My Steps to Self Publishing
Jan 19
Here is a list of the first things I did when starting to Self Publish
Reason
The reason I decided to Self Publish was because I wanted to get more involved with my books, and plus, honestly, I didn’t want to wait on the slush pile. I did the research online on all the cons of self publishing and how it has a certain stigma, but I figure, if I could spend thousands of dollars for a wedding which is ONE DAY, for someone that I love, why can’t I do just as much time and effort on something that I love. It is said not to think about making a profit or being a big time Best Seller, though we all dream of such things. I have come to a decision to at least TRY. So…here I am, and I’m going to try. I’ll put in the effort, do the research, and stumble my way to selling my books. And if I just get a few strangers to buy and actually like it, that would be wonderful to me.
Step 1 – Write the Book
Of course the first step is to write your book. Some people have a problem with this first step, but since I’ve been writing since I was 12 years old, not novels mind you, but writing period, writing isn’t so hard for me. My first novel took a few years, and the 2nd took exactly 1 year. The rest of my novels… NaNoWriMo helped me on that. National Novel Writing Month was great! You just write and write. You don’t worry about grammar or spelling or anything mechanical. Just write. This helped me with books 3-5.
Step 2 – Copyright
I’ve sent my books off to the CopyRight Office. Not one at a time, but I lumped them all together on one CD as I completed them, along with my short stories. The cost was $35.00. Then when more books were completed, the cost went up to $45.00. This doesn’t include that you have to mail in the CD. But lumping all the stories together on one CD saved me money for all of them. When my first book was completed in paperback format, I uploaded electronically to the Copyright office for $35.00 at the CopyRight Office. Real simply to use and I love the new technology now. No mailing hassles! Also I could copyright the illustrations I had inside my book as well. So this went very easy and great!
Step 3 – ISBN
Since I’m planning to continue writing more books, and I have five (5) already, I went ahead and purchased the block of 10 ISBN numbers from U.S. ISBN Agency. It cost me $275.00. I didn’t buy the barcode since I found out I could get it done for free at Tux. You can buy indiviudal ISBN numbers, however for $125.00. There are some companies who offers ISBN in their packages, but make sure, from what I’ve researched, that you own the ISBN number and not the company.
Step 4 – Editor
I found my Editor on Guru. And I also asked for them for editting samples. There are those who are reluctant to do that because there are people who just try to get free services. But if you explain that you just want 1 sheet editted to make a decision on who you want to edit your book, some will agree to do that for you. I found that it was easy for me to figure out which editor I would like to edit my book with how they editted the sample. I was quite satisfied with my the of The Calling Series: The Made. This cost me $700.00, for a word count over 130,000. Big book, I know. My next books are much, much smaller and will cost me less to self-publish them. Gulp! I hope!
Step 5 – Book Cover
I found someone to do the art and after the 1st and 2nd draft, it went into coloring. I found my Book Cover designer on Guru as well. This cost me $400.00, and she was worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY. I am so, so satisfied with my book cover. And you Cover, if you’re a book reader like me, means a lot. I ALWAYS pick up a book by it’s cover.
Step 6 – Blogging and Website
Soooo…
First I went hunting for a host and dug around the internet. There were tons of people with lists of what people they thought were the best Top 10 web hosting companies…and that list changed with every site I went to. So then I decided to search for any site that had issues or problems. I typed “reviews” after each hosting site that I researched.
Then I came across BestHostingRatings and really liked it! I had already reviewed other sites and this one had comments from people that seemed legit. Plus I had already looked at the one I was most interested in, and it had a lot of comments on it.
I chose ICDSoft, and then got my domain at NameCheap since it offered to place their company information in front of my personal information to keep my address and info private in that WhoIs database people use to be nosey and find out who owns what. ICDSoft didn’t offer privacy, but that’s okay. NameCheap worked out well for me. They guard your information using a program called the WhoIsGuard. Though I’m sure there are probably other ways for people to get your information, I figure the more deterrents you have, the better. NameCheap cost me $8.41 for the entire year (2008-2009) and I got the Free WhoIsGuard that was a promotion at the time. ICDSoft cost me $72.00
Then for a Bloggin website, I went to WordPress. It was the easiest to use for me, and plus there are themes you can use to change the look of your blog quite easily. You can read more of my research on Blog Sites here.
Step 7 – DBA and Bank Account
Went to the County office and picked up a DBA (“Doing Business As”). In Houston, Texas, I had to look for “Assumed Name” however. I got one for my pen name, seeing that I’m into writing steamy Romance novels; but it’s not for being anonymous. Can’t be if you’re famous. But it will help so that the guys in the suit don’t walk to my office and say, “Uh…your image…” LOL!. I got an Assumed Name for a publishing company as well…just in case I need it. I didn’t add the word “Publishing” so that I can use it for anything I might want to in the future. I’ll just add “A Publishing Company” if that is what I will use it for. I’ll have both names for 10 years and then I’ll have to renew. But so far I have simply used Deana Zhollis for everything and Night Before Day as just something to add in the field that says “Publisher” when I had to fill out a form. I opened a bank account for Deana Zhollis, which was one of the best things I could have done since I really needed it for CreateSpace and Amazon, as well as a Tax ID which also could be your Social Security Number. Make sure you have a Tax ID. You’ll need it!
Step 8 – Format Book
Once your editing is all done for your book, and it reads nicely, the next step, which isn’t very easy, is to format your book. I listed the steps I took here
Step 9 – Print-On-Demand
I got my feet wet at LuLu. You definitely need to learn how to change the format of your book to pdf. Every site seems to want a pdf format of your book. After LuLu, I went to MobiPocket. It’s a new age and eBooks are coming in! By putting my book in html format, and downloading their free software–“Mobipocket Creator Publisher Edition”–I was able to get it loaded. Amazon also contacted me to fill out a contract which you have to mail or fax back to them in Seattle, WA. This got my book onto Kindle. The next place was CreateSpace to also get my book, paperback format, on Amazon. Currently I’m considering also publishing with Lightning Source which has a great Distribution resource, and for Print-On-Demand they have: Ingram, Barnes & Nobles, Baker & Taylor, NACSCORP, and of course Amazon..
Step 10 – Promoting Online
I’m simply gathering information on promoting online and the kosher way of doing this. I don’t want to spam bulletin boards or blogs with “Buy my Book…Please!” LOL! But I’ve learned if you honestly add your input on these sites, and have your signature with your website, then you don’t look so selfish.
So that’s what I’ve done so far. I’ll add more as I get to more steps and tell you the yeahs and nays of my progress. I continue to research other steps at places such as So You Need to Publish Your Book, and watch other authors doing to same as:
Michael R. Hicks (Kreelan Warrior).
Write it! Publish it! Market it!
I actually put in a order for Michael Hick’s book, and if I’ve done that just by researching other authors self publishing steps, I’m sure other readers and writers (who are also readers) would probably do the same here. And the word would spread.
Hope these steps help you out! Good luck out there…!