WHAT IS SELF-PUBLISHING?

Self-publishing is the process of getting your finished manuscript out there in a form that readers can actually buy. These services are for writers who have finished, edited manuscripts and who need help with any of these things:

• Finding someone to provide additional services for your book, such as an illustrator, cover and/or interior designer, book-marketing specialist, or indexer

• Writing your blurb (a.k.a. back-cover copy)

• Doing the actual self-publishing:

  • • • • Choosing a self-publishing service (such as Smashwords, Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu, etc.)

        • Formatting your manuscript for self-publication

        • Getting your book set up on your chosen platform (uploading the manuscript, filling out the metadata, etc.)

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Of course, each writer and each manuscript is different. But in general, here’s how each service works.

FINDING A SERVICE PROVIDER

Price: Starts at $60 USD

• You and I hammer out what kind of provider you’re looking for, what you need from that person, your budget, and issues such as the following:

  • • • • Illustrator: Style, medium, number of illustrations, etc.

        • Cover and/or interior designer: Style, type of book, any special formatting considerations, etc.

        • Book-marketing specialist: Your intended audience, pricing, genre(s), how this book is different from others in the same genre(s), what marketing you’ve already done, etc.

        • Indexer: Extent of the index, turnaround time, etc.

• I help you find the type of provider you need. If we can’t find the right person/people for you among my contacts, I’ll help you find someone else.

WRITING YOUR BLURB (A.K.A. BACK-COVER COPY)

Price: Starts at $100 USD

• You send me an electronic copy of your book to read.

• I read the book so I can understand the story/argument and the main points the audience needs to know to pique their interest.

• I write the blurb and send it to you.

DONE-FOR-YOU SELF-PUBLISHING

Price: Starts at $250 USD

• You and I discuss what results you’re hoping to get from self-publishing: number of copies, format (ebook, print, or both), whether you need to include photos/illustrations, etc.

• I help you choose which self-publishing service(s) to use, such as Smashwords, Amazon, IngramSpark, etc.

• I either format the manuscript for upload myself (if I’m familiar with the platform) or have the designer do it.

• I upload the formatted manuscript to your chosen platform and fill out the metadata required by the platform (author name, genre, etc.)