1. HOW TO
MAKE A BOOK
The Pressbooks Guide to Self-Publishing
selfpublishing.pressbooks.com
pressbooks.com
support@pressbooks.com

2. TODAY’S TO-DO LIST
1. Learn how to turn a Manuscript into a Book.

3. TOMORROW’S TO-DO LIST
1. Turn your a Manuscript into a Book.

4. THERE ARE
TWO WAYS
TO DO THIS.

5. (TRY) TO
GET PUBLISHED
(BY SOMEONE ELSE)
OR
BECOME A
(SELF)-PUBLISHER

6. GET PUBLISHED
(BY SOMEONE ELSE)
PRO CON
Brick-and-mortar bookstore
distribution (sometimes)
Lower royalties
Professional editing, design,
cover, marketing (maybe)
Constraints on what you can
do: marketing, pricing,
promotion, giveaways
etc. etc.

7. (SELF-)PUBLISH
PRO CON
Can publish in a matter
of days
Selling books is hard
Higher royalties
Editor, Production Editor,
Designer, Marketer not
included
etc. etc.

8. THE REST
OF THIS PRESENTATION
IS FOR
those who want to be (self-)publishers

9. HOW TO
MAKE A BOOK

10. 1. WRITING: getting your words onto the page
2. EDITING: polishing your words
3. PRODUCTION: turning your words into a “real” book
— ebooks and print books including covers
4. SELLING: getting your book into stores
5. MARKETING: (trying to) get people to buy your book

11. PART ONE:
WRITING

12. “A word after a word after a word is power.”
― Margaret Atwood

13. Ready to write? You can work in Word (or
your favourite writing software), or login to
pressbooks.com and write & style your
book directly in our online editor.

14. “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter
and bleed.”
― Ernest Hemingway
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story
inside you.”
― Maya Angelou
“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put
one word after another until it’s done. It's that easy, and that hard.”
― Neil Gaiman
“I hate writing. I love having written.”
― Dorothy Parker
“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
― Jack London

15. PART TWO:
EDITING

16. “The first draft of anything is sh*t.”
― Ernest Hemingway

17. Editing is part of what turns
a manuscript into a book.
Traditionally, publishers took
on the critical role of editing.

18. If you are self-publishing, an
external editor is not
necessary, but is highly
recommended.

19. TYPES OF EDITING
• Developmental editing (early stages/shaping)
• Line editing (to improve writing and voice)
• Copy editing (grammar and beyond)
• Style editing (Chicago, APA, MLA, AP or other)
• Proofreading (to catch typos and misspellings)

20. You can easily edit your book in
pressbooks.com. Our system tracks changes,
allows you to add editors or reviewers as
collaborators, and lets you fix errors and typos
and reexport all your files for publication as
many times as you want.

21. If you are looking for a great editor, you can
contact your local writer’s federation, or try:
* bubblecow.co.uk
* writerly.com

22. PART THREE:
PRODUCTION

23. "Of all the things which man can do or make
here below, by far the most momentous,
wonderful and worthy are the things we call
books."
— Thomas Carlyle

24. WHAT FILES DO YOU NEED
TO PUBLISH YOUR BOOK?
1. PRINT FILES
…and/or…
2. EBOOK FILES
…and…
3. COVER FILES
NOTE: Covers are different for print and ebooks.

25. PRINT FILES
To make a print book, you need a designed
PDF file, called an “interior file.”
PDF interior files look like … “books”:
title page, page numbers, chapter headings,
etc. etc.

26. pressbooks.com produces beautiful
print book files automatically for you —
without you having to learn anything
about book design, or hiring a designer.

27. EBOOK FILES
“Ebooks” are special files used in ebook reading
devices (such as a Kindle). There are two (main)
kinds of ebooks:
MOBI: the file format used by Amazon Kindle
EPUB: the file format used by Apple’s iBooks,
Kobo, Nook, Google and just about every
other ebook platform

28. pressbooks.com produces beautiful
ebooks for you — without you having to
learn anything about ebook file
formatting, coding or hiring an ebook
developer.

29. COVER FILES
Ebooks and print books have different cover file needs:
EBOOKS: a single file, JPG, 1:1.5 aspect ratio, maximum
2MB.
PRINT: a PDF file, sized according to the trim size and
page length of your book. A print cover has three
parts: front cover, back cover and spine.

30. Need a great cover?
Here are some places to go to get your
covers made:
* octagonlab.com ($47-247)
* fiverr.com ($5 and up)

31. WHY
PRESSBOOKS.COM
WAS INVENTED:
To make it easy for anyone to
produce (the files needed to
publish) beautiful books.

32. 4-STEP GUIDE TO
MAKING A BOOK
WITH PRESSBOOKS

33. 1.
ADD YOUR BOOK INFORMATION
(Title, Author, etc.)

35. 2.
IMPORT, ADD, EDIT &
REARRANGE
YOUR CHAPTERS

38. 3.
CHOOSE A THEME
(BOOK DESIGN)

40. 4.
EXPORT YOUR BOOK IN
PDF, EPUB & MOBI

42. Now you can download your files …
and do what you like with them!

43. PART FOUR:
SELLING

44. “I am fatally attracted to all bookstores.”
― Lewis Buzbee

45. You’ve written your book.
You’ve edited your book.
You’ve produced your files.
You’ve got a “book” now!
But it’s not a book until people can buy it.

46. SELLING EBOOKS
There are 5 big ebook stores you want to be in:
• Kindle (< it’s easy to publish here yourself)
• Kobo (< it’s easy to publish here yourself)
• Nook Press (< it’s easy to publish here yourself)
• Google Play (< it’s a bit harder to publish here)
• Apple iBooks (< it’s a pain in the butt to publish here)

47. PRINT-ON-DEMAND
Print-on-demand (POD) technology means you can
print one copy of a book economically.
With POD, you can sell your book in online stores
(such as Amazon). When someone buys your book,
the book is printed, and shipped directly to the
buyer.
This means that it is just as easy to publish a PRINT book
as it is to publish an EBOOK.

48. PRINT-ON-DEMAND
There are two good ways to sell your POD book:
• createspace (Amazon only)
• IngramSpark (Amazon & everywhere else,
hardcover print-on-demand, PLUS ebook
distribution too!)

49. WHAT ABOUT ISBN?
• An ISBN is an “International Standard Book Number” …
which helps the industry track sales.
• You need a different ISBN for your print and ebook versions
of the same book.
• Some bookstores require an ISBN ( such as Kobo).
• Some ebook stores don’t (such as Apple, Kindle, Nook
Press).
• Smashwords, createspace, Amazon will all give you free
ISBNs.
• BookBaby will charge you $19 for an ISBN.
• If you are in the USA you can buy ISBNs from bowker.com.

50. HOW DO YOU GET YOUR
BOOK INTO BOOKSTORES?
You can get your ebooks into ebook stores yourself.
Or, you can get a distributor to do it for you.
Some recommended distributors are:
• Smashwords (they take 15%, don’t distribute to Amazon)
• IngramSpark (costs $49 + % of sales; advantage: they will do
ebooks AND print-on-demand and hardcover print-on-demand)
• INscribe Digital (for authors with more than 5 books)

51. PART FIVE:
MARKETING

52. “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates
the talented individual from the successful one is
a lot of hard work.”
– Stephen King

53. Marketing your book is hard.

54. HERE ARE SOME
MARKETING SUGGESTIONS
• Learn about / include SEO & metadata for search.
• Amass as many reviewers and (good) ratings as you
can get.
• Build an email list!!
• Communicate on social media.
• Have a website/blog!
• Go to in-person events: book signings, book fairs…
• Get media coverage.
• Guest-post on other people’s blogs. Link back.

55. Marketing your book is up to you.
Here are some great marketing bloggers you
should read:
• Jane Friedman: http://janefriedman.com/blog/
• Hugh Howey: http://www.hughhowey.com/
• Joanna Penn: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/
• James Altucher: http://www.jamesaltucher.com/
• Carla King: http://selfpubbootcamp.com/
• Chris Brogan: http://chrisbrogan.com/
• Emily Craven: http://ebookrevolution.com.au/

56. BOTTOM LINE

57. HOW MUCH DOES
ALL THIS COST?
• WRITING: free (if you do it!)
• EDITING: Average around $7.50/page (~$1,500-2000/regular novel)
• PRODUCTION FILES:
– Ebook: $19/title, one-time fee, unlimited edits & exports (in Pressbooks)
– PDF: $99/title, one-time fee, unlimited edits & exports (in Pressbooks)
– Cover: From $5 to $2,500 (we recommend $100-200)
• SELLING:
– EBOOKS: Free (minus % to retailer and/or distributor)
– PRINT: Manufacturing fee per book sold, plus % to retailer /distributor
• MARKETING: Depends on your time and budget

58. HOW
PRESSBOOKS.COM
CAN HELP

59. Turning your manuscript into a real book is a
long, tough process.
PRESSBOOKS.COM
makes part of that process
— making beautiful ebooks and print books —
easy for everyone.

60. Make your book today at:
PRESSBOOKS.COM
or…
send questions to:
support@pressbooks.com