The Kindle, Amazon’s digital eBook reader, and the associated Digital Text Platform—the user friendly tool that helps writers upload manuscripts and then put them into the Kindle Store for direct sale—has helped writers wary of the insanely difficult to break into traditional publishing business. Along with immediate publication, writers earn 70% royalties on their work.

So how do you go about this? We’ve broken things down into 10 easy-to-follow steps:

One of the best ways in selling and promoting your work is talking about it through both lectures and readings. It will also help in providing a portal to you and your work; readers in particular love nothing better than hearing an author expound on his/her work. And aside from serving as a little chicken soup for your ego, you’ll also end up meeting a ton of interesting people, so why not?

Speaking engagements can easily be found through the Y, church and civic groups, women’s clubs and PTAs, educational institutions and libraries. And if your book ties into a commercial product, consider giving in-store demos but whatever path you choose, keep yourself alert of the myriad of possibilities out there. It might take you some time in developing the right contacts, but the pay-off is definitely worth it.

1. The first step is having your manuscript edited by a professional editor. Most self-publishing outfits charge roughly $0.01 to $0.02 / word for editing services or you can hire your own professional editor to go through your work. You can find one for an affordable price at one of the many freelance sites like elance.com or freelancers.com.
2. Many self published authors try to format their own books , but we advise against this. Again, if you want a professional end result, you might want to hire a professional formatter to align the interior. It’s a common mistake by many first timers. Ensure the self publishing company you go with offers these services.
3. A book IS judged by its cover, so try to refrain from designing your own cover which will make the final product look weak and trying too hard. The cover is the most critical aspect of your book and having it professionally designed should be a key investment; you won’t regret it. Professional cover designers charge anywhere from $300 to $1500 depending on the designer and the level of complexity involved. Again, you can try the freelance site above to find an affordable book cover designer.

Although our site is dedicated to self-publishers, we are aware that many authors self publish with the intent of eventually finding a traditional publisher, to publish their books. With that in mind, we have provided a number of tips (below) for helping authors find a publisher for their books.

Research is incredibly important when you’re trying to find a traditional publisher—but, worry not, that’s exactly what this article’s here to help you with. That said, don’t depend solely on this piece for all your publishing homework. Do the research, based on the steps outlined below.

Tip #1
The first thing you might want to do is take a trip to your local library (or book store or even Amazon.com) and have a talk with the librarian (or bookseller or thumb through the popular books), mentioning your book and asking for recommendations for similar (and popular) picks. This will help you in two ways: a notification that books like yours are selling, and that libraries and bookstores are interested in stocking the genre.

You can also identify the publisher behind the genre book—the publisher is listed on the book’s spine or within the first 2-3 pages and is even easier to find on Amazon.com. But before you mail off that manuscript, take a look at the next tip.