How to publish a book or eBook: preparation
Another thing to consider at this stage: you will need a cover. A full-sized cover at 300dpi. Again, this may be something it is worth outsourcing if you have limited design skills. Don’t think the cover isn’t important. A good, professional-looking cover could mean the difference between a sale and no-sale. People do judge books by their covers. On a similar vein you should prepare marketing copy to promote your book. Every book and eBook seller will require this, and it shouldn’t be a last-minute rush job. And you may be required to produce an excerpt so people can try before they buy. Typically this should be the first 30-40 pages of your book. But don’t pick the boring ‘author’s intro’ bit. Again – put some thought into this. I’d also recommend that you set up a website. Some eBook sellers like you to have a ‘Publisher’ website, but it is just good sense anyway. You want to be able to point people toward your book onsale in all the places from which you can buy it. And links are good for search. A simple website promoting your book is a good investment. Don’t forget other minor details such as having your bank account set up to receive any payments. And think about the price. Too high and you will lose sales, but too low and people will discount your book as being amateurish. I’m a £6.99 guy. Unless you have good reason, you should be too. Finally, ISBNs. An International Standard Book Number is the unique code assigned to every book published, much like a UPC. They aren’t cheap, and they really aren’t required for an eBook, unless you are going to sell via the iBook store. Okay. Now you are ready – let’s publish. You can also earn more if you allow your title to be included in Kindle Unlimited (the subscription service where users don’t pay for individual books, but to access a library of books) and Kindle Owners Lending Library – a perk for Prime subscribers.
How to publish a book or eBook: other platforms
How to publish an eBook: aggregators
You can take away some of that pain by using an aggregator. You fill in all the data once, and the aggregator publishes to multiple platforms. If you are intending to publish to iBooks I would recommend going down this route. Two popular aggregators are Smashwords and Lulu (there are many more). You upload your manuscript, cover, descriptive terms, and payment information, and then the aggregator does the rest. Aggregators coordinate with the retail sites, and they sell the books directly themselves, as well. They will, of course, demand a cut. But it may be worth it for the reduced hassle and the opportunity to publish to all of the smaller eBook platforms all around the world. Happy publishing! Matt Egan is Global Editorial Director of IDG, publisher of Tech Advisor, and a passionate technology fan who writes on subjects as diverse as smartphones, internet security, social media and Windows.
