5 Ways You Can Self-Publish Your Book

Welcome to yet another blog post on how to publish your book! There is alot of commentary on the internet about self-publishing, how to publish, where to publish and so on. I’ve been experimenting and working with various publishing options since I started writing serious in 2014. In this post I’ll break down some different ideas and how they can aid you on your self-publishing journey.

Ingram Spark

In my opinion, this is the gold standard of self-publishing. They offer wide distribution on every platform and offer both print and digital. You can also access bookstores and they can order stock directly from Ingram. They do have pretty high standards on the layout and cover of your book and will reject you for not having everything sized up correctly with good colors. If you don’t have experience with desktop publishing, you may need to hire a service for this (which you can do on Fiverr). Ingram is the world’s largest book distributor in the English language and that makes everything quite convenient. They don’t change their fees all the time and their platform has gotten much better in recent years! If you’re serious about your career, I would start here.

Amazon KDP

Amazon KDP is the silver standard in self-publishing. They offer many of the same services as Ingram but you are locked into the Amazon eco-system. Amazon will take your Word file and turn it into a book which can be helpful.

For those that don’t care about that then the KDP program is just fine. I will say that Amazon does like to adjust the fees and the discounts often which can make it difficult to know how much money you’ll make from a sale and things like pages read in Kindle Unlimited can make things even more complicated. It’s a fine program and many authors have taken advantage of the program but working with Amazon can be a bit troublesome.

Ebook Services

There are a variety of ebook services if you aren’t concerned with printing your book. However, Draft2Digital which was the premiere ebook service now offers print services! That makes Draft2Digital a great option. Draft2Digital and Book Baby make things easy because they do your file conversions for you and that makes life much easier and cheaper. As we all know, ebooks have grown in popularity in recent years and so distributing that way is a perfectly good way to access an audience and grow. They are great for first-timers or writers on a budget.

WattPadd

WattPadd has been around forever and it is a great way to publish writing online and grow your audience on their popular platform. I love this platform for serials and things that people can casually read online. I’ve started a new series on WattPadd called The Department Store and I really enjoy the platform and its great discovery mechanism. WattPadd is also a great platform for those looking to just get started and get something online. There are several writers who have built an audience on this platform and then later published a print version or extended their careers in others ways. If you want to start your story online and start finding readers, this can be a great way to start.

Hybrid Publisher

If you want the backing of a publisher but the control of a self-published author and don’t feel confident hiring a cover designer, layout person, etc. then Hybrid Publishing can be for you. You may have heard of Vanity publishers who just print whatever you’ve got and charge a lot of money for the privilege. Hybrid publishers are different. Hybrid publishers are choosy about the projects they decide to do. This means that your work has to be of a certain quality and have a market. Most Hybrid publishers are investing in your book with you. This is a sort of cross between traditional publishing and self-publishing. I will say right now that most Hybrid publishers are not cheap. This is an option for someone who has some money to spend to see their vision come to life. I would pursue this option when you have a finished manuscript that you’ve put some effort into and are ready to see who can work with you to publish the book and sell it. And if you’re looking for my favorite recommendation look no further than Something or Other Publishing.

If you are interested in writing a book and telling your unique story! My new writing courses: The Power of Story (fiction and non-fiction) are now available! You get year long access to the complete course as well as access to our bi-weekly writing group and 2 coaching sessions with me! To sign up today visit: The Cameron Journal Academy.