A Simple Guide To Becoming an

Indie – By Varun Prabhu

1. What is Self-Publishing?2. Writing and Publishing Process3. Cover Design4. Editing and Proofreading5. Formatting and Typesetting6. Print on Demand7. E-publishing and Digital Content8. Kindle Direct Publishing9. Kindle Unlimited10. Other E-Book Publishing Sites11. Smashwords12. Amazon Createspace13. POD India – Pothi14. Vanity Publishing15. Offset Printing16. Royalty Structures17. Marketing and Promotions

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 fontsFor paperbacks, use Sans Serif.Use only one font.Recommended: 12 font size for text, 14 for

chapter titles/headings.

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.

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

Kindle Direct Publishing or KDP is an

Amazon indie publishing venture.

Most popular among indie authors.

Easy to publish

KDP has enormous competition.

You require a KDP account to publish a

book via KDP. Goto http://kdp.amazon.com

If you already have an account, sign in.

Even an Amazon buyer’s Account would

be enough to serve as a KDP account.

If you do not have an Amazon Login, sign

up.

Click on Sign up.

You will be redirected here:

Enter your email address.

If you have an id, let the choice of the radio

button be and enter your password and

say sign in. Otherwise, click on “I am a

new customer.”

Then click on Sign in.

If you are a customer already, it will take

you to your author dashboard. Otherwise,

it will take you here.

Enter the fields required.

And then press Create Account.

Do as directed then.

Once you login, you will be redirected to

Author Dashboard.

Amazon KDP has a new look these days.

It has got following elements:• Bookshelf: Show you the list of books. Also helps in

creating a new title.

• Reports: Shows royalty payments and sales reports.

• Community: KDP Support

• KDP Select: Information on KDP Select and how to

enroll.

As you see, my books are listed. There is

only one at the moment.

In Your books, it shows title, the status,

Price, and Book Actions.

There is also a button with three dots.

Clicking on that will allow you to edit book

details, pricing, enroll in KDP Select or

Matchbook.

Go to author dashboard.

Above the list of your books, there will be a

create Title button.

Click on Create Title.

Should redirect you to a form.

The first thing after, Amazon asks you to

enroll in KDP select or not. KDP select is

optional. We will get into that later.

Click check box to enroll.

Next step is to enter book details.

Enter the book name. Only enter the exact

title. No taglines.

Subtitles are optional.

Check whether it is a part of series. If not,

enter edition number. This field is optional.

Publisher is optional also.

If you check part of series:

This box opens.

Enter series title and Volume.

Fill in the description. Limit is 4000

characters.

Add the book contributors.

Add contributors and save. Select the language your book is written in. Enter an ISBN number. This is optional. You can purchase your ISBN number from

Bowkers at a mentioned price. In India, it is a tedious process where you got to download a form and with required attachments, mail it to Raja Ram Mohun Roy Institute, after which it will take two months for you to procure your ISBN.

ISBN helps you identify your book. ISBNs are separate for each edition, each format

(pdf, epub, mobi, etc). ISBN is separate for paperbacks and hard covers also.

Verify your publishing rights. Identify

whether your book is a member of the

public domain or whether it is an original

work of art.

Select one of the options.

Choose categories. Amazon allows you to choose two. These categories indicate the genres of your book. Click on Add Categories to select.

Choose an age range. This is optional, but helps if you are publishing material of the adult kind.

Choose the US Grade Range. Optional.Enter the search keywords. You can enter up

to seven. Optional, but helpful. Increases visibility.

Choose book release option.

Here you can select whether you are ready

to publish instantaneously or make book

available for pre-order.

Pre-order might increase your sales,

especially if you are a well-known author.

In any case, pre-order setups are good

marketing tactics.

Next: Upload Book Cover

Upload your cover file to the website. The

cover file should match the cover

guidelines. After you upload, the site will

automatically check for errors. If not, it will

display success.

You could also use Amazon’s cover creator

feature.

Upload your book file.

Select whether you want to enable Digital

Rights Management. By default, do not

enable is selected.

Click on Browse for uploading content file.

Pricing is one of the most important aspects.With self-publishing, pricing is under an

author’s control.You can price whatever you want.Decide what price depending on the number

of pages and how much royalty you would want.

For new authors, it is good if you start low.Amazon doesn’t provide a free option unless

you enroll the book in KDP Select.

Verify publishing rights.

Select worldwide rights or territorial rights.

Select royalty option.• 35% royalty

• 70% royalty

Enter your Amazon.us Price in $$$. Other

currencies will automatically convert based

on this price.

Then choose whether you want to enroll

the book in matchbook program.

Choose whether Lending is allowed.

Click on conformation statement and click

on save and publish.

Clicking Save and Publish will publish your

book.

Give it 12-24 hours for your book to appear

online.

KDP Select is a relatively new venture by Amazon.

It allows author to earn higher royalties, maximize sales potential, reach new audience.

You can make your books free for 5 days during the 90 day enrollment period.

During these 90 days, your book must not be made available on any other digital books website. Means it is KDP exclusive.

Like Amazon, there are others in the

market as well.• Barnes & Noble (NOOK)

• Apple IBOOKS

• Scribd (Subscription Service)

• Oyster (Subscription Service)

• KOBO

There are many others as well, but these

are the main.

It is an e-book publishing and distribution

platform.

Easy to publish.

Simple steps.

Allows your books to be distributed on

many e-publishing platforms.

85% royalties if books are sold through

Smashwords store; 60% if sold through

online retailers.

Createspace is a POD platform. Even though the digital content is popular, print

books are still very much in demand. Print on Demand is explained in previous slides. Createspace offers paperbacks in various sizes. It also distributes to major online retailers. Easy to publish if all its requirements are met. Free of cost unless you avail of their services. Createspace earns a chunk of your sales.

Pothi is the Indian counterpart of Createspace. It is not an Amazon venture. It is an Indian startup.

Easy to publish if it’s requirements are met.Takes 1-2 days to publish.Free of cost unless you avail of their

services.Pothi earns by taking a chunk of your

sales.

There are other POD sites:• Lulu

• Ingram Spark

• Lightning Source

• Cinnamon Teal India

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.

Other than POD, authors can choose the offset option.

Copies need to be produced in bulk. Most require a minimum of 1000 copies.

Needs up front investment. Authors better be able to negotiate deals.

Book price may be lowered.Choose this option if you are pretty sure

that your book will sell more than 400-500 copies. Otherwise go for POD.

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.

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.

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.

Self-publishing means publishing by authorHas both pros and consEditing and cover design are the first

important steps in e-publishing.Can publish both e-books and printPrint copies can use POD or offsetE-Books can be published via KDP, Nook,

Apple IBOOKS, Smashwords, etc.POD sites are Createspace, Pothi, etc.Marketing and Promotion are important

aspects of publishing.