This document provides an overview of the self-publishing process for authors. It defines self-publishing, notes that the stigma around it is diminishing as digital publishing has made it more accessible. Many famous authors were initially self-published. The pros of self-publishing include full creative control and faster time to market, while cons are marketing responsibilities and limited distribution. Steps outlined include writing, editing, designing a cover, formatting for platforms, uploading the book, and launching with promotional efforts like a blog tour. Overall earnings are discussed by genre, with romance typically earning the most for self-published authors.

1. SELF-PUBLISHING
a step-by-step process for indie authors

2. Introduction to Self-publishing

3. WHAT IS SELF-PUBLISHING?
➤ Publishing a piece of one’s
own writing at one’s own
expense.

4. THE SELF-PUBLISHING STIGMA
➤ At one time, choosing to self-publish had a
stigma. Self-published authors were often
frowned upon and not considered “real”
authors.
➤ Actually, only about 6% of books
published each year are produced via
traditional royalty publishers, so the indie
publishers are in the vast majority.
➤ The advent of digital publishing and print-
on-demand technology have enabled
authors to self-publish on a low budget,
vastly increasing the number of self-
published books. The trend toward self-
publishing and “hybrid” publishing will
likely only increase.
➤ The best way to push past the stigma of
self-publishing is to produce a great
product and promote it well.

5. FAMOUS SELF-PUBBED AUTHORS
➤ E.L. James (Fifty Shades of Grey)
➤ Stephen King (The Plant)
➤ Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol)
➤ Edgar Allan Poe (Tamerlane and Other Poems)
➤ Mark Twain (Huckleberry Finn)
➤ Benjamin Franklin (The Way to Wealth)
➤ William Strunk Jr. (The Elements of Style)
➤ Robert James Waller (Bridges of Madison
County)
➤ Irma S. Rombauer (The Joy of Cooking, 1931)
➤ John Grisham (A Time to Kill)
➤ Jack Canfield & Mark Hensen (Chicken Soup
for the Soul)

6. PROS OF SELF-PUBLISHING
➤ Gets your work into the market faster.
Traditional publishing can take years from
concept to complete product.
➤ Higher royalty rates than traditional
publishing.
➤ Full creative control. Full rights to
product.
➤ Empowerment.
➤ Great for speakers (back of room sales)
➤ Great for business persons (books are
replacing business cards & brochures)
➤ Great stepping stone toward traditional
publishing, if that is your goal

7. CONS OF SELF-PUBLISHING
➤ Not all self-pubbed books sell well. The
average indie author made $10,000 in 2011.
About half made less than $500.
➤ A certain amount of technical skill is involved
in formatted, but those tasks can be easily
outsourced.
➤ All marketing falls on the author’s shoulders
(although many traditional publishers depend
upon self-marketing by their authors).
➤ Less prestige than traditional publishing
(although that trend is turning).
➤ Distribution is more limited than traditionally
published authors (again, this is turning to
accommodate the fast-growing indie
publishing trend).
➤ Certain costs must be fronted, especially if
you outsource editing, design, marketing, etc.
➤ Ineligibility for many literary awards.

8. WHY CHOOSE SELF-PUBLISHING?
➤ Time-sensitive
➤ Creative Control
➤ Higher royalty percentage
➤ Rejection by traditional publishers
➤ Insanity
➤ Every author who chooses to self-publish
has his or her own reasons

9. AVERAGE ANNUAL EARNINGS BY GENRE
(FOR SELF-PUBLISHED FICTION IN 2011)
➤ Romantic Fiction - $17,000
➤ Science Fiction - $3,800
➤ Fantasy Fiction - $3,200
➤ Literary Fiction - $2,800
➤ In 2014, the median income of self-
published authors (fiction and nonfiction)
was about $5,000, with nearly 20 percent
reporting no income.
➤ In 2014, the median income of traditionally
published authors ranged between $5,000
and $9,999, whereas hybrid authors earned
an average of between $15,000 and $19,999.
➤ In 2014, 1.8 percent of self-published
authors (fiction and nonfiction) earned
more than $100,000 in 2014, compared to
8.8 percent of traditionally published
authors and 13.4 percent of hybrid authors.

13. Tips & Info for Indie Authors

14. BEFORE YOU PUBLISH
➤ Write the best book possible
➤ Get it edited by another person -
barter or hire someone. Check
with local colleges. Some grad
students take on freelance editing
projects for lower fees than a
professional editing service.
➤ Get your marketing plan in place.
➤ Build an email list so you’ll have
a ready-made market for your
book.
➤ Set up a professional author
website.

15. SELF-PUBLISHING OPTIONS
➤ Form your own publishing
company
➤ Pay a “vanity press” to publish
for you
➤ Assisted-publishing services
➤ Total do-it-yourself

16. COSTS OF SELF-PUBLISHING
➤ Forming your own publishing
company can cost thousands
of dollars
➤ Paying a vanity press can cost
thousands of dollars - beware
of extra add-ons, especially
promotional packages
➤ Assisted publishing services
are often reasonable. You can
usually pay for only what you
need, such as editing, cover
design, interior layout, etc.
➤ Total DIY - Minimal costs

17. SELF-PUBLISHING SUCCESS TIPS
➤ Get Edited. Self-published books that are edited by
another party (either paid or unpaid) earn 13%
more than self-edited books.
➤ Get a Professional Cover. Self-published books with
a professionally designed cover earn 34% more than
“homemade” covers.
➤ Get Reviews. Books that launch with at least 50
reviews on Amazon get more attention than those
with fewer reviews.
➤ Write a Lot. The average daily word count of indie
authors who indicated they can live exclusively off
their writing earnings is 2,047.
➤ Publish Often. Of indie writers who earn a full-time
living, 24% plan to release five or more works each
year. “Traditional publishers focus on selling thousands of
copies of a few hundred books, whereas successful indie
publishers focus on selling hundreds of copies of a few
thousand books.”
➤ Traditionally published authors who switch to self-
publishing earn 2.5 times more than rejected
authors who went straight to self-publishing.

18. SELF-PUBLISHING FORMATS
➤ Print (Hardback and Softcover)
➤ Digital (PDF, MOBI, ePub)
➤ Audio

19. SELF-PUBLISHING TOOLS
➤ IngramSpark or Amazon KDP for Print
➤ Microsoft Word (word-processing, PDF
creation)
➤ Scrivener
➤ Vellum (easiest way to output eBooks)
➤ KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)
➤ SmashWords (eBooks)
➤ Audacity (audio raw files)
➤ Audio books (ACX)
➤ No matter which format you choose or
which tool you choose to create your
desired format, you MUST ensure your
files comply with the criteria. Use preview
tools when available.

20. Quotes about Self-publishing

21. QUOTES FROM SOME EXPERTS
➤ “Anyone who says it’s easy to self-publish a book
is either lying or doing a crappy job.” ~ Nan
McCarthy
➤ “Whatever you may have heard, self-publishing
is not a short cut to anything. Except maybe
insanity. Self-publishing, like every other kind of
publishing, is hard work. You don’t wake up one
morning good at it. You have to work for that.”
~ Zoe Winters
➤ “Writing a book makes you an expert in the
field. At the very least, when you hand someone
a book you wrote, it’s more impressive than
handing a business card.” ~ James Altucher
➤ “The good news about self-publishing is you get
to do everything yourself. The bad news about
self publishing is you get to do everything
yourself.” ~ Lori Lesko
➤ “Authors today need a publisher as much as they
need a tapeworm in their guts.” ~ Rayne Hall

22. The Self-publishing Process

23. SELF-PUBLISHING CHECKLIST
➤ Start with an author website and start blogging
➤ If you’re unsure what to put on your author
website, check out my free roadmap & video series.
You can sign up at my website: lindafulkerson.com
➤ Set up a lead capture system on your website and
communicate with your readers via email (Your
email list will become your best sales tool once
your book is published)
➤ Set up social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and GoodReads and
start engaging with your audience
➤ Set up a budget for your book - minimum $500 for
cover & interior design and formatting. Add
another $1,000 for professional editing if you can
➤ Write your book
➤ Edit your book
➤ Submit book to beta readers for feedback
➤ Make revisions as necessary

24. CHECKLIST (CONT.)
➤ Have your book edited by someone else (free, paid,
or bartered)
➤ Set up an Amazon author page
➤ Register for accounts at KDP (Kindle and Amazon
Print), ACX (for Audible & iTunes), IngramSpark,
and Smashwords (Apple)
➤ Buy an ISBN series from Bowker (or use one
provided by Amazon)
➤ Set launch date for book
➤ Write back cover copy
➤ Hire (or do it yourself) someone to design the book’s
interior and format the layout to conform with
Amazon’s and IngramSpark’s criteria
➤ Hire a cover designer (unless you a trained graphics
designer, don’t even attempt to design your own
cover - see next slides to see the difference between
homemade and professional covers). This is the ONE
area you cannot skimp on. View the screenshot in
the next slide to see the difference between a
“homemade” cover and one designed professionally.

26. CHECKLIST (CONT.)
➤ Purchase or create (if you’re a designer)
promotional graphics to use when
launching your book (see examples in the
next two slides). Make your promo
materials match the tone of your book.
➤ Visit bookmarketinggraphics.com for ideas
on what types of graphics to use when
promoting your books.

29. CHECKLIST (CONT.)
➤ Write a tagline
➤ Create a One-Sheet for promotional use
➤ Develop a media kit and publish it to your
author website.
➤ Identify potential reviewers
➤ Set up a blog tour, book signings, and
public speaking engagements (esp. for
nonfiction)
➤ Format (or hire it done) your book for
Kindle (In my opinion, using Vellum is the
easiest way to do this)
➤ Upload your digital files (interior and cover
image) to Amazon and/or IngramSpark for
printed books. Order proof copies.
➤ Upload digital files (interior and cover
image) to KDP for Kindle eBooks.

30. CHECKLIST (CONT.)
➤ Upload digital audio files to ACX for audio books
(Tip: Use high-quality recording equipment or
your files will be rejected)
➤ Wait for approval of your uploaded files
➤ Prepare for your book launch - distribute media
kit & promotional graphics to your launch team
➤ Start book blog tour
➤ Publish your book’s landing page on your website
➤ Publish BUY links to all social media channels
and on your website
➤ Send email launch series to your list
➤ Update Amazon & GoodReads author pages to
include new release
➤ Host an online book launch party via Facebook
Events
➤ These are just a few launch tips - book marketing
is a whole ’nother topic :)

31. SOURCES FOR STATISTICS CITED
➤ The Guardian
➤ Dan Poynter
➤ Amazon.com
➤ Joanna Penn (The Creative Penn)
➤ Huffington Post
➤ AuthorEarnings.com
➤ Forbes