I keep this document as a reference tool for myself, in case I need a reminder on how to do any of these steps. And I often send it to aspiring-to-publish writer friends.
But what the heck, we're all friends here, so how about I just share it with y'all?
Some of this is super-nitty-gritty. Don't be scared. Skim the parts that look intimidating. But if you later run into the errors those nitty-gritty parts address, you'll be thankful those parts are there!
I've spent several years accumulating this metric heck-ton information from all over the world wide web. But now, here it is, all in one easy-to-read place! Enjoy!
1) Write your book.
But what the heck, we're all friends here, so how about I just share it with y'all?
Some of this is super-nitty-gritty. Don't be scared. Skim the parts that look intimidating. But if you later run into the errors those nitty-gritty parts address, you'll be thankful those parts are there!
I've spent several years accumulating this metric heck-ton information from all over the world wide web. But now, here it is, all in one easy-to-read place! Enjoy!
*
1) Write your book.
2) Format
it as an ebook using this as a guide as needed. (I keep an ebook template for myself, and advise you to do the same. Once you have a functional ebook file where you've worked out the kinks, just reuse it every time for each subsequent book. No need to re-reinvent the wheel.)
-Make sure to add an extra line at the top of each new section/ title page so that
Amazon won’t screw up the formatting.
-If
you have a list of chapters/sections at the front of your book, MAKE SURE to
add hyperlinks for them linking each chapter name to the right page. Google
around to figure out how to do this if you’re not sure. Smashwords will reject
your manuscript if you don’t do this, or if you get it wrong, so I just stopped
listing chapters or having a table of contents. Too much trouble, though it's your call. (UPDATE: I stopped using Smashwords altogether. Too nitpicky about every detail of the manuscript.)
3) Make
a cover photo, or properly license one. Ideally you should ask your artsy friends to make you a cover. Pay them accordingly! Wikimedia and Creative Commons are good
sources for images. Google has a public domain image search that’s solid, too.
Pay attention to the limits on rights and usage for whatever image you want to
use. Sometimes you’ll find a great image and all it requires is attribution to
the source on your copyright page.
-Make sure your cover photo jpeg has 1400 pixels on the shortest side or Smashwords
will reject.
-If
you don’t understand any of this, just Google any questions and it’ll be
cleared right up for you.
4) OPTIONAL: Get
your book an ISBN # to protect your sales and exclusivity at http://isbn.org/
-Bear
in mind that Amazon and Smashwords both provide free
ISBNs. I choose to use their free ISBNs instead of paying for them because I write a lot and don't see any reason not to.
-But
if you must get ISBNs, get the 10-pack for $295 instead of the single number
for $125. Much better value, especially if you plan to write multiple books
-There
are companies that offer discount individual ISBNs for sale, but they’re fishy
because the numbers are legit, but all paperwork will list the company you
bought the ISBNs from as the publisher. Avoid them. If you buy the ISBN numbers
yourself, YOU are listed as the publisher. Much safer and better for paperwork
down the line.
5) Publish
your book on Amazon using this link: https://kdp.amazon.com/
-It's your choice on whether to do the three-month exclusive Kindle Unlimited plan, which they push
very hard. That’s mostly a good idea if you already have several books out and
are using this book to drive traffic and sales on your back catalog
-Enable
DRM if you want. I don’t. I want people sharing my stuff around.
-They’re
a solid middle-man company that shoots your book out to Barnes & Noble,
iBooks, Kobo, Overdrive, etc. I sell nothing on those sites, but your mileage may vary and it's good to
have your product on other platforms.
-Remove any hyperlinks on the Smashwords copy of your manuscript. Smashwords will reject it
if you have any.
-Go
to “Channel Manager” on Smashwords and opt it out from Amazon, since you already have it
there.
-Please
note that you can also publish your work direct to Barnes and Noble:
https://www.nookpress.com/projects and probably direct to Kobo and other ebook/print book sites. It depends on how much initiative you're willing to take and how many different accounts you're willing to create and how many headaches you want.
7) Final Ebook Steps
-If you got an ISBN, Change the ISBN number info you applied to the book here:
-If you got an ISBN, Change the ISBN number info you applied to the book here:
Get
it copyrighted here (Optional, but recommended):
Here’s some additional
guidance on the copyrighting process, if you need it:
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Now, a separate world...PRINT BOOKS.
This is really about your personal preference and what you want to publish where. Lulu, Amazon, CreateSpace, Barnes and Noble, whatever/wherever.
I've made some personal books through Lulu and it's very simple and self-explanatory there.
For our purposes here, I'll walk you through the Amazon print book process. Amazon isn't a perfect company, but their print-on-demand service is stupendous.
-Copy and paste the text of your ebook into one of Amazon’s downloadable print templates.
I've made some personal books through Lulu and it's very simple and self-explanatory there.
For our purposes here, I'll walk you through the Amazon print book process. Amazon isn't a perfect company, but their print-on-demand service is stupendous.
-Copy and paste the text of your ebook into one of Amazon’s downloadable print templates.
-Formatting
is to personal taste on these. Some folks like to have a blank half-page at the front of every
chapter, I like to put four lines. Whatever works for you.
-Add
funny/catchy words or a blurb to front page of the manuscript.
-Put title on title page.
-Make
copyright page: date, cover credit, author photo credit, and a don't-get-yourself-sued text blurb stating that your work is only fiction (unless it's non-fiction, and you're on your own there).
-Make
sure your list of other books published is current, if you wrote other books.
-Justify
text in Word by highlighting each chunk of text you would like justified and then go
to:
--“Page
Layout”-“Paragraph”-“Alignment: Justified”
-Fix
layout of selected text by going to:
--”Page
Layout”-”Paragraph”-
---Disable
Keep Lines Together
---Disable
Orphan/Widow Control
---Block
Hyphenation
(REPEAT
THIS PROCESS FOR EVERY CHUNK OF TEXT YOU WANT JUSTIFIED, or just do it on the
entire contents of the book and then comb through it and re-center and adjust
chapter and section names and parts like that.)
-Adjust
formatting on title page/Introduction/Dedication/first pages of chapters and
sections etc. to make sure they begin on odd-numbered pages and are thus on the
right-hand side of the manuscript when people read it.
-To start page numbers at the beginning of your text, add section break at start of where you want the page numbers for book to appear by going to:
--"Page
Layout"--"Breaks"--"Section Break"--"Next
Page"
--Go
to the top AND bottom (Header AND Footer) of the first THREE pages of the next
section and in the “Design” tab click "Link to Previous" on each to
disconnect it from previous formatting
--Add
page numbers to first THREE pages of new section
----"Insert"--"Page
Number"--"Bottom of Page"--(Pick Centered)
----Change
font of numbers to “Book Antiqua” and change size of each to “11” and hit Enter
above and/or below the number to get the spacing/appearance you desire.
-If
you like, add author name to header of even-numbered pages. To do so, change font to
“Book Antiqua,” font size to “12” and do it in all-caps to make it look nice.
-If
annoying lines magically appear in headers or footers, click in the place they
appear and hit:
--”Home”-”(Grid
Image)”-”Borders and Shading”-Select “No Border”
-Manually
comb through manuscript and:
--Center (CTRL-E) all chapter/section names
--make
sure ends/beginnings of pages look okay
--make
sure chapters start on odd-numbered pages, if you prefer them that way
-To
make page numbers end at the end of the text: add a section break at END of
page numbers for book by going to:
--"Page
Layout"--"Breaks"--"Section Break"--"Next
Page"
--Go
to the top AND bottom (Header AND Footer) of the first THREE pages of the next
section and click "Link to Previous" on each to disconnect previous
formatting
--Delete
page numbers and names from footers and headers in final section
-If
annoying lines magically appear in headers or footers, click in the place they
appear and:
--”Home”-”(Grid
Image)”-”Borders and Shading”-Select “No Border”
-Make
sure that your Afterword title page is on an odd-numbered page and your "About the Author" text is on the final even-numbered page. Some people also put a list of their other works at the end of the book in addition to the front of the book. Your call.
-Once
done, go back through and re-check every page to fix errors that magically
appeared along the way.
-Use Cover Creator on Amazon KDP to make your cover.(Manually producing a PDF is a logistical nightmare and I do not recommend.)
-Make sure your cover
photo is higher than 300 dpi. If needed, use
a PDF to JPEG converter to make a 300 DPI photo (Google “PDEF JPEG
converter 300 dpi” for assistance)
-Make
sure cover photo is as centered as possible and not outside lines
-Insert author photo- carefully center that, too
-Cover fonts are your choice. I use Philosopher for title and author on spine (Both all-caps). Libre Baskerville for the witty/catchy copy you write on the back cover. And for "About the Author" text: Ubuntu.
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And there you go! You're now published in ebook and print! You're welcome!
And remember: Google is your friend. If you need any step along the way, just ask the Internet and it will guide you along. Amazon's KDP platform has some helpful searchable info, too.
Happy publishing!
-B.P. Kasik/Phony McFakename
