Occasionally I’ll get an email or message from a newbie writer who’s read a bit about my journey and is looking for direction. The gist of the message is almost always: “I’ve written a book and I’d like to publish it, but I don’t know what to do next.” This, coupled with the fact that I recently facilitated a sold-out workshop on how to self-publish, made me realize that there are a lot of people in this same situation. It’s not surprising. There’s a ton of information out there on the web — some good, some bad — and it takes time to sift through it all and figure out the best way to proceed. Looking back, I know my own journey evolved over years, but now, with almost twenty self-published books under my belt, the process is a snap. If I could do a Vulcan mind-meld and parcel my experience out to others, I would, but failing that, maybe at least I can help some to the onramp without their having to reinvent the wheel.
I self-publish with CreateSpace, Amazon’s subsidiary, and this tutorial is geared to that. Note, too, that this is a very brief overview of the process, but it will give you, in a nutshell, what you need to do and have in order to self-publish your print book. Continue reading “Checklist for Self-Publishing Print Books”
