My first two blog entries gave a brief overview of the self-publishing world.  It’s obviously more complex and varied than can be conveyed in a few simple paragraphs. Below is a link to a blog entry on Book Garage, titled “Pros and Cons of being an Indie publisher,” aka self-publisher.  It is well worth reading for an overview. 

http://bookgarage.com/blog/2015/06/16/pros-and-cons-of-being-an-indie-author/

Book Garage is an interesting organization that seeks to link the three segments of self-publishing for mutual benefit:  author, publishing services and reader.  You have to sign up to get their newsletters, but the blogs (such as the one above) indicate a wholly transparent effort.

http://bookgarage.com/

My Progress:

I am just about done with self-publishing Out of Time:  An alternative outcome to the Civil War.  I first put this 97,000 word novel on Amazon Kindle in 2014, but after retirement went over the book again and made some changes for greater clarity.  I uploaded the revision in April 2015.  (This is one of the great advantages of e-books; uploading a revision costs nothing.)  Kindle, of course, is not the only e-reader out there.  Seeking the widest possible e-book distribution, I recently uploaded it to Smashwords, which distributes to all the other e-readers.  The book is now in their Premium Status program, which means it meets certain criteria for cover quality and formatting.    

Satisfied with my revision, I decided to also produce a paperback.  Many authors forgo print publishing, since it adds expense and (usually) generates less sales volume than e-books.  However, Out of Time is a niche book, and I want to be able to send physical copies to potential reviewers, who prefer paper over digital.  So I sent the Word file to CreateSpace for print publication, and this version should be out soon. 

To upload a book to Kindle and Smashwords, you have to have the text in proper format.  I always use a professional for this task.  My cost for both files (one for Kindle and one for Smashwords) is $100; there are plenty of free-lancers out there who do an excellent job.  I also paid $100 for a professionally-designed cover, done with my recommendations for the pictures you see here. 

I also spent a few hundred dollars on beta-readers, who read the text and made many helpful suggestions.  Finally, I spent $350 for an interior design package with CreateSpace; there is no point in publishing a dull-looking book that will only turn off readers.  My total cost to date for Out of Time is thus about $850, which seems like a lot, but you can spend much more (fancier cover design, multiple professional edits). 

 

Kindle e-book:

http://www.amazon.com/Out-Time-Alternative-Outcome-Civil-ebook/dp/B00K34RINA/lakesidepress
 
Smashwords (for all other e-book formats):
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/552121

Print version:  Coming soon from Create Space