An Introduction to
Self-Publishing Books
Do you dream of becoming an accomplished writer? Great news! You can do it! If you have a passion for writing, then write. If you love writing fiction, then write fiction. If you enjoy writing factual material, then that’s what you should write. Find your niche and go with it. If you aren’t sure what your niche is, then explore different types of writing.
There are many types of writers, and not every writer will write in all formats. For example, some authors write books or e-books, some write articles for magazines and the internet, others write news stories, and some create content for the web.
If you aren’t sure what you like to write, take the time to explore. Like anything else, if you set your mind to it, you can accomplish it. While having a solid background with a degree in Journalism or English can help move your career forward, it’s not always necessary. Like musicians or artists who are born naturals in their fields, writers can have a natural talent too.
Remember, the only person who has control of your dreams is you. Don’t listen to others who may tell you that you can’t do it or that you don’t have the talent. Follow your heart, follow your desires, and turn that dream into a reality.
Writing, designing and publishing your book.
Let’s get straight to the “meat” of the topic. The following is a concise step-by-step guide for self-publishing a book using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) service:
But first, what is Kindle Direct Publishing?
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a self-publishing platform operated by Amazon that allows authors and publishers to publish books in both digital and print format, plus sell them on the Amazon website.
With KDP, authors and publishers can easily upload their books, set their own prices, and make them available for sale in the Kindle Store and other online retailers.
You can also take advantage of various marketing tools and resources provided by KDP, in order to promote your books to a wide audience.
KDP is a popular choice for independent authors and small publishers who want to reach a global market and have more control over the publishing process and costs.
3. Self-publishing your book.
Fortunately there are a number of methods or routes you can take towards writing, designing and publishing a book. The route you may take though, is likely to be determined by;
- Costs and affordability
- The type of book you wish to publish
- and Convenience, skills and familiarity
For example, designing a book with illustrations, such as a Children’s book, you may consider using illustration software like Adobe Illustrator, Procreate or Affinity Designer. This may be necessary regardless of whether your illustrations are hand drawn on paper as these will still need to be digitized in order to compose your book cover or pages with illustrative work
This will help with the mechanical digital-artwork process involved when preparing a book for printing or generating as an e-book.
If you are an illustrator, or have illustration skills, you may already have software that you can use. Likewise, as a writer you are likely to have software that you already use. However, where it comes to formatting your text, you may have to eventually import your manuscript into another application or through one of the online platforms.
What are the best book publishing platforms available?
With platforms such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple Books, or Kobo Writing Life, you can publish your book both in print, or as an ebook. You can save on costs even further by working with a print-on-demand purchasing model.
Blurb is another option that provides print-on-demand services, and will also handle the design, printing and distribution of your book.
Professional Book Design Standards
Now, with regards to dedicated book design software apps, we would recommend researching the following:
- Adobe InDesign:
A professional-grade layout and design software, ideal for creating books, magazines, and graphic-heavy documents. - QuarkXPress:
A desktop publishing software that is commonly used for designing and formatting books, catalogs, and other printed materials. - Scrivener:
A popular writing software, which includes features such as project management, outline, and formatting tools, making it an excellent choice for authors and book designers. - Vellum:
A Mac-based book formatting tool that is simple to use, with a user-friendly interface. - BookWright:
A book creation tool offered by Blurb, allowing you to create and publish professional-looking books without needing advanced design skills.
These are just some of the popular book design software options, choose the one that best suits your needs and skills.
Book Publishing Steps
Do-it-yourself Book Publishing
The following table will provide you with an overview of all the necessary steps you will need take towards preparing, publishing and marketing your book.
1. Example of a banner expressing modernity, interaction, dynamism…
Marketing your book
2. Find ideas and visual assets for marketing your book in a uniform, identifiable and memorable way…
