The Only Guide You’ll Need to Self-Publish Your Novel

The internet has completely revolutionized many industries, and the book publishing industry is one of them. Not only are there eBooks and new formats for novels, but there are also ways you can publish your novel by yourself and become a success. Doing it yourself does, of course, mean you need to do all the work by yourself, but it also means you have complete control and full rights. This control means it’s not just an option for those whose work wasn’t picked up by a publisher, either, but an option for every author to consider. Follow this guide, and you will know all the steps needed to self-publish your novel:

Edit

Unless you are very shrewd when it comes to editing, you will want to hire a professional editing service. There are many former editors out there who freelance their expertise that you can hire to do the job for you. They will work with you to create the best version of your novel, from grammar to content. You should not attempt to publish without first excessive editing. Your work should go through several drafts until you are happy with it.

Format

The industry standard for formatting is to use Adobe’s InDesign. Thankfully with Adobe’s new subscription plans, you can now purchase InDesign at an affordable rate, and you only need to have it for the duration of your formatting purposes. This means if it takes you less than a month to have all the pages in the right place, then you only need to pay for one month’s use. There are free tutorials online to help you format your book accordingly.

Book Cover

Every book needs a cover, which is why the next step is to make a book cover. You can, of course, have an artist create one for you, but unless you have a substantial budget to commission a reputable talent, you are better off with making one on your own. Most mid-range cover creators will use stock photography and design tools you can easily access yourself. Instead of relying on them, however, creating your own cover will help you minimize costs and retain complete control over its final image.

Publish

There are many self-publishing tools out there, but arguably the best to use is Amazon’s CreateSpace. CreateSpace will allow you to upload your book, gain, and ISBN, and have access to Amazon’s print-on-demand service. It means Amazon customers can buy a physical copy of your book without you needing to pay for printing in advance. The costs are therefore absorbed, allowing you to share your work on a huge marketplace without paying for it.

Self-publishing means you have to pay for all the costs associated with publishing a book or doing all the work by yourself. If you are up to the challenge, however, you can publish your book and retain full rights and profits. Work on growing a community and communicating with influencers, bookshops, and news outlets to market yourself, and you too can become a self-made success.