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My SPS Blog
ASK Dave
Book Design
Book Design Wizard
Poetry Book Creator
Typography
Cover Design
Page Layout
Self-Editing
PDF
Self Publishing
CreateSpace
Lulu.com
Aventine Press
eBooks
Smashwords
Selling Books
About the Author
Contact
Privacy Policy
YOUR BOOKS!
 

Self-Publishing Solutions:
Publish your book for free
and sell it on Amazon.com

Self-Publishing Solutions' mission is to address the two main problems new authors have: getting published and selling books. We will discuss the types of self-publishing, the problems and solutions associated with each type, and how to promote and sell your books online.

Why self-publish at all?

Amazon.com has single handedly made self-publishing legitimate. Their book detail page for a self-published book is identical to the detail page for a traditionally published book. The barriers to self-publishing have been falling since the advent of the personal computer. Print-on-Demand (POD) gave self-publishing a huge boost. Today, you can even publish for free. This is my favorite. This is what I recommend for new and unknown authors.

Other reasons for self-publishing include:

  • Traditional publishing is in decline. Major publishers, like major film studios, are interested in blockbusters and authors with name recognition. They are accepting fewer and fewer books. It is increasingly difficult for good and even great authors to be published.
  • You retain all your rights.
  • You make more money per book.

You have options:

  • Start a publishing business! Some say this is the only way to become a real self-publisher. Pick a name. Purchase a group of ISBNs. This is the most complicated route. Start by reading Aaron Shepard's Aiming at Amazon.
  • Use a self-publishing company. This is the easiest path, but it is also the riskiest. Most self-publishing companies mark up printing costs excessively, and charge way too much for their books. There are other pitfalls. I will show you what to look for and what to look out for.

    Read The Fine Print of Self Publishing by Mark Levine and Top Self Publishing Firms

  • by Stacie Vander Pol before choosing a self-publishing company.

  • Publish for free! CreateSpace and Lulu enable you to publish your book as a paperback for free. Amazon (Kindle), CreateSpace, Lulu, and Smashwords will enable you to publish an eBook for free. I am an ardent Publish for Free enthusiast.

    Is there a catch? Yes! And, it's a big one. You have to do all the work yourself. One of the goals of Self-Publishing Solutions is to teach you to do just that. Imagine the pride and self confidence that will come with knowing that you can write and publish a book anytime you want.

Self-Publishing Solutions is dedicated to helping new authors with limited budgets publish and sell their books.

Self Publishing Solutions Blog
My SPS Blog teaches new authors to publish their books for free and sell them on Amazon.com. Imagine the confidence you will have when you know that you can write and publish a book whenever you want.

Self Publishing Problems
ASK Dave about your self-publishing problems. If he doesn’t know the answer, he will either find it or point you in the right direction.

Book Design
Book design is everything that affects the appearance of a book.

Book Design Wizard
The Book Design Wizard simplifies book design and page layout, so that anyone can prepare a manuscript for publication using Microsoft word. It is a huge time saver.

Poetry Book Creator
The Poetry Book Creator makes it easy to design and layout a book of poetry. It will save you time, even if you are a Microsoft® Word expert.

Typography
Typography is the art and science of the design, selection, and arrangement of type.

Cover Design
Create an appropriate cover design that will be readable online at thumbnail size.

Page Layout
Doing your own page layout can save you hundreds of dollars. This is the place to learn page layout.

Self-Editing
Self-editing is the Achilles heel of self-publishing. Plan ahead to minimize errors. Word’s Find and Replace is a powerful editing tool.

Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format (PDF) is an electronic file format developed by Adobe Systems.

Self-Publishing
A stigma languishes over self-publishing, but only in the minds of authors and publishers. Readers rarely check to see who the publisher is. This is unfortunate because self-publishing is the future.

CreateSpace
CreateSpace uses Print On Demand printers to create books when customers order them, so no inventory is needed. You can make your books available to millions of customers by selling on Amazon.com.

Lulu
Lulu will publish your book for free, but distribution is limited to their site. However, you can get full distribution for a reasonable fee.

Aventine Press
Aventine Press ranked among the best companies in Stacie Vander Pol’s book, Top Self Publishing Firms, and in Mark Levine’s book, The Fine Print of Self Publishing.

eBooks
eBooks can be defined as any electronic document designed to be the digital equivalent of a printed book. What are the advantages and disadvantages of eBooks?

Smashwords
SmashWords is an ebook publishing company that converts Word files into all popular ebook formats. They raised the bar by offering authors 85% of the net profits and a great distribution system.

Selling Books
Selling books is easier than ever before. There are many ways to promote your books. Use everything. Maximize your presence on Amazon, promote your book online, and yes, even use traditional methods.

David Griffiths
David Griffiths is the author of Self Publishing Solutions, a website dedicated to enabling new authors to publish and sell their books for free.

Contact
Your comments are welcome.

Privacy Policy
Self-Publishing-Solutions' Privacy Policy Statement. Your privacy is important to me.

Self Published Books
Authors are invited to create pages for their self-published books, to include: book review, cover picture, description of self-publishing experience, and a brief profile.


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