Too many self-publishing options! Confused!

KittenEV

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I've been thinking about self-publishing. So, I've been trying to research which service to do for it, but there are so many options out there and I have no idea which one would be the best.

Can anyone with self-publishing experience help me try to chose a self-publishing site that would be the best for the money I'm going to have to spend?
 

rwm4768

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Step 1: Stop looking at self-publishing services. If you have any computer and marketing ability, you can do it yourself. Publishing with Amazon is free. Obviously, you need to pay money to get a good cover and professional editing, but you don't have to pay a company to publish your book. They likely will not publicize it any better than you could on your own.

My advice is to get involved in genre and self-publishing communities online. A lot of your first readers will come from people you know (both in real life and online).
 

Sleeping Cat Books

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As the other poster said, avoid any company that wants to charge you for the whole process. But recognize where your own limitations are and contract the tasks you know you can't do well yourself.

As for the printing and distributing, there are three main players: CreateSpace, IngramSpark, and Lulu. Lulu doesn't have their own print facilities. They use Ingram for printing, which means they charge more. IngramSpark charges $49 for title setup, and $25 per file for any revisions after you've approved the proof. But their distribution worldwide is the best of the three. CreateSpace doesn't charge anything beyond the production cost and postage for a printed proof, and that's not even required (but highly recommended).

I don't include KDP Print here because it's still in beta, and is inferior to all three of the others, for many reasons.
 

Catherine

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Many on this section of AW self-publish through Amazon KDP for e-books and CreateSpace for print books. There are more choices if you want to do it yourself (Lulu, Book Baby). Many self-published authors hire editors and book cover designers. Most authors here have beta readers. KDP and Book Baby have the option of hiring people to help with formatting, cover, and editing.

Which course is right for you will depend on your personal goals for your book, your skill set, and the amount of time or money you have to invest in your project. For me it started as a hobby, then the learning became a distraction to help me through a grieving process.

So far, from all my published material I've earned about $30-$40--which is almost enough to cover the cost of proof copies and copies given to friends and family. I do my own editing and covers because that's what makes sense for my situation; I'm not going to make money from my coloring books. If my goal were to make money, I'd be much better off sticking to my day job with the things I'm doing. For the time investment, I'm at a loss as I've spent hundreds of hours learning by doing. Even so, I can't stop myself from making things to publish.

What are your goals for self-publishing?
 
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ASeiple

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Yeah, don't spend a dime until you've got more information.

Go to Amazon, download the free book "Building your book for Kindle". Read it over, see if you can handle that. That explains how to get your book out there using Amazon KDP, and the formatting you'll need to do for your manuscript.

If you can handle those instructions, you don't need to pay anyone to get your book self-published. Mind you, you don't have to stick to only publishing through Amazon, but see if you can handle Amazon's instructions first.

Oh, and this article might be pertinent;

http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2017/06/26/it-self-publishing-does-not-have-to-cost-you-anything/
 

WriterBN

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I've been thinking about self-publishing. So, I've been trying to research which service to do for it, but there are so many options out there and I have no idea which one would be the best.

Can anyone with self-publishing experience help me try to chose a self-publishing site that would be the best for the money I'm going to have to spend?

As others have said, you don't need to spend anything to self-publish, if you can handle everything yourself. If not, you're better off hiring individuals for things like editing and cover design, as opposed to so-called self-publishing companies.

The companies I use are:


  • KDP for e-books on Amazon
  • Createspace for paperbacks
  • Google Play direct (however, they aren't accepting new self-publisher accounts now)
  • Smashwords and Draft2Digital for distribution to the other major retailers (iBooks, Nook, Kobo, etc.)
 

veinglory

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I would suggest starting at Amazon, and probably with a kindle ebook. This is generally where the most money is to be made. You never have to spend money. But as you work your way through you can decide what parts you might prefer to hire a professional to do. Kindle gives a reasonably good set of help pages and there is a forum there were you can ask questions.
 

mbalge

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It also depends on whether or not you want to at some point have your book(s) in bookstores. From all that I've read, IngramSpark is your best option if you want to get into stores. Most people in the US seem to choose CreateSpace, but know that you can't have hardcovers through them. I'd suggest searching comparisons of CreateSpace, IngramSpark and Lulu. Though there are many similarities, there's also a lot of differences.
 

andiwrite

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Many on this section of AW self-publish through Amazon KDP for e-books and CreateSpace for print books.

Sorry if this is a super-obvious question, but I'm confused. Say I want to do a Kindle/Amazon-ONLY release. I don't need CreateSpace for that?

I had thought CreateSpace and similar programs were required for all self-publishing. That you had to basically ready the file in CreateSpace THEN upload it to Amazon somehow. Are you saying you don't need to do that, and you can just directly take your file to Amazon after it's formatted correctly?

Hopefully this isn't a derail as it kind of relates to OP's confusion lol.
 

andiwrite

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Yeah, don't spend a dime until you've got more information.

Go to Amazon, download the free book "Building your book for Kindle". Read it over, see if you can handle that. That explains how to get your book out there using Amazon KDP, and the formatting you'll need to do for your manuscript.

If you can handle those instructions, you don't need to pay anyone to get your book self-published. Mind you, you don't have to stick to only publishing through Amazon, but see if you can handle Amazon's instructions first.

Oh, and this article might be pertinent;

http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2017/06/26/it-self-publishing-does-not-have-to-cost-you-anything/

Very helpful, thank you!
 

Polenth

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Sorry if this is a super-obvious question, but I'm confused. Say I want to do a Kindle/Amazon-ONLY release. I don't need CreateSpace for that?

I had thought CreateSpace and similar programs were required for all self-publishing. That you had to basically ready the file in CreateSpace THEN upload it to Amazon somehow. Are you saying you don't need to do that, and you can just directly take your file to Amazon after it's formatted correctly?

CreateSpace is not required if you want to publish an ebook with Amazon. I'd go further to say it'd be a really bad idea for most people to jump straight to print, because learning to typeset a print book is a lot more complicated than learning to format an ebook. You're also likely to see more sales of the ebook and more sales through Amazon than anywhere else. So figure out KDP first. You can add in the other stuff later.
 

andiwrite

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CreateSpace is not required if you want to publish an ebook with Amazon. I'd go further to say it'd be a really bad idea for most people to jump straight to print, because learning to typeset a print book is a lot more complicated than learning to format an ebook. You're also likely to see more sales of the ebook and more sales through Amazon than anywhere else. So figure out KDP first. You can add in the other stuff later.

Awesome, thanks! :)
 

maryland

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I use CreateSpace, making a print book (with a free ISBN,) then it goes direct to Kindle from their site.(You are transferred and can have a preview of your e-book on-screen.) They also have about thirty free custom covers, which you can change by adding your own photos. Or you can also do a complete front, spine and back cover as a PDF but I have not tried that. It is really worth experimenting and won't cost a fortune, though I do recommend ordering an actual print copy first to proof-read.
 

WriterBN

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I use CreateSpace, making a print book (with a free ISBN,) then it goes direct to Kindle from their site.(You are transferred and can have a preview of your e-book on-screen.)
Although you may have not experienced problems, this is a really bad way to create an e-book.

Stick with Createspace for paperbacks, and KDP for e-books. Don't let either one do the other format for you. The formatting for print is quite different from an e-book, and any pushbutton-type conversion is likely to create a mess.
 

ASeiple

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It's better to start with KDP anyway. The format you need for the Amazon .mobi conversion is a lot easier.

Also the side benefit is that errors are easier to change without fuss. Once you've got a few printed books out there, errors are a more serious business. Usually I wait to see if any errors cropped up in the ebook, before I get started on the print version, so I can fix them in the base manuscript before I go to print.

And yes, yes, I know it is better to have no errors at all. But we are human and errors happen, and will continue to happen, so it is better to be pragmatic about them rather than insist on perfection up front.
 

Svader

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I'm glad I read through this advice. When my book is ready to publish, I had planned on having the print edition ready within a day or two of the ebook. Now, maybe I'll wait a little bit. Something to ponder.