How to self-publish your ebooks?

Latest update on September 5, 2013 at 09:58 AM by deri58 .

Professionals can independently manage the process of creating and distributing e-books and books. How to break down this process? What are the tools available?

Self-publishing is the process of creating, formatting , publishing and distributing e- books (and possibly the paper version) by the author.

Reduce the cost related to the publishing of an ebook/book:

design

manufacturing

promotion

distribution/marketing of an electronic or paper work.

The persons and entities concerned are:

Independent authors.

Experts in a technical field (marketing).

Bloggers seeking to diversify their sources of income.

Companies in all sectors seeking to publish a magazine, brochure , etc. .

It is important to choose a suitable distribution model and thus opt between the paid or free distribution of the ebook.

This choice depends mainly on:

The contents of the book: is the content good enough (specific/quality/unique) to be marketed?

The reputation of the author : authority on the web and social networks, large audience (website/blog).

Its goal: bringing awareness and help readers to generate revenue.

Its target : is there a demand for this type of content?

The time available, due to operational constraints: choice of distribution platform, management of payment modules and inventory .

Both models are compatible : in the context of a paid distribution, it is wise to publish excerpts from a free digital book on a blog, for example.

In the case of free distribution: add the appropriate license for the reuse/distribution of the content.

The different steps:

Market research (if you intend to sell your book)

The format: text/illustrations

Verification of compliance with copyright, if third party contents are being used.

Writing, proofreading , content validation

Layout and the hoice of desktop publishing tools : if the formatting is intended for printing , check the technical specifications required by the online provider (e.g file format) . Do not forget to include links to facilitate navigation in the final PDF document.

Printing, proofreading.

Copyrighting.

Choosing a distribution platform.

Communicate about your ebook:

Create a Twitter account/Facebook page dedicated to the book, several months before the completion of the project.

Regularly publish excerpts from the document.

Inkscape is a free vector graphics editing software, making use of the Scalable Vector Graphics file format .

It is an alternative to professional softwares such as CorelDraw and Illustrator.

Inkscape allows you to create different graphic elements such as icons, logos, charts, etc. .

It allows you to import images to Postscript, EPS , JPEG , PNG and TIFF formats.

It includes different filters/effects.

Scribus is an open source software distributed under GPL license and is available on Linux/UNIX , Windows and MacOSX.

It is an alternative to the InDesign software (create layouts).

It allows you to create newspapers, brochures and any document requiring implementation of a specific form (inserting illustrations, tabletc).

Gimp is an open source image processing software (alternative to Photoshop), available on Windows, Linux and Mac OS .

It includes a wide variety of image editing tools.

It offers over 150 effects and filters classified by type .

It provides various tools of transformation, selection and creation of layers.

It works with different file formats (jpeg, gif, bmp, png, etc. . ).

Among the platforms to distribute digital books :