The last month or two has been busy and full of learning how to self publish online. Since self publishing Creative Chaos, owner Kate O Lynch has been asked frequently about how to self publish online and what all it takes.
Below was taken from her post on her personal blog:
What appealed to me about self publishing was the low cost. Since I had written my book a few years back; with all of the resources available online it just seemed foolish to not get my book out there.
When I decided to self publish online, I started with a blog announcement and it went from there! Luckily I have experience with Photoshop and Illustrator and was able to design the cover of Creative Chaos on my own. Next I had to file the copyright. This can be done online really easily for approximately $35.
Then I had to obtain ISBNs, this is where the cost picks up. I went with Bowker, I know there are several sites that will issue ISBNs and even take over and get your book published online for you. I read that it is best to have an ISBN for each different version of your book you are putting out: Kindle, Nook, iBooks, PDF, physical book. When Bowker offered 1o for the price of 2, I figured that was the way to go.
Just as I was about to set out on the quest to self publish online, my friend David Yates at Ropewalkers called. We’ve worked on a few projects together and he had experience with online publishing and asked if he could help me out. I of course said yes!
This means, I’m not going to be able to walk you through getting your book into the major online bookstores. David formated it into the proper ePub form that works with your iPad, iPhone or iTouch. But my understanding is, that much like the Apple App store, you have to be approved to distribute books in their iBook store. So thanks to David the iBook version was made available on my site.
Next David got my book submitted to the Kindle store and within about 7 hours it was available for purchase.
After reading about how to self publish online to the Nook store, I ended up formatting Creative Chaos myself and submitting it to the Nook store. Once again it took about 7 hours and bam, there was my book available for the Nook.
In the midst of getting the book online, I started having people tell me they wanted a physical copy. Initially I was attempting to avoid doing this because of the cost to print. However, I have lucked out in that department because my sister-in-law Tiffany works for a printer and her family has been in printing for years, and the company she works for uses a digital press so I can print as many or as few as I’d like without breaking the bank. In book form Creative Chaos will be available starting this Tuesday.
The one last thing place I need to get my book is iBooks, but that should be really soon.
To self publish online has been relatively pain free. Like I have mentioned before one of the greatest things about this venture has been all of the encouragement I have received from so many people!
If you need help to self-publish online feel free to contact us for assistance.