After you have learned how to write an ebook and completed the steps, now it’s time to do some Electronic Book Publishing. You may hear this more simply put as Ebook Publishing.
Ebooks are much easier to self publish compared to hard copies. there are a variety of services to choose from and in this section we will look at the more common ones you can use. As it is with most things the FREE services have limited features compared to a fee based service.
Distribution Formats
There are a variety of places you can send you ebook to for distribution, lets take a look at some:
- Amazon Kindle
- Apple i Pad
- Komo
- Smashwords
- CreateSpace
- Lightning Source
Now, one of the issues with the various distribution networks is formatting. You need to convert your PDF or Word file into the required format for each of the above distributors.
It’s not impossible to do it yourself, it’s a matter of time and money.
You Need a Book Cover (Resources Listed Below)
This is an area that is hard to recommend doing it yourself unless you are proficient in Adobe Print Shop or some other graphic program.
When you are publishing and eventually marketing your ebook the cover is what is going to catch the eye of a potential buyer. You can do a search for free ebook covers, but again to be competitive you need a professional ebook cover.
Choosing a Platform (Resources Listed Below)
A platform is the place (s) where you will upload your ebook to for distribution.
You will start with the most popular one which is Amazons Kindle. If you want to do this yourself you can, but remember each platform has a different format which you have to convert your PDF to.
You do have another option and that is to pay for a distribution/publishing service.
These services will do the formatting and uploading to several distributors including Amazon. Your decision is really a matter of time and money. Do you want to spend a little money to save a lot of time, this is a question only you can answer.
Pricing
Oh, one other thing we want to do in this electronic book publishing process is price you ebook.
Now, typically the ebook market is priced between $2.99 and $9.99. This is just a guide, there are many factors that can affect book prices. If it is a specialty book with little competition, then you can price it higher, but go and take a look on Amazon and you will see the price range stated above is a pretty good guide for most ebooks.
Self Hosting
When you use a distributor platform you must SHARE the profits with the distributor. You have another option, and that is to self host.
Here’s what happens – you go through the same process of creating your ebook, you write it and compile it and finally format it into a PDF.
Then you need to host it somewhere, this can be with Amazon S3 hosting or a FREE online file storage site (do a search for free online storage). When you decide on a hosting site you will upload your PDF file to that site and they will provide you with a link.
You will generally build your own simple website where you will sell your book from.
The Amazon S3 is really, really cheap. I would highly recommend looking at this because you have unlimited storage and if you decide to do audio or video in the future you are set to go. With the free storage you will run into capacity problems as you create more files in the future and the chances are you will switch to Amazon anyway.
Final Note
Just writing these publishing processes scares me, so I can imagine how you must feel. A bit overwhelmed?
Listen, everything runs on a system. When you start a new job you have to learn the system, writing and publishing your very first ebook has a system you go through. And when you learn the job everything becomes easier, it’s the same with creating an ebook.
Just take it one step at a time and when you are finished not only will you have your first ebook, but you will have learned a heck of a lot about creating an ebook.
We have listed some resources below, they will help with your publishing needs.
Resources
