Self Publishing Platforms
Self Publishing Platforms
Publish your Paperback, eBook or Audiobook
Congratulations! You have completed your novel, which is an amazing achievement in itself. Now you have to decide whether to self-publish or to go down the route of being signed by an agent and ultimately a publisher.
Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to each option. By self-publishing, you keep complete control of every aspect of your novel and earn a much higher percentage of royalties.
If you manage to be signed by a publisher, you earn a much lower percentage in royalties, and your chances of success are not necessarily any greater. Indeed, most publishers are now very averse to taking risks and tend to work with established authors or celebrities.
With both options, you retain copyright and can earn royalties on spin-offs such as merchandise, film and translation rights.
Luckily, it is increasingly common for mainstream publishers to sign self-published authors so really by self-publishing you are not necessarily slimming down your options.
In this article, we will explore the self-publishing platforms that will enable you to publish your paperback, eBook or audiobook.
We will also consider the features and limitations of each one. This will give you a good overview of the options available to you. Many new authors find it difficult to decide whether to publish in one format (paperback only, eBook only etc.) or multiple formats.
My view is that, unless there are specific reasons not to, you should publish in as many formats as possible. There are no downsides to doing this, and it can only make your novel more accessible and visible to potential buyers.
There are still a lot of book buyers who like having a paperback in their hands. Indeed, recent research suggests a resurgence in the purchasing of paperbacks.
Publishing your paperback is in many ways easier than publishing an eBook. The most challenging aspect is creating the cover for print-on-demand but there are plenty of tools (or people) to help you.
Unless you have a lot of guaranteed pre-orders then you are better off using a print-on-demand service as opposed to getting copies printed and posting them out yourself. All self-publishing platforms enable you to order author copies.
Createspace
Createspace is Amazon’s print-on-demand service and has to be one of the most popular platforms in the world.
You can publish paperbacks with a black and white or colour interior and full-colour cover. One limitation is that you cannot create hardback books on Createspace.
As a side note, you can also create music CD’s and DVD’s on Createspace but you cannot create audiobooks. Creating your paperback is made much easier by the stop sign and tick display at the top of the project page.
Completing the Title Information is easy but you will need to create a book description. You will also need to choose a BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications) category for your book.
There are a lot of categories and subcategories so it is worth visiting http://bisg.org/page/bisacedition to do a little research. Having said that Createspace enables you to save your progress and come back to fill in missing details later.
Your interior can be created in Word or PDF formats and there are downloadable templates available on the website. There are also templates available for creating your cover in PDF format or you can use the cover designer tool on the Createspace website.
The online previewer will give you a good idea of whether your uploaded cover and interior will work in print format. Pricing is made easier using the royalty calculators and you can ask the website to set different currency prices based on the US$ price if you wish or manually enter a price for each one.
The contents of your book are reviewed by Createspace before being accepted for publication.
Lulu
Lulu is an alternative print-on-demand service that enables you to produce print books, eBooks, photo books and calendars. If you are looking to create a hardback version of your novel then Lulu is your best option. You can create a value paperback or quality paperback novel with better quality interior paper. With both options, you can have a black and white or colour interior but with a quality paperback, you can also choose black and white on cream paper.
As with Createspace, Lulu provides downloadable templates for the interior of your novel. One advantage Lulu has over Createspace is that it accepts a large number of formats for the interior. You can upload your novel interior in PDF, Microsoft Word DOC, Microsoft Word DOCX, RTF, TXT, JPG, PNG and GIF formats.
However, for the best results, I would recommend either Word or PDF formats wherever possible.
Lulu has a built-in cover designer making this aspect of publishing your novel in print easier. However, you are limited by the functionality of the built-in cover designer software. It is not currently possible to upload your own novel cover to Lulu. This limitation might put some authors off using the Lulu platform. However, if you are looking to publish a hardback or like the idea of producing a value paperback then Lulu might be the way forward. Unlike Createspace, which offers a per unit price, Lulu offers a volume discount if you purchase a larger number of paperbacks.
Your paperback novel will be available on Lulu.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Ingram if you publish using Lulu.Publishing eBooks is a great way to expand your readership with little extra cost involved. You can also earn higher royalties since there are not the costs involved in printing and shipping the product. There is a lot to learn in order to self-publish your novel in eBook format. However, you can achieve eBook publication with completely free and readily available software. There is plenty of information and advice available online or you could use a third party to turn your manuscript into an eBook for minimal cost. There are many eBook conversion tools available but the quality of the finished product can vary greatly. The best solution is to get your eBook converted by a professional service provider.
Amazon KDP
Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is Amazon’s eBook publishing platform. There is the option of publishing your eBook in paperback format via the Kindle platform but this is not its primary purpose.
Signing up for KDP is very straightforward using, or creating, your own Amazon account. You can specify multiple contributors including authors and illustrators but this is optional. Keywords enable you to make your novel more easily searchable on Amazon but are also optional.
A description of your book is required. Instead of the BISAC categories used by Createspace, KDP has its own categories to choose from using a tick box list. You can place your novel into up to two categories.
If you are publishing a children’s book there is the option to specify an age and US Grade range as well. Amazon KDP offers a new feature of making your eBook available up to 90 days before its release date. Your novel will be automatically delivered on the release date.
In terms of creating your content, Kindle provides you with its own free tools. These include Kindle Create that can be used to create a KDP ready interior, Comic Creator and Kids Book Creator.
Alternatively, you could you third party software such as Sigil and Calibre eBook management software.
It is usually inexpensive to hire a third party to convert your Word document into an eBook format if this is overwhelming to you.
Amazon KDP has the option to apply Digital Rights Management restrictions on your eBook. However, it is important that you fully understand the implications of DRM before applying it.
While many authors want to encourage sharing of their novels, by applying DRM you can ensure that you earn the royalties you deserve. Even with DRM applied, your eBook can still be purchased as a gift for someone else.
I would strongly advise that DRM be used in the majority of publications.
Creating a cover image for your eBook is easy with Amazon KDP with two options available to you. You can upload an image you have created yourself or you can use the built-in cover creator tool on the website.
Ideal dimensions for cover images are 2560 x 1600 pixels. A built-in reviewer tool enables you to see how your cover would look on different devices and ensures that your cover image is going to look good on the finished product. You can assign an ISBN but this is not required.
You can enrol a single product or whole catalogue into the KDP Select programme. When your eBook is in the KDP Select programme, you can earn higher royalties on certain sales.
It will also be available on Kindle Unlimited, a subscription programme that allows the subscriber to read as many books as they like and the Kindle Owners Lending Library.
Authors earn a share of the Amazon Select Global Fund in return. Any eBook enrolled into the KDP Select programme can only be published in the Kindle Store and not be made available anywhere else.
Apple iBooks
Apple iBooks is the eBook self-publishing platform for Apple iOS devices. In addition to creating your eBook, you are also required to create a sample of your eBook if you are going to be selling your book.
This is to give potential buyers a preview of your novel before they buy it from the iBooks store. The process of making your eBook available is not particularly straightforward.
It is partly dependent on Apple hardware and requires multiple Apple accounts. However, it cannot be denied that making your novel available across Apple devices provides valuable exposure to your work.
The content of your eBook can be created using a free piece of software called iBooks author or Apple’s word processor software Pages. Once created it must be exported as a .epub or .iBooks file.
The first of these two file formats (.epub) is compatible with virtually all eBook devices. The iBooks file format is only available in the iBooks Author software. In order to manage your iBooks activity and sign the relevant legal agreements, you must create an iTunes Connect account.
The third piece of required software is called iTunes Producer and is required to create you iBooks store listing and submit your novel to the iBook store. If you do not own an Apple device, this will be tricky as the iTunes Producer is only available for Apple devices.
Therefore, if you do not have an Apple device, then you will have to use a third-party service to handle these tasks for you. A major limitation for some authors!
Luckily, there are high-quality third-party service providers that will be able to help you out with this problem.
On a positive note, Apple offers a flat rate of 70% royalty irrespective of price, pays in 32 days instead of Amazon’s 60 days terms and do not charge ‘delivery charges’ on eBooks under 2GB which will be the majority of them.
Amazon’s ACX
Publishing Audiobooks used to be considered something that should be left to the professionals and too complex for the self-publisher. However, thanks to Amazon’s ACX service this is no longer the case. Not every novel will be suitable for publishing as an audiobook and it is true that costs can quickly escalate if you are not performing the narration yourself. However, the process is not difficult and can provide additional exposure of your novel and bring in additional royalties.
Amazon ACX does list a number of requirements for your audio submission. The majority of these are easy to meet and not particularly controversial. For example, your audio must have an opening and closing credits and be narrated by a human. Each file must only include one section or chapter, be no longer than 120 minutes and the file size must be under 170 MB. You must also supply a 1-5 minute sample for prospective buyers to listen to prior to purchase. The only tricky part might be the more technical requirements of the audio file such as the dB parameters.
Your earnings depend on whether you give exclusive distribution rights to ACX or not. If you do then you will earn 40% royalties otherwise you will receive a 25% royalty rate. If you are not comfortable narrating your novel then you can post a sample of your work and invite potential narrators (producers) to audition for the job. You can negotiate with the producer to share the royalties equally between you both or pay them an agreed flat fee and receive all royalties yourself.
You can earn unlimited $50 ‘bounties’ for every person who signs up and purchases your audiobook first. If you have agreed on a royalty share arrangement with your producer then you will receive $25 each. While audiobooks are not appropriate for every publication, it is certainly worthwhile considering as an option.
Moving Forward
Transforming your finished manuscript into a paperback, hardback, eBook or audiobook is a very exciting stage in the self-publishing journey. The excitement of unwrapping your paperback proof copy and literally seeing all your hard work in print or seeing your work on the screen of your Kindle takes some beating. With the variety of self-publishing platforms available and the free tools they provide, it has never been easier to turn your words into a sellable product. Luckily, if this seems overwhelming there are always reputable companies that can help you along the way.
If you need assistance with book formatting, editing, or manuscript assessment, prior to publication, get in touch with Novel Suite for quality and valuable services.
To read more from John Pelling on how to prepare a book for publication please click here.