Excellent (and Free) Presentation on Self-Publishing
At our conference last week, April Hamilton gave an in-depth presentation on the basics of getting started in self-publishing—or as an indie author. Click here to download her presentation as…
At our conference last week, April Hamilton gave an in-depth presentation on the basics of getting started in self-publishing—or as an indie author.
I blogged some tips from her session on the Writer's Digest Conference blog, which I'm reposting below.
April's definition of an indie author
An indie author is not someone
who is using self-publishing as a desperation move, but as a carefully
considered and conscious decision to self-publish. An indie author is a
businessperson and an entrepreneur.
Some easy ways to create e-books
- Easy-easy (one-click publishing): Scribd
- Easy-easy (one-click publishing): Smashwords
- A little more complicated: Amazon DTP (Kindle)
- Add-on option with POD services like Lulu
Choosing a POD or self-pub service
April gets down to brass tacks when it comes to choosing a
publishing/POD service based on the upfront costs and back-loaded fees—plus how you want (or they want!) to price your book. Lots of useful
charts and graphs in her presentation showing how to do the math.
If you're considering self-publishing, be sure to check out April's community site devoted to your indie-author options: Publetariat.
(I also recommend Self-Publishing Review.)
Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
