Getting a book published

ByTheSpirit · Sep 9, 2023

So I'm new to this writing a book "business" but I do believe I have a finished product. I guess I'm curious on what steps I should take, can take, to get this book printed. Not that I'm expecting it to be a best seller, but it would be cool to have a book of my own authorship on my book shelf and maybe one or two more to pass out to friends and family.

I'm very wary of online bits, but if you folks here make a common recommendation, I will trust the community. Thank you!

JosephZ · Sep 9, 2023

The easiest and most convenient platform to use would be Kindle Direct Publishing.

ByTheSpirit · Sep 9, 2023

JosephZ said:
The easiest and most convenient platform to use would be Kindle Direct Publishing.

Thank you!

JosephZ · Sep 9, 2023

ByTheSpirit said:
Thank you!

You're welcome. I have a book published through KDP, and the quality of the books is good. You can publish your book as an ebook, paperback, or hardback.

SavedByGrace3 · Sep 10, 2023

I have a self-run publishing business through Amazon. I have written 13 books and reprinted over 100. It is exceedingly simple to do this. Write your book with any word processor that will save your book in PDF format. You pay Amazon nothing. You just send it to the site and use the online software to format and prepare it for printing. I am currently publishing a 500-page book about our family genealogy. They sell it, print it, mail it, and send you a royalty check each month. I suggest you use Word and get the Grammarly add-on. Help you get your book into professional condition for sale. I do not advertise at all. Yet I make between 500 and 800 a month doing this. Most of my books and reprints were completed before 2016. I have only produced a couple since then when I retired. Look into it. If you have any questions, I will be glad to help.

FoundWandering · Sep 10, 2023

JosephZ said:
The easiest and most convenient platform to use would be Kindle Direct Publishing.

I second that.

If you bind in paperback, each book usually only costs you about $3.75(ish). You can test the market beforehand and only publish to Kindle E-readers at first, just to find out whether or not a full printing should even be worth it.

Also, don't forget to send a copy of your finished work (either digitized file or book form) to the Library of Congress (if in the US) to start the copyrighting process.

ByTheSpirit · Sep 10, 2023

you are all so awesome! thank you!!!

AlexB23 · Sep 10, 2023

ByTheSpirit said:
So I'm new to this writing a book "business" but I do believe I have a finished product. I guess I'm curious on what steps I should take, can take, to get this book printed. Not that I'm expecting it to be a best seller, but it would be cool to have a book of my own authorship on my book shelf and maybe one or two more to pass out to friends and family.

I'm very wary of online bits, but if you folks here make a common recommendation, I will trust the community. Thank you!

Best of my wishes, and prayers that your book release goes well. Try releasing as an e-book first, and when that goes well, try paperback, as a local library may host local books there.

*Disclaimer, I'm only a young man who hasn't written any books or published/released any books.

RageOfAngels · Sep 15, 2023

Yep, I agree. KDP is really easy, and although it takes time to get the formatting right, and pricing (etc), the whole process was pretty straight forward. I've done 15 books through KDP and would recommend it to anyone who wants to get their thoughts out for others to read.

I've taken all my books off line now, which also was easy to do, but a couple of hints is to make the book the correct size (including the font) and use mirror margins so that the words don't get too close to the spine. I created my covers in word, and then used the KDP cover preview to see how it would look when finished.
I did 11 fantasy novels (think Terry Pratchett and Tolkien stuck together and then remove all the excellence, and you'd have my books!)
I also did 4 kids novels (with a Christian focal point). I did these purely for my kids, to make them think about christianity.

In a year or so I'm going to write a new book, and then put that up on Amazon, but that's a long way off.

Anyway, enough of my waffle. KDP is the way to go!

SavedByGrace3 · Sep 15, 2023

RageOfAngels said:
Yep, I agree. KDP is really easy, and although it takes time to get the formatting right, and pricing (etc), the whole process was pretty straight forward. I've done 15 books through KDP and would recommend it to anyone who wants to get their thoughts out for others to read.

I've taken all my books off line now, which also was easy to do, but a couple of hints is to make the book the correct size (including the font) and use mirror margins so that the words don't get too close to the spine. I created my covers in word, and then used the KDP cover preview to see how it would look when finished.
I did 11 fantasy novels (think Terry Pratchett and Tolkien stuck together and then remove all the excellence, and you'd have my books!)
I also did 4 kids novels (with a Christian focal point). I did these purely for my kids, to make them think about christianity.

In a year or so I'm going to write a new book, and then put that up on Amazon, but that's a long way off.

Anyway, enough of my waffle. KDP is the way to go!

I have wanted to write at least one novel but have not found the creative energy. Especially one with Christian allegories. Almost subliminal in nature.
Kudos.

har_habayit · Sep 26, 2023

SavedByGrace3 said:
I have a self-run publishing business through Amazon. I have written 13 books and reprinted over 100. It is exceedingly simple to do this. Write your book with any word processor that will save your book in PDF format. You pay Amazon nothing. You just send it to the site and use the online software to format and prepare it for printing. I am currently publishing a 500-page book about our family genealogy. They sell it, print it, mail it, and send you a royalty check each month. I suggest you use Word and get the Grammarly add-on. Help you get your book into professional condition for sale. I do not advertise at all. Yet I make between 500 and 800 a month doing this. Most of my books and reprints were completed before 2016. I have only produced a couple since then when I retired. Look into it. If you have any questions, I will be glad to help.

Wow, could you help me with this? I have a memoir about mental health that is pretty far along. I always knew that self-publishing was an option but I was always told to try to make your book as good as you can for a traditional publisher, it will make you work harder since it's much more selective. However, it seems I can publish online and also pitch the book to a publisher. Is it one or the other?

Going through the process of actually getting my book approved and placed in stores seems like it would take years. I procrastinate because of this. If I knew I could put my book on Amazon, I could probably be finished within two months.

SavedByGrace3 · Sep 26, 2023

yosef_daniel said:
Wow, could you help me with this? I have a memoir about mental health that is pretty far along. I always knew that self-publishing was an option but I was always told to try to make your book as good as you can for a traditional publisher, it will make you work harder since it's much more selective. However, it seems I can publish online and also pitch the book to a publisher. Is it one or the other?

Going through the process of actually getting my book approved and placed in stores seems like it would take years. I procrastinate because of this. If I knew I could put my book on Amazon, I could probably be finished within two months.

There is no approval process. All they really check is your formatting and copyright laws. You could publish a book of your kid's baby pictures, and they would accept it. They do search for plagiarism, so be careful with that. Read up on fair use laws.
I have found online texts of books that are out of print and republished them. All my online books are published with an ISBN number and are available in every online bookstore I can find. Kindle makes your book available to all outlets. There are things that you can do that will float your books toward the top of the search algorithms. The keywords are good. There are ways you can advertise online for reasonable prices. I have been doing this since 2012, making as much as 800 a month. The most work you will do is writing your manuscript. I use Grammarly to edit the text. It is worth the money. BTW, this is a "print on demand" business, meaning your books are printed as ordered. They do not keep copies. Also, book stores can also purchase and sell your books in mass, albeit at a reduced royalty to you.
Go to AMAZON.COM; at the bottom, you will see a link: "Self Publish With Us."

Getting a book published

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