Self-publishing is no longer news in any part of the world. Creative writers are often burdened with the thought of where to publish their books and how to keep their work from intellectual robbery.

Although, self-publishing has been in existence for centuries before evolution made everything easier. A writer in the stone age had limited options for writing and publishing books but presently, with the advancement in technology, writers have several options to publish their books online and the best of these methods is self-publishing.

Self-publishing allows the author to publish his books on his own accord and take full control of his books without any external support. In this article, we will take you through a step-by-step guide on how to self-publish and everything you need to know about it.

What is Self Publishing?

Self Publishing is the act of publishing content by an author in media forms without the help of a media publishing company or organization. This content can be in the form of books, video content, ebooks, and a lot more.

In traditional publishing, the author writes and creates the content for publishing by a media house that manages the cost of publication, and the risk involved and profits are shared according to the laid down agreement from both parties. While on the other hand, a self-publisher creates and manages the cost of publishing which allows him to own a higher percentage of the profit involved.

A typical example of self-publishing can be seen on Amazon self-publishing, where authors majorly write beneficial content as ebooks and take full control over the profit, and can exercise ownership right after publishing it.

Is it Worth It to Self-Publish a Book?

Self-publishing allows writers to earn passive income over time and exercise full ownership rights on their books. So if you’re looking forward to self-publishing, it is worth it.

How Much Does It Cost to Publish a Book?

Due to the cost of hiring a content editor, and graphic designer for book covers, and marketing your published books, it might cost you a minimum of $100 and above depending on the cost of service while working on the book.

Introduction to Amazon KDP and How it Works

Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, and it offers self-publishing authors the opportunity to directly upload their work on its website and list it for sale to customers. This method of publishing is known as Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).

Kindle Direct Publishing is quite similar to create space, another online retail website where authors can host and have their books printed before selling them to their audience.

Millions of online users troop to the Amazon website to look for books that provide solutions to their daily problems.  Amazon’s KDP program has grown substantially in recent years thanks to the popularity of Kindle e-readers and tablets. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, then you definitely need this guide that outlines how you can start publishing through Amazon KDP and start earning money online keep reading to learn more about how KDP works and what it takes to get started with your first book!

So What is Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing?

Amazon Direct Publishing is the process by which authors and other content creators make their content available for sale on Amazon’s official website. It allows authors and creators to upload their content on the website and sell them in the form of e-books. It’s quite easy to get your book in front of potential readers while also enabling you to keep control over the pricing and other details.

10 Tips To Start Self-Publishing Online For Free

Self Publishing may be a little difficult for beginners without a comprehensive guide. This is why we’ve created a well-detailed guide on 10 tips to help you self-publish successfully.

1. Write According to the market trend

According to the market trend, most readers do not want to be marketed to. But you can still write a compelling book and make it known to potential buyers. You can achieve this with little marketing skills if you do proper research and write based on what readers are interested in.

2. Focus on a Niche

After doing well-detailed research on what readers are looking for on the Internet. It is recommended that you pick a niche out of the list and focus on it while writing your book. This will help you build brand authority and build trust in your readers’ minds.

3. Edit Thoroughly

While a newbie self-publisher may be reluctant to hire a professional editor due to the cost of service. Authors should give their manuscripts to a few readers and get feedback from them. Ask for honest constructive criticism from your readers to know where you need to work on your book.

This is because…

Your readers need to be able to focus on the story and not on what they don’t like about it. Because their views are also involved in shaping the book. Each of us will learn from each other and that’s the only way we can truly improve. Also, never forget that most people didn’t read the book in one sitting so take their feedback in instalments. Tackle one section at a time and stay focused.

It would help you!

The more you take your editing seriously, the more you will realize how much work it requires. Luckily, there are many tools available that can help you with this task. There is a good reason why editors are in high demand. And when you have an editor helping you, you will see the difference.

Free editing tools you can try out

• Grammarly
• Pro writing aid

4. Hire a Professional to Design Your Book Cover

There is an adage that says “Do not judge a book by its cover”, this adage does not work anymore. Readers are often drawn to a book by its beautiful designs and the cover page outlook nowadays.

A boring book cover with a clumsy design will only give you away as “Not good enough”. So ensure to give your book the best design. You can Hire a professional book cover designer to simplify the process. Alternatively, you might want to check out this article on – Step By Step Guide on How to Create an Ebook and Sell From Scratch

5. Format Your Manuscript into a Reflowable Ebook

As an author, you still have some little work to do which is formatting your manuscript into a printable ebook. This does not apply to just printing, formatting will also allow readers to view your ebook across multiple devices without hitches.

6. Launch Your Ebook For Maximum Publicity

Once your book is thoroughly edited, proofread and free from grammatical and spelling errors, you’re almost ready to launch.

The next step will involve marketing and distributing your books for publicity. However, this may look small but it is an important decision to make, one that will greatly impact the success of your book launch. It also affects the outreach you’ll be able to make in your book endeavours.

Are you going to have a book launch?

This is a great way to give people the chance to discover your book. A launch is also an opportunity to engage readers who are interested in your genre and also to give your book a boost while promoting it.

But a single book launch is a big job. So what are your options? Do you have the bandwidth to handle a big launch campaign? Are you able to put the time into building a big publicity push and engaging your readers? Can you afford to hire a team of people to help you make this happen? These are questions you’ll need to ask before you consider a book launch.

7.  Decide Your Ebook Price

After formatting your manuscript, the next step is to decide on your pricing structure. You might have to put the total cost of production into consideration and the stress involved.

A lot of self-publishers find this stage of publishing very difficult. This is because a lot of effort and money is usually needed in publishing books. However, be moderate in pricing your book, do not overprice your book as it may scare away your potential readers

8. Optimize your ebook for search engines

A lot of self-publishers do not pay attention to this step because they believe they are done with ebook publishing. Organic traffic from search engines can help authors skyrocket their sales within a few days. This is why we have published a guide that will help you Sell With Google Trends

9. Upload your eBook directly To Amazon Website.

Upload your ebook on the Amazon website once you’re done with the aforementioned steps. You can as well start distributing the hard copy to readers who had shown interest during the book launch

10. Start marketing your ebooks

The last step is marketing your ebook. This step is very important because it can mar or make your self-publishing business. An author who has a hard time marketing his books to his audience will hardly make sales or profit

To create a marketing plan, you need to pick at least three social media platforms for promoting your ebooks. Next, you need to hire a professional who will run your paid advertisements on each of these platforms.

Conclusion

Self-publishing is one of the best ways of earning passive income on the internet. Newbies are often confused about how to get started with self-publishing on Amazon KDP. Now, this is why we decided to put the best resources together as a guide. We hope it helps!

Don’t forget to check this guide if you are interested in publishing on Amazon and earning from your work.