Have a great idea to write an eBook but don't know how to publish it? We've got everything you need to know and how to get a review online.
Self-publishing means publishing and selling your own e-book on Amazon (or elsewhere) rather than relying on a literary agent or publisher to do it for you. In exchange for doing all the administration yourself, any benefits you receive are all yours.
That might sound a bit intimidating, but it's actually a piece of cake. Publishing an eBook is very easy and once you publish it you will earn passive income for years.
How to write and publish an e-book? MGara Coin will guide you step by step.
Key Takeaways
How to create an eBook
Publishing an eBook
Getting an ISBN
How to sell your eBook
How to Write an eBook?
Before you can Publish your eBook on Amazon (or any other platform) to make money, you just have to still do everything is a small detail of having to write the book, Unfortunately, this is the part that takes a lot of hard work and dedication Hurry and you'll end up with a junk book that no one wants to buy
We recommend creating a schedule that you can stick to, or you might end up spending years perfecting your masterpiece More importantly, knowing when your book hits shelves gives you the best chance of maximizing sales
Divide your eBook into chapters, sections, or anything else that makes the structure clear Set a deadline (be realistic) and divide the number of headlines by the number of weeks until then: This is your weekly writing goal Keep it.
Fastest Way to Write an eBook
Here is a fast and easy way to write your eBook:
- Write your first draft: This can take anywhere from three months to a year (or longer) depending on your other commitments in life. Lower your head and focus on writing the words on the page.
- Get feedback (allow two weeks): Stop playing with your blood and gather your family members to read it. Or trade with someone very talented in an English class and ask for an editorial review. Don't write fiction? Contact the appropriate department for a professional opinion.
- Editing (at least two weeks): Use the best feedback to improve your masterpiece until it reaches an inch of its useful life. Make it shine.
- Proofreading (one week): Obvious typos and inaccurate data can cost you sales, so don't skimp on them. If you can't reach a professional editor, try finding someone on Fiverr. At least give it to a few partners and challenge them to be brutal. Don't ask anyone who doesn't know their "it" or you'll be wasting your time.
Once your shiny manuscript is complete, it's time to get it ready for publication.
Heads Up: Writing a book's not the only way to make money from writing, we've more ideas in our guide.
How to Make and Publish an eBook
Once you've written your eBook, here's how to publish it:
1. Format Your eBook
Start with a clean template and configure only the styles you want to use. For example, 10-point Times New Roman, left-justified, double-spaced for the main content, or 22-point Bold Helvetica Italic for chapter headings.
Then use the predefined styles instead of clicking bold, center, or underline where you like.
Once you've chosen your eBook publishing platform, use the free Smashwords style guide as your formatting bible. It explains in (much) detail how to set up your reservation so you have fewer conversion problems.
As for file types, .doc and .docx files are the most commonly accepted, but you don't have to use Microsoft. Free alternatives like OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Google Docs - and anything else that lets you save your files with the right extension - all work fine.
Once you've uploaded and converted your eBook, always make sure to preview it on a few different e-readers and devices (definitely an Amazon Kindle). If you spot horrible typos or formatting errors, make your changes and upload a clean version.
The beauty of digitization means that You can even change The content of the eBook after publication. However, do not use this as an excuse to submit content with typos or poorly written/formatted content, as readers and reviewers will not be impressed.
2. Make an eBook Cover
Forget not to judge a book by its cover, because that's what book buyers do, all the time. The good news is that you don't have to be a Picasso to design something good, you just have to follow our common sense.
How to Design an eBook Cover
- Check the e-book publishing platform for Guidelines on the cover size or design, and follow them to the letter! Typically, all you need to provide is something like a .jpg (image) file.
- Have a look at the covers of best selling e-books to see what makes the good ones work. Is the color, font, image or something else?
- Make your title big, bold, and easy to read (no wavy font). It should be readable even on the smallest mobile screen.
- Your image should be eye-catching, go well with your cover font/size, and match your book category.
- Free image editing software like GIMP works just as well as professional staff.
- Try sites like Unsplash for free, high-quality photos.
- If you are purchasing images for your book, check how you can use them and whether you need to credit the photographer or illustrator.
- If you're not sure whether to try it yourself, you can probably find someone on Fiverr to put together a cover for you.
- Share your cover story with select friends or family members and ask them to be completely honest with you before making decision.
3. Add your Book Details
Before you can publish your book, you must provide some information about yourself and your content. Here's the cheat sheet:
Things you need to publish an eBook
- Book title: Sounds obvious, but make sure your title is exactly the same as your EPUB Title (aka your e-book file) and on the cover.
- Author's name: Yours (or who anybody wrote the book).
- Publisher name: This might be optional depending on whether you're using a free or paid ISMN.
- Rights: If you've written your own book from scratch this is usually pretty simple: you own all rights and can choose to sell your book anywhere in the world.
- Language: Whichever language your book is written in.
- Adult content disclaimer: Some platforms will ask you to explain if you've written something that explicitly contains sex, violence, or drug use (and there's little point in lying about it).
- Description: This is the bit of blurb that readers can see when they browse your book (and consider buying it).
- Category: You may be able to choose from broad categories such as fiction or non-fiction, or delve into something very specific such as fiction> science fiction> space operas. Consider choosing less popular (but still appropriate) categories for your book to increase your chances of being seen by the competition.
- Keywords: Keywords give you chances that are discovered by readers searching for books like yours. They can be words like "thriller" "romance", or even phrases. Top tip: find a book in the store that you will be in competition with it and use similar keywords of it.
- Price: Some platforms let you tailor your price of books for each country they sell to. If you aren't sure, stick with one price and let the platform make it out for you.
4. Choose a Publication Date
Most of the time, this is any data you upload or publish in your eBook. Some platforms now also allow you to select a date month in advance. What is That?
Commercial publishers promote (and market) their books before they go on sale to generate early sales and reviews or lots of sales the day the book comes out.
Setting an advance publication date, it means customers can watch your book in the store (and pre-ordered it) immediately, but they will only be able to download and read it on the day it goes live.
5. Publish Your eBook
Your eBook cannot be purchased until you activate it so don't do it. Don't forget to click the publish button.
If you change your mind later, Unpublish Your e-book is simply unpublished: this means it reverts to draft status and no longer appears in online bookstores.
The time it takes for your eBook to appear on virtual shelves (or disappear if you unpublish) depends on the Publishing platform. For some, it's a matter of hours while for others it can take weeks.
eBook ISBN Codes
ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a series of numbers (often used as a barcode on printed books) that identify the title, author, publisher, format, and price. It's a bit like a book ID card.
If you need to sell any eBook at online stores, you need an ISBN - but how do you get it?
How to Buy an ISBN Code
ISBNs don't come cheap. Nielsen, the UK ISBN agency, sells a single ISBN (for a single book) for around £100.
Although you can save big by buying blocks of ten (less than the price of two individual codes), ISBNs are registered in the name of a single publisher or individual, meaning you cannot share or sell them.
While it doesn't come cheap, having your own ISBN means you'll be listed as Publisher in any store that sells your book. Your publisher's name (the "Impressum") can be anything: "Your Name", "Your Name Book" or something completely made up like "The Awesome press" (as long as no one else uses it).
How to Get a Free ISBN
Some publishing platforms give you an ISBN for free.
Free ISBNs work the same as paid ISBNs, with one exception: the platform is registered as a publisher, so Your name appears along with your author's name the eBook is published.
Don't worry: It doesn't mean they have any rights to your content or what you do with it. Some platforms even claim that you remain a publisher before the law.
If you don't mind the publisher's name and want your eBook to go to the Market Coming As cheaply as possible, stick with a free ISBN when it's on sale.
Heads Up: Technically, you need a new ISBN for each format your book is available in (audio, print, translations). You may also need a new ISBN if you make drastic changes to the content or cover of your eBook after it's published. Check the regs with your publishing platform or the ISBN agency.
How to Sell Your eBook
Commercial publishers promote their next titles a year ahead of the release date. While you don't need to be that scared, it always pays to have some kind of game plan. Once you know when your book will be available, try launching your marketing campaign a month or two in advance.
How to Market Your eBook
Here's how to market your eBook:
- Create a website for your book along with Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram accounts. Use them to keep your followers interested in you and your book's progress, and to communicate with reviewers.
- Enter your book or other writing in competitions: but avoid anyone who charges high entry fees. There are many free gifts with great prizes and/or congratulations on offer - check BookTrust or Google.
- Get an author profile on Goodreads: It's free, and you can use it to list your book, host a Q&A and get advice from other writers.
- Published a kids' book? Contract schools or libraries and offer to read. If you've written a book about running, biking, or wrestling, submit your book ad to sports magazines or gyms.
- Contact book clubs online or in your local area and offer to do a reading, interview, or author Q&A.
How to Get Good Reviews for Your eBook
These are the best ways to receive positive reviews for your eBook:
- Get to know reviewers: Read their other reviews and follow their instructions for submitting books.
- Write a book notice: This is an A4 sheet of paper listing the most important Book Details: title, author, publisher, price, publication date, and the blurb and cover of your book, along with your contact details.
- Send your books to notice people who will read (and talk about) your book genre: Try journalists from local or national newspapers, book bloggers, and YouTube channels. Or browse the huge list of independent reviewers at theindieview.com and think global too.
- Download a copy of your converted eBook (or save it as a PFD) to send when reviewers ask to read your book: while most reviewers don't expect fully polished books, don't submit anything that's poorly formatted and full of typos (unless you want that to appear in your review). Add a disclaimer if needed: "This edition is a review copy; some content may be subject to change before publications".
- If you get particularly juicy kudos from early reviews, add it to your book's detail page or include it in the description. Some authors even update their books with a Critics' Best Quotes page.
- Got an interesting story about the publication of your book? Write a press release and send it to newspapers, magazines, and radio or TV stations. If you live in a small town, just having written one book might be enough to cover you.
- Submit your book for a free review at Booklife.com. They only accept a handful of the hundreds of submissions they get, but nabbing one gives you plenty of credibilities (and possible inclusion in leading US trade mag Publisher weekly).
- As tempting as it may be, don't respond to customer reviews. Not even on Amazon! if it's glowing five-star praise, just enjoy feeling amazing. If it doesn't... well, don't lose sleep over it. Negative reviews will not destroy your book. However, if you find yourself getting a lot, check if you missed something.
Heads Up: Be wary of paying for reviews. Some stores, including Amazon, have been known to remove paid reviews and/or the book in question. Amazon can even block reviews from people you know (we don't know how they know, we only know it's freaky).
