How to Self-Publish a Book
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The document outlines the evolution of self-publishing, emphasizing that authors can now maintain control over their work without relying on traditional publishers. It details essential reasons for writing and necessary tools for self-publishing, while stressing the importance of marketing and social media engagement. Additionally, it advises hiring professionals for design and editing to ensure the quality of self-published books.
How to Self-Publish a Book
- 1. SELF-PUBLISH A B O O K How to by Guy Kawasaki
- 2. I N T R O D U C T I O N In the old days, the only way for writers to publish a book was through a publisher. This meant finding an agent, pitching editors, and hoping that one of them likes it. Then writers would lose control of their books because the editor and publisher would oversee content, interior design, cover design, sales, and marketing. Those days are gone because of the rise of self-publishing. Now writers can publish their own books and control their own destiny.
- 3. F O R T H E R I G H T R E A S O N S Write
- 4. 4 G O O D R E A S O N S T O W R I T E (a) You have accumulated knowledge that merits sharing; (b) You want to further an idea that benefits mankind; (c) You want to entertain, amuse, or inspire people; (d) You want conquer the intellectual challenge of writing a book.
- 5. T H E R I G H T T O O L S Use
- 6. T H E S E A R E T H E T O O L S I U S E (a) Microsoft Word (writing) (b) Adobe InDesign (layout) (c) Evernote (collecting anything) (d) Dropbox (backing up)
- 8. M A R K E T I N G P L A T F O R M S O C I A L M E D I A Build a Start immediately!
- 9. K I N D L E P L A T F O R M A M A Z O N ' S Start with
- 10. O N D E M A N D UsePrint
- 12. T H E C R O W D Tap
- 13. T A P T H E C R O W D The crowd is a beautiful thing. It has helped me complete my outlines, provided me with stories to illustrate my concepts, content edited, copyedited, reviewed for Amazon, and evangelized my books. If I had to put a number to it, I’d guesstimate that feedback from the crowd makes my books 50 percent better.
- 15. P R O F E S S I O N A L S Hire
- 16. H I R E A P R O There are three ways that a book can scream, “self-published by an amateur:” Your goal should be to produce a book that is better than a New York publisher’s—think “artisanal publishing.” (a) Lousy interior design (b) Crude fonts (c) Poor copyediting
- 17. P O S T A G E S T A M P Think
- 18. T H I N K P O S T A G E S T A M P There is a fourth way that a book can scream “self-published,” and that’s a lousy cover. Canva, the company that I work for, offers a series of free templates to help you design a professional looking cover. You can also hire a professional for $1,000 to design your cover, but I encourage you to at least try making your cover from one of our templates. The most important thing about your cover is that it looks great when it’s the size of a postage stamp because that’s the format that people will see most of the time.
- 19. Y O U R e B O O K Test
- 20. You cannot quit your way to success.
- 22. Good luck on your self- publishing journey!
- 23. D E S I G N E D i n Create your own presentation at Canva.com