How to Self-Publish an eBook: A Step-by-Step Guide

An eBook is a digital form of book that can be read on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. It allows any author with the aspiration of self-publishing their creative work to interface with prospective readers in a simple and fast manner.

Authors prefer eBook because of their significantly lower production and distribution-related expenses. Also, eBooks can be formatted and made ready for sale significantly faster. Which is why, they are perfect for sharing and sending through PDF files that are viewable on any device. This article will walk you through the entire process of self-publishing an eBook.

• Step 1: Prepare the content

  First, decide whether your eBook content needs to showcase all the information and visuals you already have. If narrative-related breaks are natural, you can consider serializing the content. It offers additional promotional options and maximizes the revenue-generating potential of your content. Consider making the first edition of your eBook series free to generate excitement and curiosity among readers. They will be willing to pay for the next versions if your content is exciting.

  Second, you must thoroughly edit and proofread the content. Consider double-checking the pages by yourself or outsource to a professional eBook proofreading services company or freelance editors. When readers encounter several errors in your writing for the first time, they might easily lose interest and stop reading. Work with a professional editor, a fellow author, or a friend with adequate expertise, to evaluate consistency and flow in addition to the standard spelling and grammatical checks.

• Step 2: Select the appropriate format

  For online book publishing, you have to choose from three formats depending on the content type used for eBooks and the platform on which you want to sell.

  The reflowable content is ideal for text-rich eBooks and novels. The resizing and scaling of the text are done spontaneously to ensure optimum legibility. As a result, the content flows from one page to the next. You can sell the reflowable eBooks through Blurb on the Apple iBooks Store or Amazon Kindle Store.

  If your eBook is enhanced, i.e., it contains multimedia content or rich illustrations, you must go with a fixed layout. The content remains confined to the pre-defined page layout, which facilitates the preservation of design elements. The fixed-layout eBooks can be sold on the Apple iBooks Store, Amazon, and Blurb Bookstore.

  The PDF, or Portable Document Format, is ideal for eBook sharing and forwarding. PDF eBooks can be read on any device and sold through the Blurb Bookstore. The format, however, does not support multimedia elements. In addition, the PDF files are larger, and a mobile or tablet optimization option is not available.

• Step 3: Select an eye-catching cover

  Your self-published eBook should have a great cover. It needs to be visually catchy and consistent with your selected genre. If funds are available, it is worthwhile to consider hiring an experienced designer to make this aspect of your e-book perfect.

• Step 4: Increase visibility by using metadata

  The author's name, biography, title and description are referred to as "book metadata " to help potential readers locate your book. Internet search engines use keywords to direct users to relevant products or information. These pertinent keywords should thus be included in your content's metadata.

  Do complete research on what key phrases you would use to discover an eBook you self-published. After that, list 15 to 20 words or phrases that are more particular. Then, search Amazon to determine the applicability of each. Lastly, incorporate all keywords into your book description, author bio, and potentially even title or sub-title.

• Step 5: Finalize the price

  Since eBooks are self-published, production and distribution cost savings translate into better profits. But it would be best if you appreciated that customers are also aware of the lower overhead of eBooks and are not willing to pay as much as printed books.

  Before finalizing your eBook’s price, you need to look at the prices at which eBooks similar to yours are listed on your favorite eBook publishing platforms. It would help you make a ballpark estimate of the price you should be quoting.

  It would help if you considered other factors, too—the platform on which your eBook would also be sold matters. For example, the royalty you would earn by selling an eBook on Amazon (kindle publishing) would depend largely on the eBook’s price. You will get 70% off the price if it is listed between $2.99 to $9.99. If the price is above or below this range, you will get only 35% of the price. It should serve as your guide. You can keep the complete royalty if the eBook is sold through Blurb.

  For Blurb publishing, a few things have to be considered. The length of the eBook is the first one. The eBook content, 1000 to 5000 words, usually fetches anything below $0.99. Of course, Novellas with a higher word count can be sold for $2.99 to $7.99, but everything should be in order.

  The eBook genre also impacts the price. For example, the prices of nonfiction or literary fiction eBooks are usually higher than sci-fi, romantic, or fantasy-related eBooks. Therefore, it would be best if you kept the pricing mechanism flexible so that the price can be adjusted at any point to cater to the increased or decreased demand for your eBook and other factors affecting the publishing market.

• Step 6: Engage in proper marketing

  You can create an official website for marketing needs. It allows you to create a mailing list of followers, create an author brand, and, most crucially, give direct links to stores that sell your book.

  Additionally, it would help if you used your social media presence to promote your e-book even before it was released. To generate interest and anticipation, publish a series of blog entries about the subject of your book or post teasers that include quotes or illustrations.

• Step 7: Open a KDP Account

  Open a free Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account. This platform makes it simple to monitor sales and advertise your book globally. You are potentially hitting millions of readers on Amazon through this. You retain ownership of your rights and can customize your e-book listing anytime.

• Step 8: Publish the eBook

  Several things have to be considered when you talk about eBook publishing. Some companies pitch their eBook conversion services to authors or publishers in return for a price. You can avail all-inclusive digital conversion service, starting with initial manuscript to eBook conversion, eBook formatting, and eBook copyediting. You have to choose from the available eBook conversion companies based on their unique approaches to authors.

  You need to differentiate between authentic and vanity publishing services, as the editing, cover design, and other publishing-related processes are costly. It would help if you were wary of companies that ask for money to publish an eBook but refuse to disclose how the money will be spent. Once you have entered into a return agreement, getting out can be difficult.

Conclusion

Follow this step-by-step guide to self-publishing your e-book. We hope that these steps will assure that your strategy creates excellent outcomes. Wait for your innovative effort to transform interested readers into ardent admirers.