My first self published book

Self publishing a photo book is easier than you think. I have done it myself in the past so I know it can be done. I am not going to lie to you it was frustrating to do.  Yet, the drive to accomplish the goal kept me pushing forward until I did it.  

The photo book I wanted to create was one of photographs of a flood that wiped out 2/3 of my hometown. It was a photographic essay of the damage. Here is a link for it on Amazon. 

I tried to compose it in MS word, but was unable to do so, so I downloaded open office and went that route.  I had to move all the images in one directory, and saved the open office file there as well.  In that word processor, I was able to insert, resize and format the photos the way I needed to. I wrote the text in MS word and then copied and pasted it into Open Office. 

After it was all exactly as I wanted it to be I saved it as a pfd file and uploaded it to Createspace, I choose to use that website to handle the self publishing of the photo book because I had created other books there. I knew it would be a low profit margin but I wanted the book to get out there so people could buy it. Because it was in full color, the profit margin was low.  I had to make it twenty bucks, so that I could make at least a $5 dollar profit on it. I was splitting that $5 bucks with my community.

Would I take this route of self publishing a photo book again? Sure, I would because even with the low profit margin the book has merit. People want this book because it is a part of local history. 

Self Publishing is Easy

Self publishing is easier than you think. I have done it with print books and eBooks.  I am by no means an expert but I can do it. Trust me if I can do this so can you. Self publishing a book is easy if you follow a simple plan, stay on task and do the work.

First type up the book in MS Word or Open Office, both have their benefits and downfalls. If it is a textbook stick with MS Office as a doc, but if it has a photo book go with Open Office as a doc then a pdf.   Once you have edited, checked and rechecked the file for errors and you consider it all done upload it to either Creatspace or Lulu.

I prefer to go the route of self publishing my books on Creatspace, as it just seems easier and the profit margin seems more to me.  No matter which web site you use to make your dream a reality, it will cost you in the end.  Createspace does not cost you to upload files or selling your book, instead it keeps a bigger share of the profits than the give you.

If your dream is to write a book and agents are not biting, perhaps the business of self publishing is for you. 

There is a good reason for self publishing my own books. In a world where the tight economy exists, I have to make every penny count.  I do not have money to print off copies of my baby and pay to mail them to an agent.  I do not have the time to waste sending a file of my book and have it sit in an editor’s e-box for months. I need to make money now, now five months from now. I need to pay bills and support my children.

My reasons for self-publishing my own books may be different from yours. Really though behind every one who goes this route, the bottom line is we all want money sooner.  I write it is my job first, sure, there are some things I enjoy writing more than others. However, money is always the bottom line here. I write to pay the bills and live.   

My fiction books are my passion. I love to write fiction. There are no agents banging on my door, so self publishing my books is my way of finding them.  I have been watching so indie authors and they gave up on the agent thing. Instead, they created their own files, found the audience and then the agents and publishers came calling. 

Indie authors

I have been watching self-publishing Indie authors who are getting the writing success they deserve.  Like a little fly on the wall, I have silently been following their careers and have been learning a lot.  I may not ever see their success but the only way I will never know unless I try here.

Most of these people gave up on the traditional route of finding an agent. The agents might send your manuscript to a publisher if you are lucky. The agents have tons of manuscripts on their desks, and it your book does not catch his or her eye into the slush pile it goes.  Sorry but my baby deserves better than a slush pile either the physical kind or the virtual kind.  I do not have the money to piss away coping and mailing my manuscript to numerous agents.

Therefore, I choose to go the self-publishing route and I am seeing positive returns. It is nothing to live off yet, but I am not giving up on my dream of being a successful author. I have only been self publishing since October of 2011, but it only took me two months to get my e-books and print copies to where they were more profitable than the meager page views I received from half a dozen content sites where I have been pouring my time in for the past four years.

My drive and determination are fueling me to push harder for that self-publishing success I seek. I may never see millions of sales like Amanda Hocking, but I never will if I do not try my hardest.  

Create a book quickly

Article writers who have a lot of themed content on various web sites have enough for a book, if those articles are nonexclusive to the site you first put them on.

 If you write parenting topics, I bet you could group them together in sections to provide a parenting handbook.  There is a lot of completion out there for parenting topics so you would need to focus on a specific topic such as parenting a special needs child but it could be done.

Did you know that Amazon would allow you to upload a file free in there Kindle section? Of course it has to be the right type of file but that file with the right info could make you some serious.  The beauty of a Kindle book is that it does not need to be the size of a regular book as far as word count goes.    20k is a good minimum to start for an ebook.