Where to Self-Publish

Despite my intent to slow down my blog posting frequency, I did decide to pop back on after a long day of more formatting hell when I realized I've never really gone into the wheres and hows of self-publishing. First off, if you haven't read my post on Formatting you'll need to go through it and make sure that's squared away. Uploading is not a quick process and you'll quickly run into hitches in the review and vetting process if you're not tight as a whistle here. 

If your formatting is absolutely wretched due to Word's butchering of copy-pasted material, one quick way to fix this is to drop everything you want cleaned up into TextEdit, Notepad, one of those default text programs that came with your computer. It will strip all of the funky formatting garbage Word is confused about. You can then safely copy-paste it into Word or your program of choice and not worry about the mess it makes of text that just will not adhere to your manual changes.

Without further ado, I'm going to make this as simple and free as possible. One of the reasons for this is because, if you're as determined as I am to do everything yourself, then you're already dumping massive amounts of time and energy and I just want to give you the least complicated, least costly, stellar services possible.

CREATESPACE/KDP:

I used to use CreateSpace. At one point, it had the better options for print. KDP Print now tops that, offering both expanded distribution and a ton of industry standard size options. You DO NOT need to commit to Amazon with KDP Select and unless you're already banking on your name, I'd even suggest you don't. I'll come to why later. First and foremost, you'll at least want to take advantage of printing through KDP Print. I love, love, love the smallest print size, but between the 5x8 and 6x9, there is no printing cost difference between them. Most people I've surveyed like the smaller sizes for paperbacks. The best part is that if you do want to go ahead and get the book right to Kindle, it can easily take your print files and convert them for you. They offer templates (but please use the exact measurements unless your page count is EXACTLY on the mark, 300, 310, and so on. Yes, the reviewer does reject your PDF if you're a tiny bit off. I've left feedback requesting an autostretch option to save us time on the minute difference). You will need two separate PDFs for the book file and the cover, but it's pretty simple to find and follow the requirements. When I started out, reviews could take as long as 72 hours, but since I've been around a while, I rarely wait longer than 6-12 hours to get the approval. So start with KDP Print for your print paperback option. Author copies are only the printing cost and shipping so it's a great way to load up for conventions or signings.

SMASHWORDS:

Before I found this one, I used Pronoun, but they had to close suddenly. I was floored that I might have to distribute to each retailer I wanted individually. Not so. Smashwords is a terrific place to get the widest distribution options on digital. Kobo, Apple, Google Play, Nook and a lot of prestigious services that handle international distribution. Very simple to use-- you'll need an ebook cover file and a regular .doc (not .docx) file. If you are up to par and your review clears, you'll make it to their Premium status which automatically sends your work everywhere possible (if you don't, then your book is limited to their site, so it's worth it to clean it up). Charge what you want or let your fans choose, and you can even make it free. The Dashboard is easy to use when you need to check the status or issues that come up. The Publish link is where you start. Very clean interface and you won't have issues navigating it. Smashwords can be a little slow, sometimes taking a week before being cleared for Premium, but it's another site that does all the conversion and distribution for you. One other thing, after submitting, hop over to the ISBN manager and set that up. If you don't it, will remind you, but I like to beat the reminder.

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Hardcover options aren't going to be free but IngramSpark/Lightning Source are pretty cheap. I think the baseline is $35. I don't currently offer a hardcover option so I can't vouch for it, but the consensus seems to be for it. I know you see some pretty fancy print options coming out of publishers, but it's also through their topsellers. Self-pub is a great way to get your work out there and you're perfectly able to shop for trad-pub options if you'd rather leave those details to someone else. Self-pubbing is a lot of work, a lot of creative decisions, and... a lot of marketing. Even though I don't do much of that yet. I know, I know-- I should get on that. I will. For now, I'm just happy to be writing my stories.

I don't mind helping out new authors in the troubleshooting process with SW and KDP. I'm pretty sure I've been through it all by now and I'm happy to share.

Phew, this day went quick, but it's cleansing to pack it up on this note. Don't hesitate to ask though-- I see it as a good opportunity to add it to previous teaching posts and do what I can to build a solid database of helpful posts.