How to write and publish an eBook

Publishing and selling your own eBook on Amazon (or elsewhere) without the assistance of a literary agent or publishing house is known as self-publishing. Any profit you make is all yours in exchange for doing all the administration yourself.

Although it may seem frightening at first, it's really rather simple. It's quite simple to publish an eBook, and once you do, you'll start to get passive income for years to come.

So how does one create and distribute an eBook? We'll walk you through each step one at a time.

Creating an ebook

Simply put, you need to write the book before you can publish it on Amazon (or any other platform) and start earning money. Unfortunately, this stage requires a lot of labor and devotion; if you rush it, the result will be a book that no one will want to buy.

You should set up a schedule that you stick to, or you risk wasting years honing your masterpiece. Knowing when your book will hit the stores provides you the best chance to increase sales, which is more crucial.

Your eBook should be divided into chapters, sections, or anything else that makes the organization obvious. Your weekly writing goal is determined by dividing the number of headings by the number of weeks left before your deadline (be realistic). Hold to it.

How to write an eBook quickly

Here is a quick and simple method for writing your eBook:

Write your first draft — Depending on your other life obligations, this could take anywhere from three months to a year (or more). Sit down and concentrate simply on getting the words on the page.

Get comments (give yourself two weeks) - Quit fiddling with your novel and gather your loved ones to read it. Alternately, go on a date with a really talented person enrolled in an English course and request an editorial review. Not a fiction writer? To acquire advice from a professional, go skulk around the relevant department.

(At least two weeks) of editing Utilize the best criticism to refine your creation to the absolute limit. Shine it up.

Verification (one week) - Don't cut corners on this section because obvious mistakes and false information could cost you sales. Try to get an editor on Fiverr if you are unable to afford a professional editor. Give it to a few friends and ask them to be brutal, at the very least. You won't save time by asking someone who doesn't know their "its" from their "it's."

Once your polished manuscript is finished, you must prepare it for publishing.

How to create and distribute an eBook

Here's how to publish your eBook when you've finished writing it:

Layout for your eBook

Just put up the styles you intend to utilize at first, using a blank document template. For your main material, use Times New Roman in 10-point, left-aligned, double-spaced format; for chapter headings, use bold, 22-point italic Helvetica.

Use your pre-defined styles next rather of clicking bold, center, or underline whenever you feel like it.

Use the free Smashwords style guide as your formatting bible once you've decided on an eBook publishing platform. It provides (a lot of) detail on how to set up your book for the smoothest conversion possible.

The most widely used file types are.doc and.docx, however you are not required to use Microsoft. Any free option that allows you to save your files with the appropriate extension, such as OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Google Docs, etc., will function just fine.

Always ensure to preview your eBook on a variety of eReaders and devices after you've uploaded and converted it (definitely preview it on an Amazon Kindle). If you find any egregious typos or formatting mistakes, fix them and upload a new, error-free copy.

The beauty of digital is that you may continue to add information to your eBook even after it has been released. However, don't use it as a justification to send out content that is full of typos or is poorly written or formatted; readers and reviewers won't be impressed.

Design a book cover

Forget about not judging a book by its cover since book consumers always do just that. The good news is that you don't have to be Picasso to create good design; all you need to do is adhere to our common sense recommendations.

How to create a cover for an eBook

Find out whether there are any requirements for cover size or layout from the eBook publishing platform, and then strictly adhere to them! Usually, all you have to do is send something as an image file with the extension.jpg.

Look at the covers of popular eBooks to see what makes them effective. Is it the typeface, color, or other element?

Make sure that your title is clear, bold, and large (no squiggly fonts). Even the smallest mobile screen must be able to read it.

Your image should be compelling, complement the typeface and size of your title, and be relevant to the genre of your book.

GIMP, a free image editing program, performs equally well as expensive programs.

To obtain top-notch, cost-free photographs, check out websites like Unsplash.

If you purchase photographs for your book, make sure you understand how you can use them and whether you must give the photographer or illustrator credit.

You can probably find someone on Fiverr to create a cover for you for, oh, maybe five dollars if you're not comfortable trying it yourself.

Before you pick a choice, show your cover to a few close friends or family members and ask them to be completely honest with you.

Include book details

You must include a few data about you and your content before you can publish your book. Here is a quick reference:

the requirements for publishing an eBook

Book title: This may seem obvious, but make sure your title exactly matches the one on the cover and in your EPUB (also known as your eBook file).

Your name as the author (or whoever wrote the book).

Publisher name - Depending on whether you're using a free or paid ISBN, this might not be required.

Rights - If you wrote your own book from scratch, this is typically very straightforward: you are the only owner of the rights to your work and are free to sell it anywhere in the world.

Language: Use the language in which your work is written.

Adult material disclaimer: Some platforms require you to disclose whether or not you've published anything with explicit sex, violence, or drug use (and it's not really worth lying about it).

Readers will notice your book's description when they browse your book (and consider buying it). Make it absolutely flawless!

Depending on the category, you may be able to select something general like Fiction or Non-Fiction or something incredibly precise like Fiction > Science Fiction > Space Operas. To improve your book's chances of being seen among the competitors, think about choosing less competitive categories that are nonetheless acceptable.

Keywords - Using keywords increases your probability of being found by readers looking for books similar to yours. They could be phrases or words like "romance" or "thriller." The best advice is to locate a book in the store with which you will be competing and utilize similar keywords.

Price - On some platforms, you can adjust the price of your book to correspond to the local market. Just stick with one price if you're unsure, and let the platform figure it out.

Select a release date.

Typically, this simply refers to the date that your eBook is uploaded or published. What does it mean that some platforms now allow you to choose a date months in advance?

In order to create advance sales, positive reviews, and a large number of purchases the day the book goes live, commercial publishers publicize (and market) their books before they go on sale.

Customers can view and pre-order your book right away by setting an advance publication date, but they won't be able to download and read it until the day it becomes available.

Release your eBook.

Don't forget to click the "Publish" button because until you make your eBook online, no one will be able to purchase it.

If you subsequently change your mind, merely setting your eBook to "not-live" status will cause it to revert to draft status and stop showing up in online book stores.

The publishing platform determines how long it takes for your eBook to start showing up on digital bookshelves (or, if you unpublish, to vanish). While for some it may take weeks, for some it only takes a few hours.

Kindle ISBN numbers

The title, author, publisher, format, and price are all indicated by a string of numbers that are frequently used as a barcode on print publications. It resembles an identification card for books.

You need an ISBN to sell your eBook in online retailers, but how do you get one?

How to obtain an ISBN number

ISBNs cost money. One ISBN (for a single book) can be purchased from Nielsen, the UK's ISBN agency, for around £100.

While buying blocks of ten can save you a ton of money (it costs less than two single codes), ISBNs can only be shared or sold by the publisher or person to whom they are registered.

Getting your own ISBN costs money, but it ensures that you are identified as the publisher in every retailer that sells your book. Your publisher's name (also known as the "imprint") might be anything, such as "Your Name," "Your Name Books," or even a completely fictitious name like "The Awesome Press" (as long as no one else is using it).

Obtaining a free ISBN

You can get an ISBN for free from several publishing websites.

The platform is designated as the publisher, so their name will display next to your author name whenever the eBook is offered. Free ISBNs function precisely the same as paid ones, with one exception.

Do not be concerned; this does not imply that they have any control over your content or your use of it. Some platforms even claim that you are still considered a publisher for legal purposes.

Stick with a free ISBN if it's available if the publisher name doesn't bother you and you want to release your eBook as quickly and inexpensively as you can.

Tips for selling your eBook

How to market your eBook is as follows:

Along with Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram profiles, create a website for your book. Use them to engage readers in your work and the progress of your book, as well as to contact reviewers.

Enter your novel or other writing in contests, but stay away from ones that require exorbitant entry costs. Check out BookTrust or start searching for the many free competitions that provide significant rewards and/or recognition.

Get a Goodreads author profile. You can list your book there for free, hold a Q&A, and solicit writing-related advice from other authors.

published a book for kids? Make reading offers to libraries or schools. Send your book notice to sports publications or gyms if you've authored a book about running, cycling, or wrestling.

Offer to conduct a reading, an interview, or an author Q&A to book groups you can find online or in your neighborhood.

How to acquire favorable eBook reviews

The best strategies for getting favorable eBook reviews are as follows:

Learn about the reviewers. Take a look at their other reviews and adhere to their guidelines for submitting books.

Make a book announcement. This is an A4 sheet of paper that includes information on your book's title, author, publisher, price, release date, synopsis, and cover along with your contact information.

People who read (and discuss) the books in your category should receive your book's announcement. Try the writers for regional or national newspapers, book blogs, and YouTube channels. You can also think globally by searching the extensive list of independent critics at theindieview.com.

If reviewers ask to read your book, download a copy of the converted eBook (or save it as a PDF) to distribute to them. While the majority of reviewers won't demand perfectly finished books, avoid sending anything that is incorrectly formatted and has a lot of errors (unless you want that to feature in your review). If necessary, include a disclaimer: "This edition is a review copy; some content may change before publishing."

If any early reviews of your book contain any particularly juicy praise, include it on the book's detail page or in the description. Some authors even include a page with the best criticism quotes to their updated publications.

Do you have a tale to tell about how your book was released? Send a press release to media outlets including newspapers, magazines, and radio or TV stations. Just the fact that you've published a book can be enough to garner some attention if you reside in a small town.

Visit Booklife.com to submit your book for a free review. Out of the hundreds of entries they receive, they only accept a small number, but getting one gives you a lot of respect (and maybe even gets you published in the prestigious US trade publication Publisher's Weekly).

Do not, despite temptation, respond to consumer evaluations. even on Amazon, no! If it's glowing, five-star praise, just enjoy the wonderful feeling. Don't worry yourself to sleep about it if it's not. Negative reviews won't ruin your book, but if you find yourself receiving a lot of them, consider whether there may be something you've overlooked.