About Self-publishing

1. A Simple Guide To Becoming an
Indie – By Varun Prabhu

2. 1. What is Self-Publishing?
2. Writing and Publishing Process
3. Cover Design
4. Editing and Proofreading
5. Formatting and Typesetting
6. Print on Demand
7. E-publishing and Digital Content
8. Vanity Publishing
9. Offset Printing
10. Royalty Structures
11. Marketing and Promotions

3. Self-Publishing is a process where the
author writes and publishes book all on his
own.
The author does so by his own or by hiring
an indie publishing company.
Prefer to do it on your own.
Usually makes books available in digital
format and sometimes in print, as per
demand.

4. Advantages:
• Greater Control over Process
• Freedom of choosing book content and genre
• Higher Royalties
• Flexibility of choosing when to publish what.
Disadvantages:
• Marketing falls to the author.
• Lack of resources
• Could require investment on the author’s part.

5.  The process is simple:
• Write your manuscript until you are satisfied that it is
publish ready. Would require editing on the author’s
front.
• Send manuscript to an editor. If you do not have the
budget, at least have your manuscript read by
unbiased beta readers and test readers. Preferable to
have it edited by a professional though.
• Design your cover.
• Upload to websites that publish books by indie
authors. Like Amazon, etc.
• Market and promote.

6.  Should be relevant to theme of your book.
 Cover is an attractive feature. Draws your
reader in.
 Design it yourself or you could hire cover
designing firm or freelance designers. You are
typically charged 4000 INR to 20000 INR
depending on the artist and whether you have
chosen stock image or illustration.
 Make sure the cover fits the requirements
specified by book publishing websites.

7.  An edited manuscript reads much better than
an unedited one. Hence, necessary to have
your manuscript undergo this process.
 An author could edit his/her own manuscript.
However, remember that an author may not
find all the mistakes. Hence the need of a
professional editor.
 Editors can be costly. Typically charge by the
page or by the number of words. Depends on
editor.

8. There are several types of editing:
• Proofreading: This is done last. A proofreader
catches spelling mistakes and typical grammatical
errors.
• Substantive Editing: Checks for plot holes,
consistency, etc.
• Line Editing/Copy-Editing: Checks for flow,
grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, sentence
structures. Make it publish-ready.

9.  Before publishing, make sure your manuscript
is correctly formatted.
 Each website has their own formatting
requirements. You are expected to follow
them.
 Usually the Standard Manuscript Format
Works.
 For e-books, use Serif fonts
 For paperbacks, use Sans Serif.
 Use only one font.
 Recommended: 12 font size for text, 14 for
chapter titles/headings.

10. Print on Demand (POD) is for paperbacks
and hard covers.
It can be expensive as the printing costs
are transferred to customer.
However, there are good royalties.
Author/Publisher sets book MRP.
Book prints only when customer places an
order.
Example: Createspace, Pothi.

11.  E-publishing means publishing books via the
Internet.
 Typically uses digital content.
 Digital content usually means e-Books.
 E-books can be available in the following formats:
• PDF
• EPUB
• MOBI
• TXT
• DOCX
• NOOK
• RTF

12.  Vanity Publishing is a kind of publishing where
publishers ask authors to pay up front money to
publish books.
 Generally expensive.
 Most do not Provide no valuable services.
 Chances of getting scammed.
 Only a real few are worthwhile. Run away from most.
Why Vanity Publish when you can self-publish for free?
Or approach a traditional publisher?
 They mostly have packages: diamond and the like.
 Not worth your time.
 Also take a portion of royalties.

13. Amazon gives you either 35% or 70%
depends upon your choice and price
listing.
Smashwords pay 60% or 85% depending
on purchase mode.
Createspace usually deducts printing and
their share before giving you yours. You
can estimate the price using their price
estimator.
Same goes for Pothi.

14. One of the most important aspects of self-
publishing.
Most authors are not good marketers.
Authors need to be inventive and creative.
Visibility is important.
Distribution is a chore especially when it
comes to print books.

15.  There are various channels. Some of them:
• Facebook (Groups and Pages)
• Goodreads (Author and Book Pages)
• Forums
• Blogger Reviews and Blog Tours
• Newspaper Coverage.
• Self-Blogging
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Other Channels
 Choose whichever channel suits. Word of Mouth is
the best however. Gain more reviews and ratings.

16. Self-publishing means publishing by author
Has both pros and cons
Editing and cover design are the first
important steps in e-publishing.
Can publish both e-books and print
Marketing and Promotion are important
aspects of publishing.