SELF-PUBLISHING TIPS AND RESOURCES
We’ll start with Amazon’s free publishing companies since Amazon has the world’s largest share of online ebook and printed book sales. (Createspace has now been absorbed into Kindle Direct Publishing.) Check this blog to see just how large that share is: http://www.thewire.com/business/2014/05/amazon-has-basically-no-competition-among-online-booksellers/371917/
Kindle Direct Publishing: Paperbacks as well as ebooks for Kindle readers https://kdp.amazon.com/
For your book to be sold by Indigo, Kobo, Barnes & Noble or other online and brick and mortar bookstores, you need to choose other methods of publication.
Smashwords offers free ebook publication. Its catalogue reaches major distributors around the world, including Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Overdrive, Apple and Inktera. Smashwords supplies free ISBNs. You need a cover design. https://www.smashwords.com/
Ingram Spark offers both paperback and ebook publication for a fee. You need to provide your own ISBN and cover design. ISBNs are free in Canada at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/isbn-canada/Pages/isbn-canada.aspx Your book will be listed in the Ingram catalogue, which is a traditional source of book purchases for chain and independent bookstores. https://www.ingramspark.com/Portal.
CHECK ONLINE FOR COUPONS THAT WILL HELP YOU PUBLISH ON INGRAM SPARK FOR LESS OR FOR FREE.
One good resource for cover designs at a reasonable price is Fiverr “Fiverr is the world’s largest freelance services marketplace for lean entrepreneurs to focus on growth & create a successful business at affordable costs.”
What you need cover to cover:
Cover: Fiverr, CANVA, PowerPoint, InDesign
Front matter: title page, copyright page, dedication, promo page, table of contents
Interior: Joel Friedlander, free templates on Amazon
End matter: about the author, request for review, preview chapter of next book
The ISBN: Amazon offers free ISBNs. These are expensive to purchase in the US and in other countries, too. In Canada, they are free. Check out this article by Amy Collins to find out the advantages of having your own ISBN:
For great advice and resources on writing and self-publishing, check out the following:
Joanna Penn: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/publishing/ “Joanna Penn helps authors make a living writing through her bestselling books, courses and podcast.” She also offers a helpful, free, downloadable resource for self publishers.
Jane Friedman: https://janefriedman.com/self-publish-your-book/ “Jane Friedman has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in business strategy for authors and publishers.”
Joel Friedlander: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/ Joel sells ready-to-use templates for book interiors and cover designs. Keep checking the website as they are often on sale.
Kristen Joy: http://thebookninja.com/ Kristen inspired me to take writing non-fiction seriously.
D’vorah Lansky: http://shareyourbrilliance.com/ D’vorah inspired me to turn my non-fiction into an online course and to find ideas for more books.
CREATIVEWRITINGEDU.org:
Drop by https://www.creativewritingedu.org/ and find a comprehensive resource designed to help future creative writers by connecting prospective students to resources that will help them achieve their creative writing career goals. Lots to explore and learn.
Online Writers’ Toolkit from Maryville University https://online.maryville.edu/blog/the-writers-online-toolkit/.Apps can help make a writer’s current process more efficient. This resource contains some of the most commonly used writing strategies and tools, and a breakdown of their cost and function.
The Writers’ Knowledge Base: This is a fantastic search engine for writers. Here you’ll find over 40,000 blogs by experts in any writing topic you can imagine, including self-publishing. http://hiveword.com/wkb/search
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America – Writer Beware: This site offers links to great resources. and it also lists those publishers and agents whose purpose is to take advantage of authors hoping to publish their work. http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/pod/#Cautions
Other options for selling your books are Shopify and Etsy. Check these carefully to make sure that you understand any fees involved in opening your store or when you sell your product. Have a look at stores that are selling products similar to yours to learn the best ways to present your material. Research is key to making any self-publishing options successful.
If you are planning to set up an author website, here are two good links to explore: https://websitesetup.org/ and https://blog.reedsy.com/author-websites-tips/
Top Tips from Self-Published Authors: http://www.blurb.ca/blog/top-tips-self-published-authors “Blurb Stories is dedicated to exploring all facets of self-publishing, and from multiple perspectives. So this week we thought we’d offer some of our favorite advice on writing, publishing, and promoting, from some of the most respected self-published writers out there.
Elizabeth Spann Craig: Craig is a hybrid author, published traditionally as well as pursuing self-publishing. Her site has many thoughtful and helpful posts about being a hybrid author, as well as, about her ventures into audio books. http://elizabethspanncraig.com/blog/
Plottr This is a wonderful resource for writers of fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, you name it. And it’s a reasonable price, easy to use, and great for those plotters out there. https://getplottr.com/
Author and Coach, Emma Dhesi – Check out Emma’s page for writerly podcasts and articles plus her free tips for finding time to write. She’s a coach, too! https://emmadhesi.com/
MORE RESOURCES FOR WRITERS
- Hannah, a teen writer from Alabama, found this great link with just about everything a writer needs to know from publishing tips, to careers, to how to work with an editor, to resources for poets: https://couponfollow.com/research/money-saving-guide-authors-writers/
- If you’re thinking of writing for theatre or film, here’s a great starter article with a lot of helpful links. This link was suggested by Anna. https://www.theaterseatstore.com/blog/writing-for-theater-film
- This link was suggested by Aubree from Kellytown YA Writer. It has a lot of career and publishing information for aspiring authors: https://www.zenbusiness.com/in
fo/writing-careers/ - A fantastic resource for short story writers by Jerry Jenkins: “How to Write a Short Story That Captivates Your Reader”A must-read. https://www.jerryjenkins.com/how-to-write-short-stories/
- This link was suggested by a student from Kingston, ON. If you are going to meet with an agent or are asked “What are you writing”, you need an elevator pitch so you can give a concise and interesting description of your work. Here’s a link that offers other links to examples and how-tos: https://www.elevators.com/the-elevator-pitch-riding-to-success/
- This great grammar link, The 10 Most Common Grammatical Errors, was suggested by Mrs. Vickers’ class: https://www.scribendi.com/advice/most_common_grammatical_errors.en.html
- This link to a cover design company was suggested by a writer who found the service and quality of the final product excellent: https://99designs.ca/book-cover-design
- 6 Great Websites for Teen Writers by Iva-Marie Palmer at Brightly
- Plasma Dolphin – a new location accepting writing from teen authors
- Advice for Young Writers from author, Nathan Bransford
- 4 Steps for Organizing Plot Ideas into a Novel by Jody Hedlund
- Are Teenagers Too Young to Write Good Fiction? (The answer is ‘no’!)
- CreativeWritingPrompts.com Just hold your cursor over the number to find the writing prompt
- Dialogue: Make each character unique “Dialogue must to more than have people talking.”
- Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing
- Go Teen Writers An excellent resource for teen writers
- Great article by author Terry Odell: Resist the Urge to Explain
- Kids Are Writers “We help kids find their voice, one story at a time.”
- Magical Words – Writing Great Novel Beginnings Blog by Lucienne Diver, author of the Vamped series
- Monica Wood – Writing Tips
- National Novel Writing Month – Young Writers’ Program Get ready to write for the month of November. In the meantime, check out their amazing resources.
- Scribblitt: Make Your Own Book–Kid’s Self-Publishing
- Small World: Ultimate Guide to Creative Writing Resources for Students A great list of links for teen writers, teachers and homeschoolers
- Teen Girls that Write
- Teen Ink Written entirely by teens. A great resource for teen writers and artists.
- Teens can write, too (a list of authors published while in their teens) The site is an excellent resource for teen writers.
- The Brainstormer – a writing prompts generator that offers endless options
- Janice Hardy’s Fiction University – over 2500 articles on all aspects of writing.
- Who Speaks? Pointers about Attribution in Dialogue Fantastic article on writing great dialogue
- Writer Igniter – a fun writing generator that can be a bit addictive
- Writer’s Knowledge Base: The Search Engine for Writers If you have question about writing, you’ll find a blog here with your answers.
- Writers Write Source of great blog posts about writing