How To Self-Publish - A SlideShare Presentation - PART ONE
“Everyone has a book inside of them - but it doesn't do any good until you pry it out.” - Jodi Picoult
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The following contains portions of material that were originally uploaded to SlideShare as part of a Writing Course Presentation given at a local area Community College as part of a Continuing Education program on How To Self-Publish, given by yours truly on 9/8/15 and developed by to encourage others to write their own book.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronically, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission from me.
All rights reserved.
My Mission is To Help You Achieve Your Dream of being a Self-Published Author!
The thing is, I can’t write it for you, well I could if you paid me…, but really if you haven’t written a book yet, then there is no point in trying to publish it.
So go write!
Or stick around and see what to do once you get ready to push “print” in the future.
Before We Contiune, Think About WHY You Want To Self-Publish?
Getting a better understading of why you plan on doing what you plan on doing helps to set a direction to your efforts and prevents frustration and future heartache.
Of course you probably want to make money, and that’s okay, but just realize, there are not several millionaire authors running around.
Most likely, especially if it is your first book, you might not even make a dime.
You may not even be able to give your book away for free and actually get someone to read it!
Here I have some things I want to point out to look for/ look out for!
When I decided to Self-Publish here are a few of the things I was looking for:
Print-One-Demand (POD) - This service allows you to create your book without committing to buying some ridiculous amounts of copies in advance.
In the past authors who wanted to self-publish were coerced into pre-purchasing their own book to cover the printing costs.
The publisher didn’t want to spend money on books that wouldn’t sell, so they sold them to the author and then it was up to the author to sell them off.
Leaving the writer in a hole that some never may get out of.
Instead, with Print-On-Demand, you don’t have to even buy a single copy.
They only print a paper version of your book when and if someone orders it.
Saving both parties time and money!
Please note, even if your book should be a best seller, there is a good chance your book might not even sell.
Also, I’ve read that creating a specific “niche” book does best.
Look out for:
People who want to charge you fees for uploading things like a cover or interior, there are places you can do it yourself for free
Don’t confuse self-publishing services as marketing services, there a predatory vanity publishing agencies who will take your money and don’t care if your book sells
Also know this, just because you self-publish and put your book out, it ain’t gonna sell itself!
So what should you do?
The websites I came across were lightningsource.com, lulu.com and createspace.com.
I went with createspace.com, and use it during this presentation, because:
It’s FREE
It’s from amazon.com and so it is easier to list your books on amazon when your done
It was recomended by James Altucher who has been an inspiration to me
From my book Conspire To Inspire:
“James brings a unique style to writing with his relatable yet fresh voice. I became inspired. I came to respect James for his open and honest presentation. He tells stories that were embarrassing to himself. He tells things in a matter of fact sort of way that does not make excuses or hide shortcomings. He writes about being gentle and kind. Not only to others but to yourself. I think these things are important and admirable. I think these things are imitable.
And need to spread.
James has an interesting background. “James Altucher is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and podcaster. He has founded or cofounded over 20 companies, including Reset Inc. and StockPickr and claims to have failed at 17 of them. He has published 11 books, and is a frequent contributor to publications including The Financial Times, TheStreet.com, TechCrunch, Seeking Alpha, Thought Catalog, and The Huffington Post. USA Today named his book "Choose Yourself" among the 12 Best Business Books of All Time.” Source
I’d like to continue, but our time here today is coming to a close and the length is growing much too long.
I will post a 2nd (and maybe 3rd) part soon to finish up this presentation.
If you don’t want to wait, check out the SlideShare or let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them based off my own Self-Publishing experience!
Thanks,
@strangerarray
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Hey, before you go, I have a question for you, Are you interested in taking out a loan to consolidate debt?
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It can be a Personal Loan or a loan to consolidate Student Loans.
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Hey man, great stuff. I literally just published my e-book on my website last night. I also have a kindle format, just need to load it up.
I still need to do print on demand. Gonna check out createspace to make some headway on that. Thanks for the info!
The other reason you should do a paperback is for the SEO benefits. Having a Kindle and Paperback helps in the Amazon search engines. Also it is really cool to hand readers a physical copy of your book. And one last thing is that you can probably make more money per paperback sold than a Kindle version. At least I do anyway.
Agreed Sir! Yes, the paperback has a way better margin just due to the price point. Kindle book price points are so low unless you are mainstream known.
Glad to be of assistance!
Let me know if there is anything I can help you with!
Thanks for the tips! I will have them in account :)
Great, I love to see people peruse their dreams!
Do you think there is still a strong market for print-on-demand books?
I'd imagine consumers being fearful to invest more money into a potentially untested or unknown self-published author.
Perhaps, but when you order a book online, unless you are looking closely there is no "warning flag" that it is a self-published book.
It is listed on Amazon like all the other products and the only way it might seem self-publish-y is if you do a sloppy job in your creation of it.
People love reading and are always looking for more content.
If you have something valuable to say, then yes.
Or something interesting (i.e. fiction).
The internet and democratization of information has opened up people to seeing what others just like them have to say and write rather than turning to "fake" news, pundits, or "authorities".
They also allow you to upload your book as a kindle file so it doesn't have to be strictly POD.
Also, even if you post online, there is a segment of people who just don't read blogs or steemit and may want to see what you write in print!
When you purchase a createspace book on Amazon customers won't know it's a POD book. Plus you're not investing more money into creating a POD. If you have a Kindle version, you can do a paperback version for free. About 40% of my income as a writer comes from my POD books.