Self-Publishing – Advice & Resources
Welcome! You have arrived at the first page of our introductory guide to becoming the self-published author you have always known you could be.
The first step in this guide is to decide what kind of publisher you would like to become. This critical decision will influence:
- the manufacturing
- the budget
- the design of your book
- the direction of your publishing business (if you choose to create one)
What Kind of Self-Publisher Am I?
To assist you in choosing your self-publishing path, I have linked to these articles that outline different ways to be a self-publisher, as well as a few resources that may help you decide if self-publishing is the right choice for your book.
- Things to Know Before Self-Publishing
- Two Kinds of Self-Publisher—Which One Are You?
- Self-Publishing Basics: Four Ways to Publish Your Book
- 5 Good Reasons to Self-Publish Your Book
- 7 Reasons Not to Self-Publish—Is This You?
- The Self-Publisher’s Questionnaire
If you have decided to become a self-publisher and have chosen a direction for your business, now is the time to choose a name for your business and legally establish it with your local authorities. If this seems like a daunting task, do not worry! TheBookDesigner.com has a variety of resources available.
Preparing for Publication
Once your business has been created, you will be nearly ready to begin your life as a publisher. It can be daunting for many fledgling self-publishers who feel that they must learn everything about the world of publishing at once, so sometimes we have to remind ourselves:
Self-publishing is a marathon, not a sprint.
Each step in the process of publication, marketing, expanding your readership gives you invaluable experience that you will continue to use throughout your career. Although it is normal to be nervous about putting yourself, your work, and your business out into a new world, you will begin to feel right at home once you begin to find your niche.
- The Speed of Self-Publishing is Best When You Go Slow
- How to Create, Register and List Your New Publishing Company
Becoming Part of the Community
As a burgeoning self-publisher, you will begin to discover the wealth of friendship and knowledge that is contained within the wider community of:
- self-publishers
- book designers
- marketers
- and everyone involved in the self-publishing industry
Within this community are smaller professional support groups such as writers’ groups that give authors and publishers alike a sounding board for their ideas and access to experience and knowledge of other professionals in their field.
- 5 Things That Shouldn’t Surprise You About Self-Publishing
- Top 5 Discussion Forums for Self-Publishers
- 3 Indie Publishing Discussion Groups: Getting Your Questions Answered
But that is not the be-all end-all of community involvement! It is important to get involved with your readership online through:
- a blog
- social media sites (for your book as well as yourself as an author)
- an Amazon page in preparation for your book coming out
Some of the most important factors in self-publishing are your online web presence and the web presence of your book, as those community-facing pages do a lot of the heavy lifting of marketing your book for you and give your readership an opportunity to find, read, and love your book.
It is important to get your online presence set up sooner rather than later, as your authority and influence will naturally build over time.
- 6 Ways to Jump-Start Your Self-Publishing Career
- 8 Answers That Help Self-Publishers Get Up and Running
- Author Platform: What Are You Waiting For?
Using These Guide Pages
Didn’t see what you were looking for on this page?
Do you have a question that hasn’t been answered?
Don’t change that channel! Feel free to look ahead through the other sections within this guide for information about whichever topic you need help with.
If you are trying to design your self-published work to create a professional, marketable, and readable book, check out our guide on Book Design.
To understand how to develop a meaningful and lasting presence in the self-publishing or writing communities while widening your audience and developing your writing chops, look at our page on Author Blogging.
If you need information on proper marketing methods and techniques to create a meaningful online marketing campaign to sell your book, read our guide on Book Marketing.
Do all the fonts look the same? What’s the difference between serif and sans-serif? To ensure that your finalized book looks professional and is easily readable, head on over to our guide on Fonts and Typography.
Becoming a Self-Publishing Expert
The Book Designer has gone through great effort to distill his 50 years of complex self-publishing industry knowledge into easily manageable bites that provide novice self-publishers the ability to master one section of self-publishing at a time.
The Self-Publisher’s Ultimate Resource Guide is the preeminent guide of self-publishing that includes over 850 verified and curated resources for self-publishers.
The Quick and Easy Guide to Copyright breaks down copyright law into language understandable by anyone and will show you what steps you should take to protect your intellectual property.
The Quick & Easy Guide to ISBNs and Barcodes deciphers the code of ISBN into simple terms and includes an in-depth FAQ that will cover all of the most common ISBN Questions.
The Quick & Easy Guide to Book Distribution and Discounts will give you an understanding on the self-publishing “chain of distribution”, describe how to make your self-publishing business profitable, and help you to understand the sometimes confusing maze of wholesalers, retailers, and distributors.
The Quick & Easy Guide to Print on Demand keeps you up-to-date and in-the-know about the newest, most profitable form of printing and book distribution for independent authors.
Publishing Strategies for Self-Publishers will outline a variety of successful publishing strategies that will help you reach your self-publishing goals.
