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 Self-publishing is simple.
Here's how it functions. You select a size for your book, format your Word manuscript to fit that size, turn your Word doc into a PDF, create some cover art in Photoshop, turn that into a PDF, and upload it all to the self-publisher of your choosing and get a book explanation back inside two weeks (or earlier) if you succeeded in formatting everything in the right way. You may then make changes and swap in new PDFs. After you officially publish your book, you can make changes to your cover and interior text by submitting new PDFs, though your book will go offline ("out of stock") for a week or two. Companies such as BookSurge charge $50 for uploading a new cover and $50 for a new interior and others, such as Lulu offer very good, in-depth instructions for the DIY crowd and there’s no extra charges.
Quality has improved.
I can't talk for all self-publishing companies, but the standard of many are quite solid. The sole giveaway that you are handling a self-published book would be if the cover were poorly designed.
Good self-published books are few and far between.
As anyone can self-publish as book the entry standard is quite low and therefore, the bulk of self-published books are fairly bad. If I had to put a number on it, I would say less than five percent are decent and less than one percent are actually good.
The statistics are stacked against you.
The average self-published book sells about 150-200 copies. This is usually do to the author not being able or not trying to advertise and market their book. If you know how to sell, even a bad self-published book can make profits.
Making a "professional" book is truly hard.
The standard for entry might be low, but making a book that looks specialized and is impossible to differentiate from a book released by a "real" publishing house is very difficult and needs a minimum investment of one or two thousand dollars. It's tough to create a quality product that is just right!
Have a clear goal for your book.
If you plan to make a profit from selling your book, make sure you know who you’re going to market to. You should have a marketing plan finished before you even start the publishing process.
Even if it is great, there's a solid chance your book will not sell.
Don't give up your real job yet. I most cases, your book sale will be slow at first. This is where your marketing plan comes into effect. Don’t give up, persistence is the key to sales when you self publish a book.
Niche books do best.
This looks to be the philosophy of self-publishing. Nonfiction books with a clearly defined topic and a pleasant hook to them can do well, particularly if they have an audience that you can target. Non secular books are an ideal example.
Purchase your own ISBN
If you have market hopes for your book, get your own ISBN (International Standard Book Number) and build your own publishing company. If you get your ISBN through a subsidy presses like Lulu, BookSurge, iUniverse, Xlibris, Outskirts, they will be listed as your publisher.
Make a unique title.
Your book should be straightforward to find in a search on Google and Amazon. It should come up in the first couple of search results. Unfortunately, many writers make the fault of choosing a title which has too many other products associated it with it--and it gets lost in search results.
Price out publish services.
Self-publishing companies can provide all the services you need, but you may be able to get the same services somewhere else for a better price. Copy editors and graphic designers can be found for hire on sites like elance.com.
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