools and services as above, except you won’t be creating a print book. This option requires Microsoft Word version 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, or 2010.
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What they do: Upload to various ebook-only distribution sites.
What they don’t do: Formatting, editing, and cover design.
What THEY get: $99, 30% of the book price when sold direct at Book Country, and ~51% of the book price when sold through a site like Amazon.
What YOU get: ~49% of the book price when sold through a site like Amazon. You’re also out $99.
What you COULD get if you self-publish on your own: Keep the $99, and earn 70% of the book price when sold through sites like Amazon.
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At the end of the day, what Book Country is offering isn’t really that much different than what vanity publishers like AuthorHouse or iUniverse do.
So, with that said, I decided to write this little DIY guide to help save your money. This will give you some of the resources and abilities to do it yourself and you can keep your cash where it belongs – in your own pocket.
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Set Your Expectations
First, and foremost, it’s important to go into self-publishing with the correct attitude and to set realistic expectations.
Are you going to get rich doing this? Likely not.
Are you going to sell millions of copies? Doubt it.
Is a traditional publisher going to pick up your book after you self-publish? Probably not. And it’s not because of the reason you think. Publishers and agents don’t care if a book has been self-published before. Really. If the book sells well, is well-liked, and shows up on their radar, they may very well be interested. Publishers/agents want to make money, and if they think they can do it from a previously self-published book, they will. It’s just the odds on that happening are about the same as traditional publishing, so don’t go into self-publishing with the attitude that you’re going to blow everyone away with your brilliance.
Can you make a living doing this? That may be possible. With enough books that are well-edited, have a good cover, and are priced right, yes, you just might make enough to live off. Luck has a factor in that, but it’s possible.
Can you establish a fanbase? Absolutely. There are all kinds of readers out there, and if you find your niche, you can definitely establish a readership based on your work. And if they like your first book enough, they’ll want to read more.
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Get Educated
One of THE most important things to do in the self-publishing world is to get educated. Publishing is a business, and if you’re looking at self-publishing, you need to treat it as such. Here are some important resources you should go and read if you’re new to this:
Blogs/Sites to Follow:
Books to Read:
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Editing
Editing is critical. Readers will know when your book hasn’t been edited. And it will hurt you, your sales, and your reputation.
First thing – put your manuscript away.
For three weeks.
Don’t look at, don’t touch it, don’t think about it.
Go write something else, or go read.
Next, go get Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Browne & King. It’s a brilliant self-editing tool. After reading this thoroughly, print off your manuscript and get a red pen. (How your work reads on paper is very different than on the screen.)
Next, be ruthless. Go through this like a reader.
Then enter your corrections and repeat the process.
After you’ve done this, you should see that things have gotten better.
Now, you need someone else to read this.
You should never go out with the book with only your own eyes reviewing it. Either get yourself a good group of writer friends that act as beta readers that can catch your errors, or, instead of putting your money in Penguin’s hands, put some of that towards editing. The Kindleboards Yellow Pages has a list of editing services offered by a number of reputable, independent editors.
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Formatting
eBook – Before you upload your book to sites like Amazon, B&N, Kobo, etc you should ensure that it is well laid out. Formatting your book is simpler than you think. It does take some time to learn, but it’s completely worth it.
To begin, go check out Guido Henkel’s Formatting series – Guido is a brilliant author and former typesetter. He knows his stuff. He also offers inexpensive, top-quality ebook formatting services himself. Other ebook formatting services can also be found at the Kindleboards Yellow Pages.
Print – I personally use Createspace for the distribution of my print books. They distribute to Amazon, B&N, etc. Your book won’t be on store shelves, but it can be listed through their web sites. Although print doesn’t sell that much in comparison to ebooks, it may be worth it to have a print book available. One of the most useful print formatting resources I’ve read is Edward C. Patterson’s ebook, Are You Still Submitting Your Work to a Traditional Publisher?. For 99 cents, it’s totally worth it. You’ll learn everything you need to set your book up for Createspace.
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Covers
I know that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but if the cover doesn’t grab me right away, I keep on looking. There are two ways to design a cover – either do it yourself, or pay someone. Neither option has to break the bank. If you do it yourself, you can use tools like Gimp and a good stock photo. I wouldn’t recommend going down this road unless you really know what you’re doing, but if you want to try it, here are some tools to help you:
- Gimp – think of this as free Photoshop
- Stock Photo Sites:
If you feel that you need to have someone else design your cover for you, the Kindleboards Yellow Pages can help once more.
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Distribution
There are all kinds of sites to sell your ebooks through. Here are the ones I use.
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Promotion
The first rule of promotion is don’t. If I tell you to promote, you’re going to go to every forum you can find and start shouting about your book and annoy the poop out of readers. Big mistake. Instead of “promoting”, go participate like a reader and you’ll be surprised what will happen. Here are some tools to help:
- Goodreads – you can set up an account on Goodreads and request to have an Author account where you can list your books. Again, participation and NOT promotion is the key to Goodreads.
- Librarything – what applies at Goodreads applies at Librarything.
- Shelfari – ditto for Shelfari
- Ads – You can post ads on Facebook and Google, but for the most part most people don’t find the money spent on these worthwhile.
- Cross-pollination – A great way to get more exposure is to exchange blurbs or first chapters with other authors that write in a similar genre as you. Put your first chapter/blurb and cover image at the back of their book and vice versa. Their readers may become your readers!
After all of this, you can be well on your way to publishing success. How you define that success, of course, is up to you. But at least, if you go through this process, you’ll be making more money in the long run than if you take Book Country up on any of their packages.
Good luck and enjoy the journey!!
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