Historically, if you wanted to know how to publish a book, you needed an agent to get a traditional publisher to look at your manuscript.
In fact, many publishing companies won’t even open a manuscript if it doesn’t come through an agent…
Which makes learning how to publish a book way more difficult.
Not to mention the fact that going through all that work to just land an agent isn’t necessary if you want to publish a book.
What’s worse is even if they do open it, it’s still unlikely that your book will be published and sold in bookstores!
*Cue the groans and grumbles of irritation*
So is there a better method?
Yes! It’s called self-publishing, and as a 6-time bestselling author who’s broken down my system in our Become a Bestseller program, I’m here to go over how to publish a book.
Here’s how to publish a book step-by-step:
- Decide Why You Want to Publish a Book
- Write Your Book
- Get Feedback Before Publishing Your Book
- Choose a Book Title
- Hire a Great Book Editor
- Design a Book Cover that Converts
- Create Your Kindle Direct Publishing Account
- Format and Upload your Book
- Self-Publish Your Book
- Price Your Book
- Form a Launch Team
- Maximize Book Launch Exposure
- Celebrate Publishing a Book!
In fact, there is another way for your book to not only be
What is Self-Publishing?
Self-publishing is the act of independently publishing your book on a platform like Amazon without the need of a traditional publishing house.
Personally speaking, I’ve self-published 6 bestselling non-fiction books on Amazon, sold tens of thousands of copies, and continue to collect thousands per month in royalty checks.
The success of my books has been directly responsible for the strong performance of my business, which has grown to over 7 figures in less than 2 years.
Self-publishing a book is done with these steps:
- Write a book you’re proud of
- Decide which self-publishing platform to use
- Get your book edited, a cover designed, and it formatted
- Upload your manuscript and accompanying assets
- Hit “Publish” when you’re read
- Your book is self-published!
It’s really that easy.
Five years ago, in order to achieve this level of publishing success, you would have needed to be extremely lucky to even land an agent who would attempt to find you a deal at one of the “Big 5” publishing houses.
This is no longer the case.
Not only do you no longer need one of the “Big 5” companies to publish your book, now self-published authors are actively turning down offers from publishing companies!
So If you are trying to publish your book and are having no luck landing a publisher, self-publishing could be the best option for you.
Better yet, making the decision to learn how to navigate the self-publishing world the right away can save you countless wasted hours.
Whether you want to do it yourself or work with one of the many self-publishing companies out there, we can help.
[Pssst! Want to see some of our students’ published books? Check out the SPS library here!]
What’s the Difference Between Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing?
It’s easy to look at these two publishing routes and get confused. Why would someone self-publish a book when there are companies dedicated to doing it for you? There are actually many reasons.
What is the difference between self-publishing vs traditional publishing?
Self-publishing is a completely independent route with no barriers to entry whereas traditional publishing involves the acts of querying, landing an agent, and getting approved by a publishing house.
Check out the video above for more details on choosing self-publishing or traditional publishing.
Here’s a chart detailing what you receive through self-publishing versus traditional publishing.
| What You Get | Self-Publishing | Traditional Publishing |
|---|---|---|
| Sole control of your book's outcome | ✓ | X |
| Sole control of your book's rights | ✓ | X |
| Control over the story | ✓ | X |
| Control over the cover | ✓ | X |
| 100% of royalties | ✓ | X |
| Editing included | X | ✓ |
| Cover design | X | ✓ |
| Marketing | X | X |
| Deadlines | X | ✓ |
How Much Does it Cost to Publish a Book?
Pricing to publish a book varies greatly depending on its length, production costs, and the retail price you set.
That being said, it’s important to be prepared when it comes to how much you’ll actually pay to self-publish a book.
There are a number of factors that contribute to how much it costs to self-publish a book:
- The length of your book (this impacts printing costs)
- Getting your book edited
- The book cover design
- Any promotional ads/materials you want to utilize
- Another surprising, lesser-known cost I cover in the video below
How to Publish a Book in 2020
So many writers get overwhelmed with the abundance of information about the self-publishing process, what it’ll cost, how to do it right, how to come up with a good book idea, and more.
I’ve created a step-by-step comprehensive self-publishing guide that will walk you through the beginning steps of how to write your book all the way to how to self-publish it on Amazon’s Kindle (KDP) Network.
Let’s get started so you can get started!
#1 – Decide Why You Want to Learn How to Publish a Book
What you need to decide first when self-publishing a book, is WHY you want to write a book.
I encourage going through this brainstorming process as it’s the only way to ensure that you’re 100% committed to writing a book (and you’re doing it for the right reasons).
This is a huge step that’s largely responsible for our Become a Bestseller students to write and publish so quickly.
Here are some questions for you to decide why you want to publish a book:
- Are you an entrepreneur or freelancer with a new business trying to get a leg up on your competition by publishing a book?
- Do you want to leverage your skills and knowledge to become a paid speaker or coach?
- Do you have a well-established business and you want to write a book to diversify your income streams and land speaking engagements?
- Or do you already have a successful story, and want to build an asset that will share the knowledge and skills you’ve gained over decades of experience?
- Do you have a larger number of book ideas or prompts you need to start writing?
Action Plan:
Come up with at least 10 valid reasons why you want to write a book. Use the questions above as a starting guide to brainstorm.
#2 – Write Your Book
If you’ve ever tried to start writing a book, you might have had moments where you’ve stared at a blank page for hours with nothing to show for it. Feeling frustrated, you resort to procrastinating and get nothing done!
This is normal, writing a book is hard work.
In fact, coming up with a book idea
Here’s are some effective ways to write a book worth self-publishing:
- Buy a calendar. The best way to have your book complete is to have a calendar that schedules your goals per day/week.
- Create an outline. An outline is like a map of your book that provides direction to your story. It keeps you on track and ensures that your ideas are organized.
- Develop a writing habit. Condition yourself to write at the same time every day. With this practice, it will soon become a habit that will make writing a book automatic.
- Get an accountability partner. You can hold each other accountable to write and finish your by your “draft done” date.
- Build your writing environment. Yes, this can be a blanket for if you choose to use “build” literally or you can simply find an area where your head is clear, there are no distractions, and where you can write in peace.
To learn more tips on how to write faster, here’s a tutorial video of the simple process I use to write over 1500 words per hour:
#3 – Get Feedback on Your Book Before Publishing
When writing your book, it’s important to get as much feedback as early in the process as possible.
It’s essential to get this feedback in order to improve your writing.
Everything from creative writing to factual, non-fiction works needs feedback in order to produce a polished publication.
As writers, it’s all too easy to retreat into your cave for a long period of time, spend countless hours writing what you think is the perfect first draft, only to find that a) your draft doesn’t make sense to anyone else or b) no one else is as interested in the topic as you originally thought.
Writing tips can come from anywhere and the best usually come from those reading your book for the first time.
Not only can a fresh set of eyes on your book help you catch typos and grammatical errors, but a new perspective can give you ideas for tightening up your story and making the theme more clear, like in
Giving your book to one (or more) “beta readers” before giving it to an editor and self-publishing can also cut down on the time and cost of paying a professional editor.
You can also use a beneficial piece of writing software like Grammarly or the Hemingway Editor so you can learn as you write!
Action Plan:
Reach out to a few friends who could provide good (preferably unbiased) feedback, and ask them if they’ll be willing to read a chapter or two (or the whole book!) as you finish writing
#4 – Choose a Book Title
Contrary to popular belief, you should never decide on a book title until after you are done writing your first draft.
This is because choosing a book title first often results in you “writing yourself into a corner” because you’re trying so hard to align your story to the title of the book instead of writing what needs to be written.
Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be.
The key to choosing a perfect title is: the simpler the title, the better.
As you’re brainstorming ideas, always remember to keep it simple.
Your title should also be clear on what your readers will receive by reading your book. This is because experts state that a clear promise or a guarantee of results will further intrigue your readers.
It’s certainly what’s made our Become a Bestseller students so successful during their launches.
Here are some questions to consider when creating your memorable book title:
- Is your title going to teach a high demand skill?
- Can your title impact someone’s life?
- Can your book solve a very difficult problem?
- Is it short enough to read in a thumbnail image on Amazon?
- Does it elicit an emotional response?
Action Plan:
Once you’ve narrowed down your book titles, send out an email to your friends and family or put a poll up to your audience asking what title they’d prefer. You could also ask a community of other authors what they think.
#5 – Hire a Great Book Editor
Hiring a great book editor can mean the difference between becoming a bestselling author, or self-publishing a mediocre book. Therefore, it’s important to take as much time as necessary during this stage of the process.
To find an editor for your book, begin with your personal network.
Do you personally know any qualified editors?
Start there. If you don’t, then do you know someone who knows an editor? If you don’t have any luck finding an editor within your personal network, don’t worry!
Depending on your budget, you can either hire a professional book editor or hire a more budget-friendly editor from Upwork. But be careful and always check references and portfolios of work.
As a Self-Publishing School student, we will also provide you with a Rolodex of approved and vetted book editors who all do a great job, as you can see in the example below.
No matter how you find your editor, make sure you’re a good fit before committing to the full book by paying them a small sum ($25 or so) to edit a few pages or a chapter of your book.
Make sure the editor is interested in the subject matter, that they can get your whole book edited in 3.5 weeks or less including back-and-forth revisions, and that their edits are both accurate and make sense to you.
If you don’t feel you’re a good fit following a sample edit, then let that $25 go and find an editor who’s going to work out rather than sinking more money into a relationship that might be a mistake.
Whatever you do, don’t give up during the editorial process! If one editor isn’t working out for you or meeting your needs, find another.
Action Plan:
Find a friend or professional editor who can make sure your book is error-free, and start working with them sooner rather than later!
#6 – Design a Book Cover that Converts
When it comes to self-publishing, a high-quality book cover is one of the most important elements that will get your book to convert into sales!
The reason is
“Don’t judge a book by its cover” simply doesn’t apply to actual book covers, as much as we wish it did.
The hard truth is that everyone judges a book by its cover whether they realize it or not.
So you must make sure that it is created professionally and that it will stand apart from the rest of the books in your genre or category.
What makes a good book cover?
- Simplistic styling. Too much going on will make readers unable to figure out what your book is about. Keep the cover minimalistic and it will convert more readers.
- Professionally designed. Book cover designers know how to create book covers that convert. They have industry knowledge and have studied what works and what doesn’t.
- Clear title and subtitle. The title on your cover does matter. The easier it is to read, the better. This allows your readers to clearly see what your book is about as they scroll through Amazon or other book retailers.
- A design style that fits your intended audience. If you’re writing a faith-based book intended for an audience of faith, having an overly dark, devilish cover doesn’t make sense.
You can find amazing book cover designers on freelancing sites such as:
Prices will vary depending on what type of service you want, but the end result will be well worth the spend.
Action Plan:
Find a book designer with any of these sites and your book will stand apart from the rest of its competition!
#7 – Create Your Kindle Direct Self-Publishing Account
Amazon has a self-publishing service called Kindle Direct Publishing where you can create and manage your Kindle eBook, paperback, and audio books.
Amazon has recently acquired the well-known book printing company CreateSpace and they’re now merged as one.
This means you can now offer print books to your audience. It’s the best way to learn how to publish a book and start selling quickly, and I’ve used it for all my self-published books.
I highly recommend it for all new self-publishers!
Here’s how to set up your KDP account on Amazon:
- Visit https://kdp.amazon.com and create an account with either your existing Amazon account or your email address.
- Next, you must complete your tax information. You will not be able to submit your published book if you do not complete this step.
- Once your tax information is complete, hit “Finished” and your account is complete!
Action Plan:
Follow these steps to create your KDP account! With this platform, you can figure out how to publish your book within minutes and soon have it appear worldwide!
#8 – Format Your Self-Published Book
If you’re on a budget, there are plenty of resources online that can tell you how to format your book yourself for free. You can start by looking at Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing forums where there are plenty of discussions on book formatting.
You can also use KDP’s free resources to help format your book. Formatting can be a frustrating experience for the uninitiated though, so if you have a few bucks to spare, you might consider paying someone to help you.
Typically, nonfiction books don’t have an indent between paragraphs but instead, they have spaces whereas fiction books are indented with each new paragraph.
Below are formatting examples from Jenna Moreci’s The Savior’s Champion and my book, Published.
If you want to pay for formatting, Liber Writeris a low-cost, effective option for converting a Microsoft Word file to Amazon’s Kindle format. If $60 is too much, you can also find people on Fiverr to format your book for Kindle.
Just be sure you hire someone who knows how to format your specific book genre.
Action Plan:
Make sure your book is formatted properly by using the free online resource above or hiring someone who can handle the formatting process for you.
#9 – Self-Publish Your Book
When you feel confident your book is ready for the public, you can create a KDP account and upload your book.
This is how to upload your book on KDP:
- On the KDP mainpage, locate and click on “Your Bookshelf”.
- Locate and click on “Kindle eBook Actions”.
- Then, locate and click on “Edit eBook Content”.
- Finally, click on “Upload eBook Manuscript”, and upload your manuscript file from your computer.
Amazon also allows you to select 7 keywords or keyword phrases to make sure your intended audience can find your book when searching on Amazon.
It’s highly recommended you also select two different categories on Amazon your book might fit into so you can reach a broader audience.
To select keywords and categories, look at other best-selling books in your niche and notice what keywords and categories those authors chose.
Once Amazon finishes uploading your file, a confirmation message will be sent and you can preview the uploaded file to check for any errors. Create your Amazon author central account after uploading your book.
Include a bio, photo, and link to your website or blog to help you stand out among authors. After a few more steps, you’ll be ready to publish your book, at which time you’ll click “save & publish” in your KDP book dashboard.
Afterward, you should be ready to publish your book! Just click “save & publish” in the book editing screen!
Action Plan:
Follow these steps to upload your book. You are allowed to upload your manuscript as many times as you want with each upload overriding the previous.
#10 – Price Your Book
One of the most important decisions when it comes to self-publishing a book is how to price it. The most common question I get from new writers is, “How much should my book cost?”
To answer this, my general rule of thumb is to have your book priced is between $2.99 to $5.99. To be more specific, when beginning a launch, I would begin by pricing the book at $0.99 for the launch period.
Then I would set the price to 2.99, and I would moderately increase the price by $1 every week and measure how well the new price performs. Once you see a sales dip, that will determine the exact price of your book that will guarantee book sales.
Action Plan:
Find the perfect price by using this strategy that will attract your readers and best drive long-term success.
#11 – Form a Launch Team
Your launch team is the group of people who are dedicated to helping make your book successful.
They should be a passionate group of individuals who are eager to make your book launch successful. Remember, one highly skilled team member is better than a group of mediocre ones!
Here’s a video detailing how to use a launch team effectively:
To find quality candidates, here’s a questionnaire you can use to assess applicants and see if they’re qualified to market your book:
- Why do you want to support my book?
- What goals are you trying to reach with this project?
- How would you market this book?
- Which influencers would you reach out to and why?
- Do you have a genuine interest in my book and its genre?
Action Plan:
Create an application with questions that align with your thought process. Try to be open-minded with those who think outside the box – they may be the perfect candidates that can get your book to become a bestseller.
#12 – Maximize Book Launch Exposure with Reviews
It’s not enough to learn how to publish a book and be done with it. You still have to take action even after your official launch.
As soon as your book goes live on Amazon, be sure to leverage your launch team and your audience to help you market your book! It may be odd to ask your fans for help, but your fans are there to support your project and want to see you succeed.
You might be surprised how willing they’ll be to help you if you just ask!
Here are some marketing initiatives you can assign your team and audience to do:
- Share content from your book as blog posts across social media
- Submit reviews on Amazon (ensuring they don’t make the mistakes in the video below)
- Help build your book’s website
- Reach out to influencers for a future guest post or podcast feature
- Share a book review on their YouTube channel
- Buy extra copies to gift their friends
The additional exposure generated from your launch team and audience will help push your book up Amazon’s rankings, which will drive more sales! There are even websites that help you with rankings, such as Kindle Ranker. Make sure to have a look at that!
Action Plan:
Create your book marketing launch plan using these methods. Measure each of these methods to see which will best get your book in the hands of new readers and convert into sales.
#13 – Celebrate Learning How to Self-Publish a Book!
Publishing after writing a book is just the beginning. Depending on your goals for your book, self-publishing can get you more customers, free publicity, and establish you as an expert in your niche.
This can help you land speaking gigs and build a business within your area of expertise.
Your book sales can also help fund your lifestyle with passive income.
Dream big about what you want your book to do for you. When you have a vision for where you want your book to take you, it will be easier to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Getting clear on what you want will also help you to be more effective when expanding your network along on your journey.
What to do Now
Now that you’ve learned how to publish a book, it’s time to take action and bring yourself one step closer to your goals and dreams.
If self-publishing a bestseller is something you want to do, and you’re serious about changing your life and your business for the better by getting your book out there in the world, then you need a step-by-step system to follow to take action.
Disclosure: Some of the links above may contain affiliate partnerships, meaning, at no additional cost to you, Self-Publishing School may earn a comission if you click through to make a purchase.
ChrisMichalowski says:
What if i want to offer my book for free (maybe the kindle version). Can i do that on Amazon?
Michael Sheridan says:
Yes. You have to first publish it for free on Nook or another platform and then email Amazon and ask them to price match.
ChrisMichalowski says:
Thanks Michael
Chandler Bolt says:
Yes. You can do it for a limited time via “KDP Select” (Kindle Direct Publishing) or you can do “Permafree” via the method Michael described.
Eve's Myth says:
Thanks for another amazing post Chandler! My date for finishing the book I’m working on is July 13th. I love that you’ve given us the map of a schedule to work with to help us get to the next step. My biggest writing block has actually been–what do I do next?
Keep up the great work! You’re having an amazing impact. 🙂 Cheers.
Chandler Bolt says:
Keep it up!
Jessica Smith says:
I love the helpful links in this! Will you also do a post about publishing under a pen name? That isn’t really covered in the school, but I want to do it with my first book, at least. Maybe more.
SPS Team says:
We will consider posting an article using a pen name. You can go ahead and do so though, I’m sure your book will rock it! How are you doing so far?
Jessica Smith says:
It’s going slower than I hoped, but still moving! Pen name information is difficult to come by. I think I might have to start a business, calling it by my pen name, but also not sure on that process or how it works. SPS has given me a lot of good info on everything else and helps the process keep moving forward!
Chandler Bolt says:
Good to hear. Keep moving!
Linda M. Wisely says:
I just finished writing my book. This article was just what I needed. Thank you so much. Does anything in the above article cost money?
SPS Team says:
Congrats with the new book! There are some fees here and there when you publish your book, The whole process is really up to you and finding a good and affordable team or person who can help you with it. Here is also a link to help you market as well.
https://self-publishingschool.com/book-marketing-how-to-skyrocket-sales-of-your-book/
Linda M. Wisely says:
This information was amazing. I can’t wait to get started. Thank you so much.
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks Linda!
Rachael E Stout says:
Lots of great links. This is definitely something every author should look at after they write their manuscript.
Chandler Bolt says:
Thank you Rachael!
Adrienne Brunner Lewis says:
Or before!
Kristen Steele says:
While you can do everything yourself, it’s advisable not to. You’ll need to budget for design, editing, formatting, etc. if you want your project to be the best it can be.
Chandler Bolt says:
We write about that also on this blog. 🙂 would love to hear about your experience working with a publisher.
Eleene says:
I want to write and publish, I’m retired and start up cost is a problem far me. I live in a very small town in TX that has less than 1000 people and it is 3 hr to cities like Austin or FT. Worth, TX. If I didn’t have a computer I would go crazy. I am Dyslexia, therefore I like things that are short and to the point, the flowery manuscripts drive me crazy, just get to the point.
Eleene says:
I don’t start something until I know I think I can complete the project because it is a waste of time.
Chandler Bolt says:
You can’t finish if you don’t start. You can do this! 🙂
Rick Pruden says:
How about selling outside of Amazon? Would you ever consider that? Probably not. I can’t looking for something new and I find the same crap that everyone else is saying. Why don’t you go all done readers what they think? Personally I have never purchased a book from Amazon, and never will. Why would I give them soul distribution rights to my work? smfh
Chandler Bolt says:
Rick, great questions. You don’t have to give them sole distribution, that’s only if you choose KDP Select.
And..over 70% of all books are sold on Amazon so, if we’re talking Pareto Principle (80/20), it makes sense to focus your efforts on Amazon.
Cutilenous Shehzadi says:
I am almost done writing my book. I read your book ” Published” it’s really help full. May I know I will get help from you people in editing and all post writing stuff. I really want to make my dream come true this year. I have already started my efforts in creating curiosity in people and building audience for my book through creating page.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/49e6f911b1c2731463e1bbd6b270777ded3d61f4fb3b52ec52ab1794422fd118.png
Please let me know if you can.
Regards,
Aakanksha Rajput
Kaylee Shadows says:
Awesome video. It helps a ton!!! Thank you so much
Chandler Bolt says:
Glad it was helpful!
Regan Black says:
Loved the recording to transcription process, Chandler! Thanks for sharing that. It’s a technique I am going to try with my next proposal as well as my next non-fiction title.
Chandler Bolt says:
Glad you liked it! How’d it go?
Regan Black says:
It’s fantastic! I was startled by how effective and efficient this process is. I had it in my head that I had to work with dictation software OR by hand. Thanks again for sharing a super technique that is the best of both worlds. 🙂
Chandler Bolt says:
Good to hear! 🙂
Mireille says:
Thank you for sharing. I resonated with what you were saying and it is a process that will work for me. My gratitude and thanks.
Chandler Bolt says:
🙂
Shelby Appel says:
Great post! You make it sound so easy! “Hire a good editor” is a task that involves dropping a chunk of money (as well as cover design, etc, but we all know the biggest chunk goes to the editor!)
Right now I’m in the writing phase paired with the “save my pennies” phase!
Lise Cartwright says:
As always, providing some awesome knowledge-bombs Chandler 😉 Sharing this on social media now!
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks for the share, Lise!
Sonia Weyers says:
Great description of the process! Thank you, Chandler.
Nancy DeMaria says:
Literally the most practical, helpful information. Thank you!!!
Caleb Chersin says:
Excellent work, sir.
Thank you,
Robert Borsuk says:
Awesome article! Lot’s of great info. Thanks Chandler!
Bridget Thomas says:
Excellent resource for those who want to be an author and even those who are already authors! I can’t wait to get started!!
Pat Sonti says:
I’m still in the creating content phase in my writing. I will definitely look into Bolt’s ideas upon completion of my writing project.
Andrew Shell says:
Great tips. Especially about formatting your ebook. I didn’t know about the service Liber Writer.
Vitor Bernardino Marques says:
Nice content, very compreensive 🙂
Victoria says:
Perfect article as I prepare for formatting! Indents and double-spacing…who knew?! Doh!
Victoria says:
Perfect article as I’m just about to get going on formatting! Thanks for the info!
Maurice Goulet says:
I just finished my second book. It took me 5 years to complete so don’t get frustrated. My first book was 13 years ago. With the publishing platforms today, it is much easier but there is still plenty to learn. I think I edited and uploaded my book 15 times before I was comfortable yet I learn new stuff each week and yes, I’ll make a few more changes. The are really only 3 steps to success: writing, marketing and monetizing. Each one has it’s own learning curve. Remember, your words affect people daily and your writing echos across generations.
Chandler Bolt says:
Agreed!
Ramla Ahmed says:
Thanks
Vitto De Leone says:
Very usefull article.
Robin Russell says:
Chandler’s method, outlined in this article, is the one that I used to write and publish my book! His methods are realistic, easy to follow, and easy to complete – but more than that – THEY WORK! I cannot recommend his program/book/podcasts any more highly.
Chandler Bolt says:
Excited to see your success in the program, Robin! It’s inspiring
Casey says:
Love it Chandler! Great stuff! Anyone reading this, and feeling like the content is useful, should read his book Published! It goes into much more (practical, step-by-step) detail.
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks Casey! Your books are like your kids, so it’s hard to pick a “favorite” but that’s definitely the one I’m most proud of
Daniel Collins says:
What if you’re really on a budget?
Divya Rajan says:
A great article!
Robin Dix says:
So informative and it’s what really helped me make a decision to join Self-Publishing School. Woohoo!!
Chandler Bolt says:
Fantastic! Great to have you in the program
iCLEAN LLC says:
Great article!
Larry Peacock says:
Your work is impressive, Chandler. Thanks for the motivation. I am about to turn 40 years old in August and am looking to do something quite new for me…write a book!
Chandler Bolt says:
YES! So great to hear
Tiffany Virag says:
Great tips and tricks
Adrienne Brunner Lewis says:
Chandler always has great stuff to share, and it’s good to know you can come back and continue to learn from him in new ways all the time.
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks Adrienne! Hope you’re well
Yannik says:
Great content
Stan Stinson says:
Thanks for the great information. I hope I can put it to use.
Chandler Bolt says:
You can!
Glen Ford Author says:
Nice introduction with lots of great links. Well done.
Alayne Fenasci says:
Definitely going to be reading more of the links in this article. Looks very helpful!
Lewis Huff says:
Chandler will give you everything you need to get you book published! If you have been wanting to publish a book but don’t know how to make it happen, Chandler will show you the way!!
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks for the kind words, Lewis! 🙂
Sherry Barber says:
Tons of great advice here! Nice to have it broken into steps and categories which will encourage people to actually make the leap and write their book!
Chandler Bolt says:
Yes!
Steph Marks says:
Great article! Honestly, my head is spinning a bit from all the information shared here, but what a great blueprint to follow. This is exactly the push I need to pull all my notes and ideas together and turn them into a book. Thanks, Chandler!
Chandler Bolt says:
Awesome! Glad to hear it was helpful. Hopefully your head will stop spinning soon 🙂
Eric Heltzel says:
Great post! For a single post, really gave a lot of insight into the process. Thanks!
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks for the kind words!
Marquita Buchanan says:
This was a great article! Very well thought out, clear and, most importantly, doable!!! All the hyperlinks to other pertinent resources helped as well.
Chandler Bolt says:
Glad it was helpful!
Chelsey Daniels says:
This is VERY helpful and valuable information. Awesome blueprint for people itching to successfully self-publish their book. Looking forward to learning tons more from Chandler.
Chandler Bolt says:
Good to hear!
Lindsay Adams says:
Interesting
Joyce Dias says:
So grateful i found Self publishing School! I can now finally cross that dream off my “Wish i could do that”List!
Chandler Bolt says:
…and add it to the “so glad I did that” list 🙂
Viviana Rose says:
Good information!! It makes it sound REAL 🙂 .
Chandler Bolt says:
It is real! 😉
Al L says:
Very thorough. Thanks.
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks!
Sharon Whitworth Olson says:
This article is loaded with value! If someone wanted to begin their book-writing project and needed the most fundamental, basic and absolutely-need-to-know information, this is THE article to reference. The cool thing is that Chandler has built a world-class support team and ongoing encouragement and knowledge for those who enroll in Self-Publishing School. I’m bookmarking this article to reference myself but also to pass on to other writers. And I highly recommend signing up for Self-Publishing School.
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks for the kind words, Sharon!
Daniel Freedman says:
Excellent article. I liked the honesty.
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks!
Shreya Roy says:
Found this extremely useful with detailed explanation!
Shreya Roy says:
Brilliant Links. Looking forward to writing my own book soon!
Chandler Bolt says:
Time to make it happen 🙂
Shreya Roy says:
Definitely will do so. Thank you very much. 🙂
Shreya Roy says:
Can’t wait to start on my first book thanks to these tips.
Chandler Bolt says:
Let’s make it a reality!
Mark Metz says:
Great stuff! You rock Chandler, thanks for everything!
Chandler Bolt says:
Thanks!
Xavier Paz says:
Súper útil
Chandler Bolt says:
Thank you!
Kathryn says:
Thank you for laying everything out so concisely. This is the perfect checklist for aspiring authors. See you in the webinar!
Chandler Bolt says:
Glad you enjoyed it. See you there!
Harry haran says:
Thanks for this useful article to be followed for 2018 regarding Self Publishing
Chandler Bolt says:
Glad you found it helpful!
Rohit Chavan says:
So much advertising ????
Chandler Bolt says:
? 🙂
Bill Miles says:
Great article – thank you! It appears this applies to a Kindle/digital book only? What about a physical book? Additional steps/resources there? thx!
Patrick de Boer says:
Thank you for all of the information! I’ll be sure to check it out with the new year coming up. I do remember asking this question before, but I was just wondering if you’d think this would work in a very small niche market in Europe as well. Amazon is not very big around here, and my target audience lives all over the world but not primarily in America. What are your thoughts?
Thanks!
Amorene Blanche says:
Thanks for this motivational article. I AM READY!!
Chandler Bolt says:
Great to hear!
Suzy Smith says:
This is incredibly helpful! Thank you. I needed a starting point and this is it.
Oseghale Ativie says:
My manuscripts are religious books and literature, is there place for me too to publish and sell them on the amazon platform? If yes i will very glad, and thanks for this great piece of information
Teszter says:
Did you write any book actually worth opening?
Jeni says:
I’ve been using MagCloud to print my books via uploading in PDF format, how can I tie this into the Kindle publishing?
Esperanza says:
I think your guide is a real gift to self-publishers. It’s clear, concise and includes critical details that would be easy to overlook. I have one question that is not answered in your guide that maybe you could respond to here: I have book material to publish, BUT it is an audio-visual book, i.e., the e-book would necessarily include written and audio-visual elements. Is this possible to do with a self-publishing format?
Abundant Press says:
Useful Article, thanks for sharing. Great info. …..
Lee Brenda says:
I need editing for my book but I don’t have money so what should I consider?
Millie Shinn says:
This article is a God send! So informative and I am grateful for the guidance. I do have one question that will likely sound silly, but I am completely new to the idea. I have my manuscript in word format and it is at an editor at the moment. I am planning to have the cover designed by one of the resources you suggested as well as the formatting for kindle. However, how do I get printed copies to sell on amazon? Once I have a cover design and a completed manuscript where do I go from there where people can buy printed copies of my book? I know that sounds silly.
Arjit Singh says:
I have been writing a book about life and some things I’ve experienced and learned over time. At this stage, I have two more writers doing this with me, and we plan to be done with a first draft in a few months. One important concern I have is that I’m not sure what I need to do if I’ve used quotes from other authors and movies and just stuff from the internet. How does one go about that? Thanks!
Emily Scott says:
Incredibly helpful. Question, how do you go about linking your KDP account and your CreateSpace account?
Mohd Sameer Zuhear says:
hi there! i am a student of age 17 years planning my career in writing books.
i feel like this article has a good sum of information regarding that.
Kelly Roberts says:
This was a very informative article. I am actually the editor for a book that my son is writing. He chose me because he says I am brutally honest. Thanks for the information.
IndiaWrites.in says:
Thanks for the advise, it’s really gonna help me.
Bella Rose Pope says:
You’re so welcome! Best of luck on your book 🙂
Jessica Jackson says:
this is about the most excellent information I have read about self-publishing …gets right to the point…this was indeed a God sent message to me…..
Bella Rose Pope says:
You’re so welcome Jessica! Glad we can help 🙂
Gary Pascua says:
What about protecting what I write from editors? And, the final product? I imagine it should all be copy righted?
Sangita Rastogi says:
Indeed, an exceptional Article. It was really informative. But I would like to seek the
attention of all the self-publishing authors out there, regarding the
self-publishing platform for your book. I got 2 of my books published with The
Write Place and I am really satisfied with the supportive efforts of the team
at The Write Place.
JOSEPH says:
Hi Chandler,
I intend to write and publish a book on Butterflies and Sunrise and sunset in exotic places in my country..question is..what software to use that allows me to insert pictures in layout and also write stories on these pages..then use the finish script to convert to ebook..I would publish the book locally through a Printer company as well…can you recommend a software..so far..i read..those software is mean for those writing and convert to e-book..but can software like Open office..allow insert of pictures and also writing??or ariting over the pictures?? is it user friendly?
Amanda says:
what about coffee table (photographic) books ….. how do I tackle that one? I am in Australia BTW. thanks