Self-publishing comes with a lot of steps, although it can be extremely rewarding and beneficial. Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of some of those steps along with some links to resources.
Buying Your ISBN and Copyright
What is an ISBN? It is the number used to identify your book from all the trillions of books in the rest of the world. For more on ISBNs check out our previous blog post.
Buying an IBN is relatively easy but registering it can be a bit harder if you are new to self-publishing so please be mindful that you always register your ISBN before you try to sell a single copy of your book. And remember that you need a separate ISBN for each version of your book. That means if you want a paperback, hard cover and ebook, you’ll need 3 separate ISBNs!
Now, typically one buys their ISBNs from Bowker.com and you can even buy an expedited copyright from them as well but that doesn’t mean this part of the process isn’t a bit time consuming. When you fill out your copyright, you have to have a lot of information including your blurb, expected publishing date, ISBN and more. It’s best not to rush this process.
Designing Your Book
Are there going to be images or illustrations? Does your book include an index or appendix? What font style and size are you going with? What type of book, paperback or hardcover? What size will your book be? What will the cover look like? Do you want to hire a pro or do it yourself?
All of these questions and more come into play when it is time to design your book. And that can be overwhelming but don’t lose heart! If your book is mainly narrative, you can focus on the cover design as many self-publishing entities will help with the typesetting (design of font, page layout, etc)
Choosing A Self-Publishing Entity
What does this mean? It means you have to choose how you would like to publish your book, whether it be through IngramSpark, Blurb, Draft to Digital, Kindle Direct Publishing or some other entity that isn’t listed here.
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to self-publishing and what works for one may not work for another. That’s just the truth of the matter. You might even do what I did and mix and match depending on your book project. Why? Because royalties differ with each entity as does visibility and ease.
IngramSpark is pretty popular and relatively cheap although it isn’t the most user-friendly.
Blurb is great for books that will include color or images. It doesn’t have the same amount of variety as IngramSpark however.
Draft to Digital is simple to use and gives a great return on investment when you consider the royalties can be over 50%. But this is strictly for ebooks. No print or audio.
Kindle Direct Publishing is good for those who want to publish in a matter of minutes. But it is from Amazon, a very controversial company.
It’s up to you to do the research ahead of time and decide what suits your needs at this moment. Of course, just because you went with one publisher for one project doesn’t mean you have to continue to use them, switch them for your next project if you want! The ball is in your court!
Marketing Your Book
This is where much of the financial burden comes into play. Depending on your book, you will have to market it well to ensure it reaches as many as possible. This includes: paying for ads on social media outlets such as Facebook or Instagram; posting regularly to build brand awareness; possibly contacting book bloggers, reviewers and sending them a free copy of your work; placing ads in your local newspaper or bookstore.
There is a lot that goes into marketing and I can tell you that it can be a bit of a chore if you aren’t already familiar with it (and sometimes even when you are).
Self-publishing inherently means doing all of this yourself, which takes a lot of time, a lot of energy, a good amount of patience and a decent amount of money. Truth be told, many choose not to self-publish because of the time and financial commitment that it entails. So, if you aren’t sure if you can handle it, I suggest seeking out an agent and publishing traditionally or querying a small independent publisher.
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Written By: Chyina Powell
Women of Color Writers Circle 