Indie Publishing for the Beginner

What is indie publishing?

Almost one million books are published annually in the U.S. At least half are indie published. Indie publishing means you take full responsibility for every aspect of your book.

WritingEditingSet up and formattingCover designMarketingEVERYTHING ELSE!

Pay for ServicesYou can pay to get these services done for you, but be prepared to shell out big bucks. Is it worth it? It depends on your skill level, especially when it comes to editing. There is nothing worse than having your book on the shelf and find out it is error ridden. I know. A good editor is critical.

Some of the services you pay for:• Cover design• Editing• Interior design• Marketing• Promotion

• Printing• Distribution• ISBN number• Author website• Sales Tracking

Pay for servicesSources:

Many companies like Xlibris, AuthorHouse, and Lulu provide the full gamut of services. The more you pay, the more services you get. If you want to sell your book consider whether it is worth a big investment. Cost at the highest end is around $15,000 (no kidding). You would need to sell lots of books to recover your cost, or charge $15,000 for the first book .

Why go with a self-publishing company?One Stop ShopPublisher takes care of everything except the writing based on the amount of money you are able/willing to invest.

Example of Packages

Reasons to Indie PublishMemoir or family historyFamily CookbookYou have a novel in youYou are an expert in something and you want to share that knowledge and get paid for it Use your book to draw attention to your website or blogCan be digital (Kindle, iPad, etc.)Can be trade paperback and digital

Reasons to think twiceCan be expensive

Publisher charges for every single thing they do for you, and then for every book you buy for resale.

Their primary interest is selling you services

Createspace Option• Affordable• Amazon Kindle exclusive• Book available quickly• Access to services readily available• You have absolute control of final product• Price for resale is more in line with market• Interior design more flexible• Updating file is easy

Dashboard• Easy to navigate• Options clearly defined• Help available• You decide book

pricing• Guides to help you market and sell you book.

Latest Publication25 Days of Christmas, An Advent JourneyBook of poetry in the acrostic style. The first line of each poem begins with a letter of the title word. A place to record your thoughts.Prophetic scripture about Jesus’ birth.Indie published.

How I did ItWrote the poems on my blog, and then formatted them into a MS Word documentDownloaded interior templates from createspace.comPasted MS Word documents into createspace templateSaved as PDF and uploaded to createspaceDesigned cover and created PDFUploaded to createspaceProof, revise, repeat.

Indie Publishing requires…

DedicationFlexibilityAbility to separate the creative side from the business sideMarketing savvyShameless drive to self-promote

Success Stories: Indie Authors

Influenced by Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” John Grisham, a Southern lawyer, wrote his first novel, “A Time To Kill” in 1989. After 28 rejections, he published 5,000 copies through a small private publisher, Wynwood Press. He was eventually published by Doubleday and after his successes with “The Firm,” “The Pelican Brief” and “The Client,” Doubleday acquired the rights and reissued “A Time To Kill.”

Success Stories:Indie Authors

Don’t do it because you want

to be famous or richDo it because you love to writeDo it because you have something you want to shareDo it because it is in your DNA to tell a storyTraditional publishers, like self publishing companies, are in it to make money. The difference is they don’t believe in your work. You do.

In SummaryIndie publishing is an optionBe ready to work at writing and everything else related to getting your book in the marketplaceYou can pay for everythingYou can DIY your projectYou an combine the twoYou can have a print-on-demand book, an e-book or both

In ClosingBuy 25 Days of Christmas, An Advent Journey

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