So, I have a friend who is a published author, but her publishing company recently shut their doors. It was probably for the best, and in the midst of it a gift actually came in the ability for this dear author friend to take her work to the next level.
It will be so much better than it was with that failed publishing house for a few reasons, but one that is foremost in my mind is that her artistic vision can be put into the hands of people who really care about seeing it thrive, to capture its beauty, and are passionate about making that creative presence shine in the modern publishing industry.
My friend has thus far been shy about drawing attention to herself, but I want to help her draw attention to what she is trying to share with the world, so as I help her take these first steps into indie publishing, I gave her some helpful advice and information for getting started.
I think this is good for any writer, aspiring indie author, and indie publisher to listen to, so I’m sharing the basics of the letter with you today. I hope you find something helpful here, and if you need more, make sure to check out my How Not to Get Overwhelmed series here on my blog.
A Letter to My Friend Just Starting Out in the World of Indie Publishing
- You should set up an account on amazon for author pages: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/
- You need to add a Kindle Direct Publishing account: https://kdp.amazon.com/
- You need to download this free Amazon/Kindle software for reviewing your books before publishing: Kindle Previewer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000765261
- You should (but it’s not essential right now) download this free one for creating your own Kindle Kids e-books in the future:
- https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000765261
- Make a Smashwords account: http://www.smashwords.com where you will be able to upload your ebooks for sale at places like Apple & Barnes & Noble, etc. w/o having to do it separately.
- Ingramspark is where you can also make hardbound books.
- I think other companies to check out for that are Blurb and Lulu.
- Lulu is the only free sign-up service of these three Print on Demand (POD)
That was the gist of the letter. I hope you found something helpful here and are encouraged to start on the journey of self publishing with class and confidence!
Please leave a comment, question, or idea! I’d love to chat!