Self-Publishing: Publishing Your Own E-Book or Paperback Book

Jan 30, 2011
Tamara Laschinsky

Self-publishing offers writers the ability to publish their own e-book or paperback book - Photo by: Sanya V. Litvyak with permission Wikipedia Commons

Write a good book lately and wondering how to publish it as an e-book or a paperback book? Self-publishing is easy and often a free way to publish your book

E-books are quite popular right now and it seems like everyone is publishing something nowadays. If you have written a book, or are thinking about writing a book, understand that there are many self-publishing options available to you. You can publish your book as an e-book and also use print-on-demand services to publish paperback and even hard-copy versions of your book.

Finding a Good Self-Publishing Company for Your E-book or Paperback Book

The first step will be in evaluating different companies that offer self-publishing services. Compare the different options out there and see which one is a good fit for you. Remember, it doesn't need to cost you lots of money to publish your book, so evaluate your options carefully. Some companies out there will take advantage of your ignorance on the subject, and will offer packages that are very costly. They will charge for simple things like creating a Facebook or Twitter account; something you can easily do yourself.

Two of the more popular self-publishing companies that offer print-on-demand services, are CreateSpace and Lulu. Like other companies, they offer the following services:

Ability to upload your book and create a paperback copy
Print-on-demand services: Will only print what is needed by customers, retailers and your own purchases
Cover creator software: Free program to help you design the front and back cover for your book.
Lists your book on Amazon once you've approved the proof.

For additional charges, these companies will also help you with editing, layout, marketing and custom cover design. You can also convert your paperback book into an e-book for online readers to purchase.

How to Create and Publish an E-book

If you are only interested in publishing an e-book, you may choose to go with companies such as Smashwords or Payloadz. You can upload your book and sell it directly through the site. You choose your price and whether or not you want to pay any affiliates whose referral results in a sale. Readers will have the option to preview some of your e-book and if they purchase it, you will receive a percentage of the sale.

Depending on the country you live in, you may need to apply for a U.S. tax number or ITIN. U.S. based companies that collect money on your behalf will often need to hold back 30% off the money to give to the Internal Revenue Service. If your country has a special tax arrangement with the U.S., you will need an ITIN and to fill out the appropriate paperwork in order to receive all of your money from these companies.

If you are wondering how to create an e-book, Smashwords has a great guide you can follow. The most important thing to remember is to keep it simple. If you plan on publishing your e-book in .PDF format, then you can use color, images and different layouts. If you want your e-book to appear on the Kindle and other e-readers, then keep your formatting very basic. Use two heading styles for chapters titles and sub-titles and line spacing should be 1.5. Don't worry about page sections; your book when read on an e-reader will not have separate pages.

Creating and Publishing Your Own Paperback Book Online

You can also publish your own paperback or hardcover book with companies like CreateSpace and Lulu. Customers can order your book and it will be printed-on-demand and shipped to the customer directly. Authors can also purchase their own books at a discount. For these services, you receive a percentage of sales.

When you begin your book, keep in mind that heavy formatting, fancy layouts and images may not work well if you decide to do an e-book. If you are mainly interested in creating a paperback or hardcover book, then design your book with the following thoughts in mind:

Book size: Determine what size of book you want and make your document that size when creating your book.
Color or B&W: It costs more to print color book, but you can also charge more for color books.
Images and Illustrations: will you need any help with images or creating illustrations?
Pages: Do you want to create a lightweight book with less pages or a heavier book with many pages. Consider dividing the book into sections and printing separately if you want a lighter book.

Marketing Your E-book or Paperback Book

Whether you buy a companies services to help you market or not, you will need to do some of your own marketing too. Create a free Facebook page and start a blog online to inform your followers of new books and ideas. Use Twitter to "tweet" updates to followers and share news. You will need to create buzz about your book and get readers interested in purchasing it.

Remember too, when self-publishing your own book, it will take time to generate sales. It can take up to eight weeks to get your book listed in retailer distribution channels. The more you can hype up your book and create your own following, the sooner book sales will begin.