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Home > News > How to Publish an eBook

How to Publish an eBook

August 7, 2012 by Jackie Lee

Fiction author Jennifer Powers writes short stories, and her work has appeared in the literary journals McGuffin and Folio.  In spite of her previous successes with those journals, she decided to publish her next three stories in e-book format with Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

“It only takes about a day to get started,” Powers explained. “Within the next 24 hours, your story is available.”

Like many other authors, Powers is turning to the more democratic world of e-publishing as a way of sharing her work with the world. Follow these seven steps to publish your own creation in e-book format.

Step One: Create Your Content

Whether you want to publish a novel, a memoir or a how-to book, you must start by creating the work that you want to publish. You can create your book in Microsoft Word, as a PDF file or in open-source ePub format.

Step Two: Edit What You’ve Written

No one will edit what you upload to Amazon.com, so you will have to make sure that your work contains flawless grammar, spelling and punctuation. You will also have to pay attention to the format of your publication to make sure that it will be easy to read on a Kindle or other e-book reader.

Step Three: Design the Cover

Create a cover design for your e-book, making sure that you don’t use copyrighted images without obtaining permission from the original artist. The uploaded cover, according to Tony Bradley of PCWorld, should be a .tif or .jpg file that is 500 pixels on its longest side. The image should be 1280 pixels to avoid a grainy reproduction.

Step Four: Choose Your Venue

Some of the primary online e-publishing venues include CreateSpace, Kindle Direct Publishing, Barnes & Noble’s PubIt and SelfPublishing.com.

Step Five: Upload Your Book

Kindle Direct Publishing, for example, will ask you to enter a title and a short synopsis of your book. Then, you will upload the content of your book and preview what it will look like on a Kindle screen.

Step Six: Decide on Rights and Price Point

By default, most e-publishing programs publish internationally unless you restrict access to certain territories or countries. Each publisher also offers different royalty plans. Amazon sets royalties at either 35 percent or 70 percent, and each plan comes with different requirements. For instance, books published at the 35 percent level can be priced at 99 cents, while books published at the 70 percent level must be sold for $2.99 or more.

Step Seven: Market Your Work

Without a publishing house’s marketing department, you will have to market your work on your own. To accomplish this, you can set up a reading or a signing at a local independent bookstore or a local author event. Utilize social media to promote your work, and feature links to your e-book on your website and in your e-mail signature.

For authors like Jennifer Powers, e-publishing provides an opportunity to bypass the gatekeepers at publishing houses and to place well-crafted works in front of an audience. “Why not do whatever it takes to get yourself out there?” said Powers. “You never know who may be reading your work.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ebooks, how-to, Kindle, Nook

About Jackie Lee

In addition to working on my MFA in Creative and Professional Writing at Western Connecticut State University, I work as a contributing writer for TMCnet. Find me on Twitter @jackiel624 or check out my personal blog at jackiesrandomthoughts.com.

Comments

  1. Edward Smith says

    August 18, 2012 at 9:15 am

    Thanks, I coach authors how to get on TV and many of my clients are self-published, so I will pass this information on to them. Edward Smith.

  2. yourkrishna says

    August 10, 2012 at 4:15 am

    Hi Jackie
    Very good write and pleaseand to read.

  3. Kevin Harms says

    August 8, 2012 at 6:41 am

    Pinned this article! A great way to promote your small business or website. Great instructions on how to get it done. Thanks Jackie.

  4. Able Kirby says

    August 7, 2012 at 4:57 pm

    “To accomplish this, you can set up a reading or a signing at a local independent bookstore or a local author event.”

    Singing an eBook sounds like a bad idea.

    • Jackie Lrr says

      August 7, 2012 at 5:50 pm

      http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/fashion/14NOTICED.html

      Actually technology is in development. This NY Times article explains how some authors are conducting digital signings.

      • Jackie Lee says

        August 7, 2012 at 5:57 pm

        Sorry for the misspell…typing on my mobile

  5. Javier says

    August 7, 2012 at 10:29 am

    All in one. It is possible with Byeink.
    Helping Publishers & Authors to create,
    distribute and manage their eBooks in a very easy way.
    Byeink.com

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