How can I publish my work in South Africa?

 How can I publish my work in South Africa?

Is it mainstream or not?

"How do I get my book published by a traditional publishing house?" is a question I am asked a lot.

In many respects, landing a book contract with a conventional publisher is the ultimate goal, but it takes persistence, time, and a very thick skin. Publishers run companies. They are there, after all, to earn money. They have the luxury of selectively selecting the papers they believe would boost their bottom line the quickest, since they get hundreds, if not thousands, of requests and unsolicited manuscripts each month. They are likely to choose your book if it is topical, relevant, gives a fresh viewpoint on a certain subject, and is the only one of its kind. If not, be ready for a protracted wait and the very real prospect of receiving a deluge of rejection letters. Even the finest of us experience it.

Why do so many individuals think that signing a deal with a big publisher is the only path to become a well-known author? Yes, being published by a prominent publisher does come with a certain bit of glamor—that is, if anybody is bothered to inquire or notice—but this doesn't mean that's your sole call to action. Act as the intermediary.

I must be very honest with you, however. It doesn't really matter who is publishing your book. It matters only that your book be printed, published, and have your name on the cover with pages and pages of beautifully created, well written material within.

Publication Types

conventional publishing

Independent publishing and self-publishing

recurring publication

conventional publishing

Reaching Out to Conventional Publishers

It's decided that you will send your novel to a traditional publisher. What now?

It might take many years of work for a first-time author's book to be approved for publishing by a conventional publisher. Twelve prominent publishers turned down J.K. Rowling's original Harry Potter manuscript before Bloomsbury Publishing agreed to view it. You already know the rest is history.

If you want to choose the traditional method, you should ensure that you have the necessary data before submitting your application.

Your material will be included in a book proposal that traditional publishing firms will want from you. You may utilize a literary agency if you'd like, or you can send it straight to them.

You cannot submit your book proposal directly if you want to send it to a major mainstream publisher in the USA or the UK. Rather, you must use the services of a literary agency; although, in South Africa, you may choose to use the literary agent's expertise or do it yourself.

The majority of conventional publishers have certain times throughout the year when they will accept submissions of manuscripts. My recommendation is to visit the websites of every publisher, even the ones you like to publish with, and find out their window period, since this may sometimes be as little as one week. Enter these dates into Outlook once you have them. or wherever it's most probable that you'll remember to act.

Examine their submission rules; the requirements may vary depending on the publication. Some readers may just want your whole manuscript, while others could request both your full manuscript and a synopsis. Some people will only be interested in your book's synopsis and first three chapters. So that you don't have to search for it months later, include a link to the submission page and this information in your calendar reminder.

While most publishers now accept manuscripts in electronic format, others still want physical copies sent in print.

Make sure you include as much supporting information about yourself and your book as you can, in addition to your manuscript. Make the most of your one and only opportunity to market yourself. This will help you get the credibility that a possible publisher needs to take notice of you.

In brief

The majority of publishers will ask you to submit your manuscript and an abstract at the same time. The synopsis essentially provides a chapter-by-chapter overview of the content of your book. If you've never written a summary before, all you really need to do is provide a brief synopsis of each chapter in your book, starting at the beginning and ending at the conclusion. Your blurb is not the summary! Give the details and make sure the narrative makes sense.

The publisher will see your book as a commodity they can profit from; if they like your idea, they'll probably get in touch with you for more details. The publisher isn't interested in suspense or speculation; that's for the reader.

Writing a summary is a crucial task, therefore it's advisable to take your time and ensure that all spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct.

A few written pages should be the maximum length for your summary.

cover letter

It's crucial that your book proposal include a cover letter. Write a short biography about yourself that includes any noteworthy professional highlights and anything else you think the publisher would find interesting. Introduce yourself. Give a thorough explanation of your writing process and why you believe the readership of that specific publisher will like your book. A professional headshot should be included with your cover letter.

To ensure your book receives as much exposure as possible, I would advise adding a few lines indicating your willingness and ability to attend book launches across the nation (and abroad, if required), media interviews (and please mention any experience you have with them), and anything else the publisher may think necessary.

A publisher's greatest fear, in my opinion, would be to sign a new author only to discover later that the author must sign books for fans or appear in interviews on the book. are not accessible.

Procedure for Submission

In South Africa, you will usually send your book proposal directly to a publisher via email or the publisher's website. Depending on what they ask for, your manuscript should be sent in either Microsoft Word or PDF format.

After then, all you have to do is wait (and hope) for a few months for them to determine whether they like your book or not. If a publisher gives you a thumbs down by email, they will often contact you via phone or email if they give you a thumbs up.

Independent publishing and self-publishing

Authors have two options: they can experiment with independent publishing via businesses like Amazon.com and IngramSpark, or, if they're very courageous (which I believe you're all quite brave), they can self-publish through a self-publishing firm. Can't.

It doesn't matter whether you want to use your book as a business card or become a best-selling author—everyone has a choice about where to start. How would you begin? The most crucial thing is to initiate contact and, wherever feasible, set aside ego.

Many well-known writers, like EL James (Fifty Shades of Grey) and Stephen King, began their careers as independent writers.

What distinguishes independent publishing from self-publishing?

publishing oneself

There are many self-publishing companies in South Africa, including Book Lingo, Reach Publishers, QuickFox, and Porcupine Press. These companies provide various publication packages, with prices often starting at R15k, depending on what you want to publish.

Editing, proofreading, formatting, cover design, ISBN assignment, printing, e-book creation, marketing, distribution to book dealers, and listing your book on several online and digital distribution channels are all included in these packages.

Typically, packages include five printed copies of your book; additional copies may be purchased separately.

Royalties are the portion of your book's sales that you will get; the exact amount varies depending on the self-publishing firm. You should anticipate receiving royalties in the range of 10% of each book's suggested retail price.

It's important to note that self-publishing companies are not the major advertisers. After your book is released, they'll likely see to ensure that bookshops carry it, but that's about it. The author handles the majority of the marketing duties.

I would advise using this path if you're a novice, don't want to invest the time in independent publishing, and want your book to be published as quickly and easily as possible.

However, if you're more daring and would want to keep more of the earnings and have more say over the course of your book, I'd like to ask you to take the stage. independent book publishing.

Publishing that is independent

Click the bright purple icon below if you would rather work directly with me to self-publish your book as opposed to doing everything yourself. If not, continue reading.

Self-publishing, often known as independent publishing, is a rapidly expanding global and South African trend.

Having total control over every aspect of your book, from the original text to the cover design and typesetting to the production, printing, and distribution, is the finest part about being an independent author. And from the beginning, you will profit. You get to pick who designs the cover for your book, who edits it, and whether you want the paper to be cream or white, as well as how thick it is. You also get to pick the copyright page copy, the book's price, its size and format, and the distribution method you want to use.choose to use, and you can quickly and cost-free modify the information in a matter of minutes.

Additionally, royalties equal to around 20% more of the selling price of your print book (and more if you sell your book as an e-book) will be paid to you if you really want to profit from your book. Publish), as compared to the 5%–10% you get from major and independent publishing sources.

Now, how can one become an independent writer?

If you have never been down this path before, you can find it intimidating and you might be a bit nervous about where to begin. Recall that this will need a lot of effort since you will be handling every function of a regular publishing business. However, every independent writer will tell you how fulfilling the work is.

You may develop and print your book with a variety of firms; two examples are Smashwords and IngramSpark. Both have their headquarters in the US, provide only online services, and are primarily focused on the independent publishing sector.

releasing your work as an electronic read

If you've written a book and want to get it out to market as soon as possible while you wait for your book to be published, then every published author should make sure that they have both an e-book edition and a print version of their book. While you gather the funds to pay for printing expenses, or while printed copies are on the way, you can think about releasing an e-book edition of your book in the meantime. You'll be doing it with your eyes closed in no time because to its ease of use and speed.

Using Amazon KDP to Publish Your Book as a Kindle eBook

The biggest online retailer of e-books is Amazon, but because size counts, I would advise you to publish your book there first. It is followed by the Apple iStore, Barnes & Noble, and many more. Execute it. Either utilize their Kindle Create app or send your manuscript—which has to be in ePub format—directly to the Kindle publishing platform, commonly known as Kindle Direct Publishing, or KDP. Are. I really like the Kindle Create app. It prepares your work so that it may be read on any electronic reading device when you submit it from Word.

After your work has been released as an e-book on the Amazon Kindle platform, you may want to use Draft2Digital to attract readers at other online booksellers.

I'll go about the actual publishing process in a bit more depth later.

Using Draft2Digital to publish your book in an electronic version

The only two main differences between setting up your account and establishing up your account with Amazon are that you get to pick which of the numerous seller platforms, such the Apple Books Store, you wish to sell your e-book on. at Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc.; Additionally, you may choose from a variety of e-book formats, which include decals at the start of every chapter and various font and header styles based on the kind of book you're printing.

I'll go about the actual publishing process in a bit more depth later.

Publishing Paperback (Print-on-Demand) Version of Your Book

It is crucial that your paperback book be able to be purchased on all of the main international book shopping sites. Not only should it be accessible to the general public, but booksellers throughout the globe that want to purchase copies as well. You may get this by using the print-on-demand services like IngramSpark and Amazon provide.

"Print-on-Demand": What is it?

Print-on-demand means just what it sounds like. It is no longer necessary for authors to print thousands of copies of their books, transport them to a large warehouse, and hope that they will sell. If not, the books will be returned to you in an illuminated state. With their on-site print-on-demand (POD) capabilities, Amazon and IngramSpark may print a copy of your book as soon as a consumer places an order.

book trade sales

It's interesting to note that a lot of writers don't realize they are losing out on possible book sales at physical shops when they limit their book's availability to online retailers like Amazon.

Having worked in bookselling myself, I am aware that small publishers find it difficult to deal with the additional issues that arise when they purchase books from Amazon. Firstly, customers have to pay for books upfront (although traditional publishers and distributors provide various credit options); Secondly, there are expenses associated with shipping; Lastly, returns (since Amazon is a one-way shop); Last but not least, since Amazon does not provide retailers with the same magical trade discounts that publishers provide, books must now be priced higher before being sold to consumers.In other words, if a publisher, wholesaler, or distributor does not have your book accessible in a bookshop, it is not listed in their catalog, and you should not bother placing special orders for any clients. Who might be interested in your book? This task is much more challenging.

The print-on-demand division of Ingram, the biggest book distributor in the world, is called IngramSpark. When you publish your paperback with IngramSpark, it will be instantly accessible in Ingram's wholesale catalog, making it simple and fast for any bookshop in the globe to locate and place an order for your book.

Publishing Your Book with Amazon KDP in Paperback

With only a mouse click, writers can sell their books to readers all around the globe with Amazon's print-on-demand system. only submit the cover and typeset interior of your book, and when a buyer purchases a copy, Amazon only has to click a button on its expensive printer to make your book appear. She leaves. On the other end. After then, Amazon mails the book to the buyer.

Using Ingram Spark to publish your book in paperback

The main distinction between IngramSpark and Amazon's print-on-demand offerings is that the former caters to the book trade rather than individual consumers. They have a more involved setup procedure than Amazon, but the payoff is that they will make sure your book is correctly listed in Books in Print, the world's biggest book database, making it easier for shops to find it. Where can I purchase your book? Just bear in mind that although they will not charge for the first $49 set-up cost (as of May 1, 2023), they will charge for any file updates that are filed within 60 days after publication.

As a freelance writer, you basically have three options for promoting your book both domestically and abroad:

First, you may publish a paperback version of your book via IngramSpark and Amazon KDP, which will let you to distribute it internationally to all of the main online and physical book retailers, including those in South Africa.

Second, you may use Kindle Direct Publishing to publish your book as an e-book, which will make it immediately accessible in Amazon bookstores all over the globe.

Lastly, you have the option to publish your electronic book on the Draft2Digital platform and distribute it to all other independent online retailers, including the Apple Books Store.

I want to share a few publishing secrets with you before you start posting your book to all these sites. You've already made half the progress toward publishing your book effectively if you adhere to these rules.

Putting your book out in enormous print

There are many advantages to publishing a big print version of your book alongside the regular paperback version, particularly in terms of expanding your readership. For instance, a lot of writers are ignorant of the fact that, while relatively few big print editions are being produced, public libraries sometimes have an entire area of their collection dedicated to large print.

You may wonder, nevertheless, what the huge print really means. 

A book printed in big print has text set in a font size greater than the typical 11 or 12 points seen in conventional books. Large printed books often use a typeface that is 16 points or greater. Those with dyslexia, age-related vision loss, visual impairment, or those who prefer bigger print for easier reading and less eye strain might find this style more comfortable and accessible while reading. Are. You may increase prospective readers and revenues by making your work more readily accessible to a larger audience by offering it in an accessible format.

Greater print quantities not only make your book stand out in a competitive market, but they may also help you reach a wider target audience. It might be difficult for writers to stand out from the competition and draw in readers amid the plethora of independently published books that are now accessible. Authors may cater to a particular market by providing a bigger print alternative, setting themselves apart from rivals who might not have thought of this format. For independent authors wishing to make a name for themselves in the literary community, this divergence may raise awareness and perhaps lead to greater sales possibilities.

Larger print editions of books may also improve the reading experience for a broad range of readers, not only those who are blind or visually impaired. For convenience of reading and to lessen eye strain, many individuals choose big print.Sand, particularly in low light or after extended reading periods. Positive evaluations and word-of-mouth recommendations resulting from this enhanced reading experience may boost the author's reputation and prospects for success. Authors may make a lasting impression on readers, stand out in the competitive market, and successfully reach a broader audience by understanding the advantages of bigger print editions and implementing them into their independent publishing plan.

Crucial points to keep in mind while creating a version for bigger print

When creating a big print version of your book, bear the following points in mind:

To make it easy for readers to distinguish between your big print edition and your ordinary paperback, your cover designer will need to produce a unique cover.

For this edition, a separate ISBN will be required.

The font size must be adjusted to 16 points (or bigger) by your typesetter.

Do the costs associated with producing a big print edition of my book matter?

greater print editions may result in thicker, heavier books since they sometimes need extra pages to fit the greater font size. Production costs may go up as a result of the higher page count, which calls for additional paper and ink as well as maybe new binding alternatives to fit the bigger size. But because to developments in digital printing and print-on-demand businesses, independent writers may now provide big print versions of their works at no up-front expense.

The bigger print version will come with an additional setup cost from IngramSpark, but it won't be more than what they charge to produce a standard paperback edition. There are no extra fees from Amazon.com. During the publication process, you must designate this version as "Large Print" in order for Nielsen Books to properly list your book in print.

Weighing the possible advantages of catering to a particular market's demands and expanding one's reach against the higher production costs of bigger print editions is crucial. The increased readership and potential revenues in big print books often make up for the higher production and distribution expenses.

Several crucial rules to follow while releasing your book, whether it's in paperback, e-book, or both formats

Make a thoughtful title choice. It ought to stick in people's memories so they can search for it later. Spelling and pronouncing terms that are hard to come by should be avoided unless you are writing non-fiction technical material. In an ideal world, the book's title—especially in non-fiction—would reflect its contents. Consider yourself looking for books about vegetable garden design on Amazon.com. When searching for your book, if its title is "Designing Your First Vegetable Garden," you will most likely come up first.

Don't publish your book if it hasn't been edited or proofread. Engage a seasoned editor and proofreader to look over your work in detail. Nothing is more frustrating than publishing hundreds of copies of a book and then discovering that there are many obvious punctuation, spelling, or grammar mistakes.

Get a professional book cover designer to create the cover for your publication. Please don't attempt to make this yourself unless you are a graphic designer. If you don't want to pay around $399 to Amazon KDP to generate a cover for your book, you may submit a professionally created cover of your own. The phrase "professionally designed" is one that I cannot stress enough. Don't cut corners when it comes to the book cover—that's what makes a book sell. Many writers, particularly those who write for bookshops, do this and then wonder why their books don't sell. Having a skilled book cover designer produce a distinctive cover for you is the first reward. Before giving the designer any money, always ask to see examples of their previous work. A "budget" pre-designed template cover may be found on several websites for more than $100, but I personally wouldn't suggest doing this as your choices for layout and images would be severely limited. 

Are. You can get premade covers in South Africa for approximately R350, but bear in mind that they could not be the unique designs created just for your book. Expert book cover designers might charge up to $300 if they create the cover from the ground up. For a cover that was initially created in South Africa, you may anticipate to spend somewhere between R1500 and R4500. Greg Davis of Greg Davis Media and I have collaborated for a number of years, and he has a thorough understanding of book cover design. He has a great turnaround speed and is also really creative. You may get in touch with him at www.greggdavies.com. 

 

Put your back cover on.Give your blurb enough time to write it. Although it's often the last thing writers consider, it may, like the cover, make or break whether a prospective reader decides to purchase your book.

 

Verify the formatting of your book. You may download hundreds of free Microsoft Word templates from Amazon KDP, copy them, and paste them chapter by chapter into your work. The formatting will be done for you automatically. You should be fine if you use the Amazon KDP template and don't tamper with the alignment or tabs. If not, try one of the commercial software solutions listed below: Vellum (available exclusively for Mac), or Scrivener (available for Microsoft and Mac). Take additional care when publishing anything with bullet points, tables, and diagrams, such as textbooks. This is especially important for publishing e-books, since the formatting is lost during file conversion. 

particularly when uploading from apps like Microsoft Word. My personal recommendation is to align everything to the left, particularly the bullet points, based on my own expertise in this area. When converted to digital ePub format, the lack of bullet points beginning from the center of the page looks awful.

 

Make sure your book's keywords, categories, and description are accurate when you list it on any publishing site. You might write something different or something close to the description found on the back of your book for your book. It is important to keep in mind that your book description is what will drive sales, particularly in digital formats without a back cover. The description is the third thing a reader will look at before buying your book, after the title and book cover. Make sure the book description you write is clear, appealing, and expert. You may input up to seven distinct keywords on Amazon (which don't have to be single words; they can be phrases). Draft2Digital gives you a lot more options. 

Because people will use keywords relating to the subject while looking for books on certain themes, your keywords should be unique to your book. If you're not sure, seek for keyword suggestions in books that are comparable to yours on Amazon. Make sure the keywords you choose relate to both the subcategory and the BISAC category that your book is in. For non-fiction works, for instance, a book might be included under estate planning and subsequently under trust law. Draft2Digital supports many more categories, while Amazon KDP permits three.

 

Consider the prices of other books in your genre when determining the right price for your book. If you are a first-time author and there are a lot of other publications on the same subject, be sure to carefully consider the pricing of your e-book. A safe spot to play is anywhere from $4.99 to $9.99 for the e-book edition of your book, but if you only have a few books on your specific topic, this may go much higher. Based on printing expenses, Amazon KDP will provide suggestions for the pricing of the printed edition. When pricing your printed copies for the South African market, bear in mind that large book retailers will want a minimum of 40–45% off the suggested retail price of your book, in addition to shipping fees. You should anticipate paying your local distributor between 24 and 26 percent of your book's retail price if you are utilizing them to distribute your books to bookshops. The distributor will tack on VAT to your purchase if you are not registered for it.

Don't hurry the process of publishing your book online, particularly on Amazon, and publish it only to have it appear there. Send your manuscript to a few chosen friends, family members, and coworkers before publishing it to the general public. On release day, ask them to provide (sincere) reviews of your book on Goodreads and Amazon. This will quickly raise the rating of your book on Amazon. For writers, reviews are like gold, thus the more reviews your book receives on the day of release, the better. Writing reviews on Amazon is more challenging than on Goodreads, particularly if your readers aren't frequent Amazon shoppers. 

Seek for reviewers and readers who have made purchases from Amazon in the past, since they are the only ones who can post a review of your book on their website if they have made a purchase there worth more than $50. You may expedite the process by cutting some of your top Goodreads reviews into a few paragraphs and pasting them into the editorial review part of your book on your Author Central page on Amazon.com. Are. When you have Amazon KDP, one of the things you will need to do is set up your author page.Get your first book published. 

Click your Author Central control panel, choose the Books tab, and then click Edit Editorial Reviews section to access the Editorial Reviews area. It's fantastic to see that the reviews you put into this part on your book's Amazon website will show up before the book's description. This may also be accomplished using celebrity, magazine, and newspaper endorsements and reviews.

When I sell my book on the Draft2Digital, IngramSpark, and Amazon KDP platforms, how will I get compensated?

Creating a Payoneer account is the quickest and most straightforward method to guarantee that you get your royalty payments on time each month. Payoneer will provide you with a free US bank account setup, perhaps via First Century Bank, and connect it to your local bank account. Additionally, a bank card with your name stamped on it may be ordered.

Simply provide the banking information for the account that Payoneer generated for you, and your royalties will be sent into that account on a monthly basis. This will allow you to connect your Payoneer account to Amazon, Draft2Digital, and IngramSpark.

At any point, you may tell Payoneer to move money to your local account.

Payoneer is very user-friendly, and independent writers from all around the globe use their services. To learn more, go to www.payoneer.com.

In the event that you are not in a nation where Payoneer is available to you, you may anticipate receiving your royalty payment by wire transfer, cheque, or the mail if you do not have a Payoneer account. Recently, Amazon KDP approved South Africa and authorized wire transfers. However, bear in mind that Amazon pays royalties on a monthly basis, and the $25 royalty payment will be taken out of your account if your sales are sluggish. may be negatively impacted by the foreign transaction service fees charged by the local bank. Because you may retain your US dollars for as long as you wish before cashing out, Payoneer is my preferred option.

Getting your book into bookshops (I'll concentrate on the ones in my neighborhood in South Africa)

Since my job is bookseller, I am aware that when a client asks me to bring them a book, I want to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Booksellers often purchase directly from publishers; however, they may purchase via distributors or, preferable, wholesalers. The bookseller will initially inquire as to where the consumer may get your book if they request it and the bookshop is out of stock. Ideally, they would want to buy from a supplier they often work with. It is likely that a bookshop will order copies of your book if it is easily available from a wholesaler.

All books produced via Amazon KDP are stocked by Ingram, one of the biggest book wholesalers in the US (I think the books are printed "on demand" at their facility).

If you choose to publish with IngramSpark, the company's independent publishing branch, booksellers worldwide will be able to purchase your book via Ingram. I often place orders with Ingram as a bookstore, and their turnaround times and customer service are top-notch. If you want to pursue independent publishing, IngramSpark is on your side from the standpoint of a bookstore.

But there's even more... Additionally, almost all online bookshops in the globe get a digital feed of Ingram's book catalog, which means your book will be sent to every country in the world since they have access to the whole IngramSpark catalog. Bookseller Not a single finger needs to be lifted. After publishing with IngramSpark, you may anticipate seeing your book on websites like Takealot, Loot, and Exclusive Books if you reside in South Africa.

The most important thing I can tell you to do to sell your book to readers is to make sure you have a solid order fulfillment supply chain. I promise it's a hassle and will not bring you future business when you have to leave a bookshop looking through endless pages on Google to discover you and your book. Don't expect the large booksellers to locate an author; only specialized bookstores will put in the effort and time to do so.

It might be a costly endeavor to get your book into South African physical shops, therefore I would suggest you proceed cautiously in this regard.

Consider this when setting your printed copy's price for the South African market: large book retailers will likely suggest your book.A minimum 40–55% reduction from the retail price would be necessary for this, in addition to shipping expenses. You should anticipate paying your local distributor between 24 and 26 percent of your book's retail price if you are utilizing them to distribute your books to bookshops.

When you first start out, I would advise you to start selling your books via independent South African shops in order to cut down on distribution expenses. This is something you would take care of right immediately, and because there aren't many independent booksellers in the nation, it's rather easy to do. Try to schedule a face-to-face meeting with the management of the bookshop. One of the best ways to get your book on the shelf and sell a lot is to launch it at an independent bookshop. Love Books (Bamboo Centre, Melville) and The Book Lounge (Cape Town) are two of my favorite indie bookstores to work in.

The majority of bookstores only accept consignment orders, which means that you won't be paid until the store sells a copy of your book. Additionally, bookshops usually send their orders 90 days following the sale. Pay only. At the end of each month, you have an obligation to provide a statement to the book shop so they may settle their accounts and reimburse you for the books you have sold. I would recommend writing "Sale or return: 90 days" very clearly on your invoice. Make sure that, after this 90-day period, you pick up your unsold inventory.

Make sure your printing expenses are as cheap as possible (without sacrificing quality) when you're ready to sell to bigger book chains like Exclusive Books. This will prevent you from sitting at break-even or below the break-even mark. Keep in mind that bigger book chains incur extra expenses for hiring a distributor to deliver books to various locations. These distributors charge 24-26% to cover the expenses of distribution, packaging, storage, and sending salesmen to each branch with copies of your book in order to drive sales.

To be honest, there's nothing more annoying than discovering that book merchants are the only ones benefiting financially from your publication. This especially remained with me when I began selling my book to major book stores since I am a bookstore myself. For this reason, I would strongly advise concentrating on internet sales at first, followed by sales via independent bookshops.

In brief

In summary, if you've read this far and you have a book within, there's basically no reason why you shouldn't publish it.

You should employ a ghostwriter for yourself if you're a better speaker than writer. And if you can't seem to find any success with a conventional publisher, put yourself aside and think about self-publishing or being an independent author like myself.

For independent authors, there are several excellent tools available. Joanna Penn, for instance, has a fantastic website called The Creative Penn. I advise you to subscribe to podcasts right away if you like listening to them. Since I began listening to their podcasts, I can't even begin to express the amount of knowledge and inspiration I've gained to become an independent writer. Visit https://www.thecreativepenn.com/ to locate him.

When your book comes out and you hold it in your hands, be ready to witness in awe as the person who received it falls to his knees and looks at you with starry eyes. looks back at you, too. You'll move from being an ordinary Joe (or Josephine) sop to a demi-god in a matter of seconds.

So, isn't it time you become a legend, regardless of your goals—be they to become a best-selling author or to just make a statement by using your book as the finest business card ever given? Assume Your Position You were always going to be this way, right?

recurring publication

I earned a sizable following when I wrote and published my first novel, which I did one chapter at a time on Wattpad and Jukepop, which is now known as Serial Box. Readers may read, vote, and comment on your chapters as you upload them.

Both are web- and app-based services that cater to readers and authors; Wattpad is the bigger of the two.

With readers able to vote for each chapter as it was uploaded, serial publishing provided me with an excellent chance to assess the reception of my book before I ever put it into print. A month before I put Four in the Morning up on Amazon, it reached the top place on Jukepop in June 2015.

Avoid serial publishing if your goal is mainstream publishing, as many publishers will not accept your work for publication if the material is already "there."This is not acceptable to me.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Publishing Your Book on Draft2Digital and Amazon Kindle (KDP)

KDP on Amazon

The following actions must be taken in order for your work to be published on Amazon KDP:

Go to kdp.amazon.com to log into Amazon KDP.

Make a personal account.

Make a new title and fill in the title, author, edition, language, and publishing date sections.

If you don't have any copyright limitations, you may either give your book an ISBN or allow Amazon KDP to issue one. A book's ISBN serves as a distinctive identification for every edition. One for your print book and another for your electronic book are required. This may be applied to barcodes on your book's rear. There is no cost if Amazon assigns an ISBN to your book, and BookinPrint.com will immediately register it. Just keep in mind that using an Amazon ISBN will obligate you to sell your book only via Amazon. 

It is always my recommendation that writers get their ISBN from the national ISBN agency. Each nation has a recognized and authorized organization that assigns ISBNs to local publishers and self-publishers. The official US ISBN agency is Boker; the official UK and Ireland ISBN agency is Nielsen; and the official Australian ISBN agency is Thorpe-Bowker. To locate an authorized ISBN agency in your nation, use this link. If your cover is native, GNER will take care of the barcode, so you won't need to purchase one. Applying for an ISBN is free in South Africa, where the National Library in Pretoria is the ISBN agency.

Choose your inner paper color (white or cream); cream is a good choice for anything that isn't textbook material since it's easy on the eyes. You may also choose your interior type (black and white, or full color if you have photos or images). is simple for.)

Send us your properly typeset, PDF book manuscript that is ready for printing. If you are tight on funds, you may quickly download and edit various free pre-formatted templates from Amazon KDP's website by copying and pasting them into your manuscript. Once you are done, be sure to read your text through page by page by placing it into one of their templates (6").

Keep in mind that you will need to publish an entirely different book with your own ISBN and cover if you want to publish a bigger print version of your book—a format that is popular with both the library market and visually impaired users. could need it. a wide back.

Make sure you've completed the following checks before submitting your manuscript:

Verify that your text is properly structured, with the appropriate typefaces, margins, and page breaks, and that each page is numbered. This will be an easy task if your book is properly typeset.

If your book is going to be published in a bigger print format, you should choose a font size of 16 instead of 11 or 12 for commercial paperbacks. Garamond is the most often used typeface for books.

To safeguard your intellectual property, don't forget to add a copyright page. The copyright page is available as a free template that you can download and edit here. You may also download the book I used to write one of my books and replace the specifics with the details of your own. Don't forget to give back by expressing gratitude to your cover designer and editor.

Upload a print-ready, professionally designed book cover. Keep in mind that the hardcopy version requires a front cover, spine, and back cover, whereas the Kindle edition simply requires a front cover. I can't stress the phrase "professionally designed" enough: unless you submit your own professionally designed book cover, Amazon KDP will generate a cover for your book at a cost of around $399. Not able to provide. Don't cut corners when it comes to the book cover—that's what makes a book sell. Many writers, particularly those who write for bookshops, do this and then wonder why their books don't sell.

Decide which regions you wish to sell your book in and what your retail pricing will be. Depending on the size, page count, and whether the book is fully colored or black and white inside, Amazon KDP will suggest a minimum pricing. the book's cover's color and style. Only when a consumer placed an order is your book printed. A royalty payment will be sent into your account each time a consumer purchases your book on Amazon, and a book will be produced to satisfy that order. You should anticipate receiving royalties of around 20% on average.The are capable of. To pay for its expenses, Amazon KDP keeps a portion of every book sold. Depending on whatever sales channel your book is sold via, the list price of your book is reduced by a sales channel percentage of around 40%. Following that, a set charge from Amazon KDP is deducted for each sale. This price varies based on the book's page count and whether its interior is fully colored or black and white. After that, there is a final cut determined by the book's page count. The sum that remains after all of these deductions is yours. Click this link for a complete breakdown of these expenses: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201834330

Await the approval of your book from Amazon KDP for a full day. They will send you an email to let you know if there are any formatting, spelling, or font problems. You will then have the chance to use their internal reviewer to remedy any issues before going live. It ensures that everything is in its proper position and nothing is missing while letting you flip the pages of your book in a fascinating three-dimensional world on your screen. Return, make the necessary corrections, and resubmit your document if you see anything unusual. Take your time and make sure you check everything again since it takes at least 24 hours to obtain the updated digital proof after resubmitting.

You may choose to get a draft copy of your book from the USA before it is live on Amazon.com. It's worthwhile to do this since, in my experience, if I had just looked at the digital version, I would not have seen many problems.

Aside from all of that, having a draft copy of your work in your hands is fantastic.

Don't hurry the procedure; instead, take your time. Before publishing your book online, make sure it is as good as it can be. I can't stress this enough.

You will be responsible for the printing expenses if you would like to order a few printed copies of your book from Amazon KDP for yourself and are content to concentrate only on sales to other countries, printing none locally. Approximately $5 was being charged by Amazon to print a 350-page book with a KDP full-color paperback cover at the time this page was published. Shipping costs are not included in this.

Mike White from Inside Data in Cape Town is a local printing shop that I would strongly suggest if you reside in South Africa. Since last year, he has been publishing books, and his area of expertise is publishing books for both large publishers and independent writers. He distributes all around South Africa, his turnaround time is typically 4-5 days, and his quality is outstanding.

In addition, it is much less expensive than IngramSpark and Amazon KDP. I paid R75 each book for a limited print run of 100 copies at the time this page was published. He would produce a small run of around twenty volumes, but this might become pricey. Alternatively, choose at least fifty copies and devote some effort to book promotion.

Making Your Book Kindle-Friendly with the Kindle Create App

Free do-it-yourself version (but you may need to bring painkillers and practice deep breathing):

You have two options for formatting your manuscript for Kindle publishing: submit it straight to the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform or utilize their Kindle Create function to produce a Kindle-friendly version of your work. able to use the app.

You may download the Kindle KDP app on your PC or Mac. To guarantee your work is suitably formatted for reading on a Kindle device, tablet, or smartphone, all you have to do is upload it from Word to the Kindle Create program, which will then convert it to ePub format.

The following actions must be taken in order to publish your book in Kindle eBook format so that it may be downloaded from Amazon websites worldwide:

Go here to register for a personal account with Kindle Direct Publishing.

Go here to get the Kindle Create app.

Once your work has been published, upload it to Kindle Create and save it on your laptop in a location that is accessible (scroll down for a step-by-step tutorial). You may upload straight from the software you published to the KDP website in case the upload to Kindle Create doesn't go through. With Microsoft Word, KDP and Kindle Create are both content.

A word of caution: In the event that your book is rejected by the Kindle Create app—especially if it contains figures and tables—you will need to submit it directly to the KDP website of Amazon. Although the procedure is straightforward, there are instances when odd things happen when their program reads your work and converts it to Kindle format. It's possible that you'll realize, horrified, that all of your meticulous formatting is gone. There could be things that don't belong, such mismatched chapter headers, big gaps between paragraphs, blank pages, and other things. In the event that this occurs, you will have to revisit your manuscript, rework the problematic passages, and submit it again until it is seen in its entirety online.

Enter the book's title and fill out the bibliographic details (language, title, edition, author, book description, publication rights, keywords, categories, age and grade ranges) on the KDP website.

Choose whether to pre-launch your eBook and take preorders, or when you want it to go live on Amazon.

Put a cover online. Keep in mind that this is just the cover.

Decide on your price and market. 70% of the sale price of your book, if it is priced between $2.99 and $9.99, will be your royalty. Royalties at the rate of thirty-five percent will be paid on anything beyond this price break. Important: Before your royalty payment is computed, Amazon deducts a $2 international fee on purchases coming from countries outside of the US.

Select "Do not use DRM" when checking the DRM (Digital Rights Management) box. It is the Kindle's default option not to utilize DRM, so be careful when tampering with that checkbox—once chosen, it cannot be unchecked.

Await an email from Kindle KDP expressing their gratitude. Usually, this takes six to twenty-four hours.

Click the "Publish" button.

Once your book is up on Amazon, readers will be able to download it on their devices.

You will also have the option to turn your book into a paperback via Amazon KDP.

You will be able to track your sales (daily) on your own author dashboard after your book is live on Amazon.

Additionally, I would advise you to set up an author page on Amazon.com. This way, even if it doesn't work out, your readers can still learn more about you and establish a direct connection with you via your publications.This works well for promoting books and adding fresh material to blogs. are hosting the debut of. To build your own author page, visit Author Central at https://author.amazon.com.

The Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program provides some of the greatest marketing strategies at little cost for promoting and marketing your e-books to Amazon consumers. More information on their marketing initiatives may be found at https://kdp.amazon.com/, the KDP website.

Details on the Kindle Create app

Kindle Create (Beta) assists in converting Microsoft Word books into a format suitable for publication on Kindle devices and applications. By streamlining the file conversion procedure, Kindle Create (Beta) avoids the kinds of mistakes that might impede publication.

It should be noted that Kindle Create (beta) is limited to books that lack tables, drawings, or photos. You may download the Kindle Textbook Creator here if your book include photos or other media. You can be confident that your formatting will be retained with this software. Prior to posting, don't forget to save your manuscript in PDF format. Word-formatted documents are not supported by Kindle Textbook Creator.

Now, let's return to the Kindle Create.

What Kindle Create (Beta) does is

Before publishing, check and revise your book as it will appear in Kindle format.

While you style your book, create and adjust the table of contents.

To improve the appearance and readability of your eBook, consider using a professionally designed theme.

Modification

Kindle Create (Beta) instantly transforms your work into a Kindle-compatible file when you upload it. It will then assist you with formatting it.

contents table

Kindle Create (Beta) generates a table of contents for you by automatically searching your file for chapter headers. Manually creating a TOC might take a lot of time.

fashions

You may specify the book's title, subtitle, chapter title, opening paragraph, and other elements by reading the file.

An overview

You may take a break while you work to preview how the page you're working on will appear on Kindle when it's published.

After your book looks the way you want it to, you may upload and publish your output file (.kpf) straight to KDP. Advanced typesetting (ETS) and page flips are automatically supported for eBooks created using Kindle Create (Beta).

Even if you don't have a new book ready to publish, you may still work with a public domain offering to assist us in reviewing the process for your Kindle book to improve its formatting. An existing book that you have already published may also be updated.

Making Your eBook Available on Draft2DigitalDraft2Digital provides a quick and simple self-publishing solution. After releasing your book on Amazon Kindle, there is a fantastic "next point" that can help you reach other online retailers like the Apple iStore.

 Formatting is taken care of by Draft2Digital. You get to decide how much to charge for your books, get money on a monthly basis, and see daily sales figures. They handle everything with committed customer care and round-the-clock assistance. The author retains all of his rights, and they take 10% of the selling price.

Even if your book has already been released by another distributor, Draft2Digital can help you reach a wider audience and make project management easier for all other sales channels.

Step 1: Create an account.

Visit www.draft2digital.com to create a free account. You bear no risk, and there are no up-front expenses. They will want the following basic details when you create an account:

Search term: Topic Description Sales categories

It just takes a few minutes to set up because of the simplicity of the Draft2Digital interface.

Step 2: Submit Your Writing

A Word document (in the.doc or.docx format), RTF, or any other file type that Word can read, is all you need to get started. There are no style manuals or unique formatting specifications for Draft2Digital.

Ignore the copyright and title pages unless you have a favorite already. Draft2Digital will produce it for you; all you have to do is give them the narrative.

Be sure you consistently mark your chapter breaks with something distinctive. Use a bolder font, a headline style, or a bigger font in the middle. Don't combine chapter titles.

Upload your cover art if you have any. The ideal file size is a 1600 x 2400 JPEG, but any long rectangle will do. Draft2Digital will adjust the file size to fit the requirements of the sales channels you have selected.

And that's it! After that, Draft2Digital will see to it that your book has chapter breaks and a functional table of contents. They also create personalized author endpapers and teaser pages. Everything they create is guaranteed to pass Epubcheck, which means it satisfies the technical requirements for each of their digital retailers.

In addition to producing a stunning ePUB, the Draft2Digital conversion process allows you to download a Mobi file for Kindle reading.

It's possible that your eBook will seem somewhat different from the one you submitted initially. Their aim is to optimize the appearance of your narrative on the devices that readers utilize.

It's also beneficial if you have a professionally prepared EPub of your own. They will gladly distribute it for you across all of their digital outlets, but they won't make any adjustments.

Step 3: Select your supplier

Draft2Digital supports some of the largest sales platforms and will offer your book just as quickly as direct.

Barnes & Noble

Apple Books Kobo books

Overdrive Everand (formerly Scribd) Inktera Tollino

They provide you a single, convenient location to update and manage information rather than requiring you to keep track of author biographies, sales statistics, book editions, and series titles on all those separate accounts. It just takes one click to turn on or off any sales channel.

Unless you provide your own ISBN, Draft2Digital will automatically give one to every book published via its system. Because the ISBN enables them to distribute your work via other channels and preserves your rights, they are able to provide this free service.

You may also set up pre-orders using Draft2Digital for all of its most well-liked sales channels if you already have sales data (most significantly, a clear release date) available for your upcoming release. On the day of release, this is a fantastic method to raise attention and improve your sales rank.

Just like Amazon, Draft2Digital can produce paperbacks for every book produced using our conversion service—all books that are not pre-formatted ePUB files, that is. You are free to distribute these files using CreateSpace or any other print-on-demand provider of your choice.

Set your list price in step four.

You will specify a digital book pricing (in US dollars) when you publish a book. Your list price is final!

Draft2Digital will instruct our online retailers to post your book for sale at the price you choose.

Want to give your book a free listing? Not an issue. Select a $0.00 list price on the publishing page, and they'll take care of it.

Just visit their site again and make the necessary changes if you ever want to temporarily or permanently alter the price of your book. They'll make sure that all of your suppliers' information is current.

Step 5: Oversee and Monitor

The goal of draftT2Digital is to relieve you of the burden of maintaining your book once it is published and on the market. They provide you with a single, convenient location to do business and monitor your progress.

Control alterations. If you need any modifications made, Draft2Digital will take care of them right away and at no additional cost. These adjustments may be made to the product description, primary text, or pricing for a weekend promotion.

see the report. They provide you continuous access to all of your suppliers' most recent sales data. Your sales figures are always posted as soon as they are made accessible by them. Additionally, they streamline analysis by presenting all of your sales data in dynamic charts rather than lengthy, intricate spreadsheets.

get compensation. For checks, Payoneer, foreign direct deposits, and all other digital payments, Draft2Digital offers monthly payments with no minimum amount restrictions ($25 for checks, $20 for Payoneer, and $10 for other payments). They normally take 30 to 90 days after the sale to get your royalty payment, then they remove 10% and give you the remaining amount.