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How to Self-Publish a Book For Free (and not for free)
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2024
- Today we're talking about how much it costs to self-publish a book, how to do it affordably, and how to do it for free! Let me know what you're planning to spend (or have spent) on your own books in a comment. :)
Topics:
0:00 Introduction
1:22 What are you paying for?
6:37 How much does it cost to self-publish a book?
7:50 What I spent to publish my books
12:06 How much should you spend on your book?
16:58 Tips for saving money on self-publishing
20:12 How to publish a book for free
22:20 Summary and resources
How to design your book interior with InDesign: skl.sh/3SFTbCx
How to publish a collection: skl.sh/3Ufvkeo
How to write beautiful prose: withkoji.com/@hannahleekidder
📚 B O O K S
STARLIGHT: SHORT STORIES
amazon: amzn.to/3hkuUiF
b&n: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/star...
indiebound: www.indiebound.org/book/97817...
signed copies: hannahleekidder.com/shop/
LITTLE BIRDS: SHORT STORIES
amazon: amzn.to/2FMdbmg
audiobook: adbl.co/2Vo8sMo
signed copies: hannahleekidder.com/shop/
✉️ M A I L
PO Box 125
Manitou Springs, CO
80829
🌎 S O C I A L
MAILING LIST: view.flodesk.com/pages/60a6ad...
WEBSITE: hannahleekidder.com/
TWITCH: / hannahleekidder
PATREON: / hannahleekidder
TWITTER: / hannahleekidder
INSTAGRAM: / hannahleekidder
🙌D I S C O U N T L I N K S
SKILLSHARE (2 week free trial): skl.sh/2Vp4HUA
THREDUP ($10 store credit): www.thredup.com/r/Q3QDXG
NOVELPAD (only I get rewarded but ilysm and I know you'll love it): novelpad.co/?via=hannah
📸 E Q U I P M E N T
CAMERA: amzn.to/2NmTxMe
MICROPHONE: amzn.to/3NTfGSf
LAPTOP: amzn.to/34ow1s0
How to design your book interior with InDesign: skl.sh/3SFTbCx
How to publish a collection: skl.sh/3Ufvkeo
How to write beautiful prose: withkoji.com/@hannahleekidder
*this is a fantastic entry.* not that they arent all, but damn. _JC
Hi Hannah, so the only thing i need for legal matters is an ISBN and i start printing?
I appreciate your straightforwardness. You are so much more clear, and less... used-car-salesman than most people making informational videos. Thanks!
Finding the money for editing is my greatest concern. It's the most expensive part, but also the last part I want to skip. Publishing a story I know could be better wouldn't sit well with me. For cover design, I plan to pay for parts (such as character artwork) but feel confident to handle the lay out end of things. I also plan to self format. Honestly, it's the editing part that worries me most and I'd love more advice on saving money there. Thus far, with a 90,000 word book, I've yet to find anyone who could offer me every stage of editing in a bundle that's under $1200.
A lot can depend on the level of editing required. Poorly edited manuscripts take longer to edit, therefore the cost will be more. I've been working on my first book for almost eight years, and I was lucky enough to find a small Australian publisher that did most of the editing for me, but then they were purchased by an American publishing house, and now they operate as one of many imprints under their banner. Unfortuantely, I couldn't publish with them, because the American conglomerate would not agree with certain aspects during the contract negotiations, so I'll probably have to self-publish. Thankfully, my book had already been edited, so for me it's just a matter of deciding which self-publishing route to take. But if it hadn't been for the Australian publisher's senior editor, my manuscript would not be up to industry standard. One of the best decisions I ever made was to get a manuscript assessment. There are professionals out there who have worked in the publishing industry, who will read your manuscript for a fee and then tell you what should be changed or worked on. They don't necessarily have to read the entire manuscript. I paid about 400 Australian dollars to have the first thirty five thousand words assessed, and their report was able to show me a lot of things I was doing wrong, which I couldn't possibly have perceived at such an early stage in my writing career. It might be an option for you if you want your book to be the best possible product it can be. A lot of manuscript assessors also offer editing services, so you might be able to kill two birds with one stone.
After having spent years in the revision process, reading onscreen & on-paper, listening via MS Word's Read Aloud, and speaking it (as if to an audience) I was satisfied that I was close. Fiverr for alpha and beta reads, while critique groups are okay but time costly. I went through the usual sources, EFA, Reedsy, etc.
BUYER BEWARE. When I pinged my request, I got quotes based on word count, form letters from those who had not read a word of my submitted work. Culled the bad, sent the entire script to a select few. Quoted $900-3,800 for an 80K script. Ultimately decided by telephone interviews. Your ear works here.
Know your sh*t. The editor (line/copy) you want is a professional, not a coddler.
Speaking as someone who has done a few books, these are good notes. Worth saying: having a platform helps with crowdfunding, for sure...but don't expect all of your followers to buy, or all of your buyers to be previous followers. I've gained a ton of followers who found my books somehow, and followed up with me later. My first three books have had about 10% of my total follower count in presales -- which is FINE. I made money on them, and they sold a bunch more after they were out on storefronts.
I just want you to know that I’m always left in awe by how great your hair looks in your videos 🙈 (and I love your overall style, I’m quaking from the power of your impression)
Oh my goodness, that's so kind!!
So much good info! It's one of the things I love about your content. You demystify the business of writing in such a fun, accessible way.
Thanks, Elizabeth!
@@HannahLeeKidder 💟💟💟🌷🌷🌷🌷🙏🙏🙏❤❤
Nothing teaches better than well-presented experience. Nice job.
Thank you!
Seriously though, definitely would not have expected quite that level of expense for self-publishing, so good to get some heads up on it.
It really is a "pay what you want" type situation. All about your goals and expectations. 😊
@@HannahLeeKidder /*slides in under the limbo bar with my $0 until I make enough to feed into more ambitious projects*
My budget for publishing this book is $1,000 and that's pushing it. I'd love to just use that to pay an editor and then figure out the cover myself but...getting an amazing cover is great advice. I'm an artist but not a cover artist. I only know book covers that grab MY attention. I don't know what my book needs to look like. Thanks for this advice, I hope to hear more about what you think of IngramSpark because I intend to use them
As for interier design, it nowadays can be done using programs like vellum or Atticus and it's a one time cost.
so far i've spent money on scrivener, some craft books, and a first pages edit (cause i just haaaad to give querying a try), which comes out to probably 75$. definitely looking into doing things indie, but am more terrified of the marketing aspect than anything else (would love to see more vids there if it feeds your soul).
also 10/10 loved your short stories and am now hella curious about your other pennames...
the queen is back
Thank you for this video ❤
YES to a second part!!
I'm pretty sure that your work is automatically copyrighted upon creation. I know the US has some weird rules with registering for a more "full" copyright protection, but basic copyright _should_ automatically occur upon creation.
Yep. This is accurate, at least in the US. This is what I was taught in design school and I just double checked to make sure. www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html
How to self-publish with any budget: hannahleekidder.com/2023/05/03/how-to-self-publish-with-any-budget-steps-tricks/
How to self-publish under $50: hannahleekidder.com/2023/05/02/how-to-self-publish-a-book-for-under-50/
You are awesome! Love your videos.
Thank you for the information!
WOW a lot of great information Thank you. As I look to publish my first book, obviously I have questions about everything.
The publishing industry is a saturated market, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for new authors to get any sort of exposure. My first book was going to be published with an American publisher, but contract negotiations fell through. There seems to be more hybrid publishers popping up as well. Basically, they will edit your book and create a cover design, but they won't give you an advance, and they won't do much as far as marketing the book. A friend of mine, who has had over 25 years in the industry, believes that apart from the big five publishing houses, more and more smaller publishers are beginning to take this route. In fact, many of the smaller publishing houses have gone under, because there are literally millions of self-published books flooding the market each year. I don't blame the self-publishers, as I will probably be one myself very shortly; I blame the big conglomerates.
Yeah, I feel like it was just as saturated before self-publishing and indie houses, but now those authors are controlling it themselves instead of the big five. I'm excited to see how the industry evolves as more and more reputable artists and talented newbies sift to the top in those spaces!
I also think that there are TONS of first-timer self-pubs that realize it's not for them and drop out after one book. It seems better on an individual level to taste the experience before spending years begging to be published. The percent of authors that continue to pursue self-publishing is much much smaller than the ones that just try once.
(Also, trad pubs will not market a first-time author ✨at all✨ plus the advances are shifting further and further away from the author's favor. It's becoming quite a scam for most writers, IMO. I think review systems and such will adjust to bring the quality self-published books to the front. I think trad publishing as it is should die off. It's predatory and discriminatory and elitist. Won't be sad to see it go/dramatically change.)
Well, I have nothing else going on in my life. Might as well write + publish a book and see how well it goes...
Missed the vids. Good stuff!
Thanks for hanging around! 😊
I just got around to reading your books (which were referred to a couple times by tim hickson) and i have to say it's just not enonugh. i need more. not a writer by any means, but i guess i'm gonna binge this whole channel now anyways and hope this novel of yours comes out soon enough for me to still have freetime after finishing medschool... so far it seems like any content you put out is guaranteed entertainment - pulling on heartstrings or hilarious or otherwise.
two things on topic of this video: i can relate to doubting that little birds and starlight share the same artist for the little sketches inside. found myself looking it up a couple of times, so that's fascinating. and one thing i really liked about the little birds cover was the texture of it. i don't know if that's weird, but it has such a unique grip to it i could not stop stroking all over it.
also how can one find out pen names?
Thank you very much! That's so sweet. My pen names are under lock and key, unforch. (also we love Tim Hickson in this household, what a guy)
So helpful this might be your best video yet
O shit, huge
I need more Hannah videos!
They're on Patreon!
Thanks ❤
Lol. Just like Michael Buble and Mariah Carey, she reemerges when Christmas is approaching.
Tis the season
Can’t wait for you to return.
Informative AND entertaining? How does she do it?
I am sitting down, I am taking notes, I am ready to learn
I am tucking you in
@@HannahLeeKidder I am simply so safe and fed
Great video, Hannah! It seems that the ebook platforms with the high upfront fees would push you towards publishing a book once and never revising it, whereas the platforms with no fees could be a better choice if you intend to come back and change things after a while. Would you use the same platform for both ebook and print copies or could you use different platforms for each?
You can use different ones for both! I use Ingram when I want to include paperbacks in my presale. But I've heard KDP might be/already did expand their services and include preorder options for all formats. It was only ebook last time I published a paperback.
IWonderful video and information!
However, as an artist, I disagree a little on the cover art comparison. The cardinal and blue bird cover would actually be pretty simple and even relatively quick to make in any art and photo editing program like photoshop or even free art apps like artflow. And with bird stock images. It'd be none to difficult to use the the select tools/moving sections up and down to splice them up like the cover art if you have any know-how with those apps/programs. The Halo cover is a drawn image. Whether digitally (most likely) or traditionally drawn, it definitely took whatever atist at least hours to create. It's not just a pulled screen pic from one of the games slapped on the book but looks more like a redraw of a similar one FOR the book. Many of the other Halo book covers looked to have the same treatment or even full unique artwork when I looked them up. But they're a large game company with likely a larger budget to get an artist or many artists for their book covers. Not saying one is worse or better, but do give the artist (or artists) for the Halo books more credit.
I've been writing a book just for fun and the paper who I've shared it too change it to the really love it and they've asked me to publish my book and I don't know where to stbut because I have because I have some learning disabilities and then I don't wanna continue after this one
Id be so interested in finding out how much you’ve made from your different pen names and why you think one might be seeing a difference in sales or reader interaction than the others ❤❤❤
Might do a number drop type video :) and the one that sells well is porn, that is the hack lmao
@@HannahLeeKidder figures 😂 great news for me. Love your videos!
I’ve got a short poetry book I want to publish on KDP, around 25 poems.
My book is on pre-order and if we're not including my excessive purchases of proof copies (I was really excited and ordered a few too many to test cover texture, size, and customer service with the POD companies, etc.) I spent about $1500 for an 90k young adult fantasy book. But I did it over the course of the year. It wasn't all at once. That includes ISBNS, copyright, formatting software, LLC, etc.
Some of that is a one time purchase. So the second book will be cheaper to make. I'm hoping book one will help pay for some of it. 😅
That's a great point that these costs are typically pretty spread out. That makes a huge difference for most people.
@HannahLeeKidder Yes, just setting a date far enough away and doing it little by little really helps financially. Writers tend to be perfectionist with their work anyway. So, I personally just did my own revisions while waiting to get edits or other services done.
I just wanted to know if you will edit the other twilights books or just Twillight?
what are the pen names that you use?
I spent 700$ on cover art for my first project. I just need to dedicate more time to marketing and building a fan base before I release it.
Right on. Do you have a platform plan?
@@HannahLeeKidder No, I don't have a platform plan. I'm terrible at marketing. I try to promote myself on tiktok but maybe I should utilize YT and IG as well
@@BriantWebster It's tough! I recommend experimenting a lot in the beginning. Toss it all at the wall and see what sticks.
@@HannahLeeKidder Thank you so much for your advice, Hannah. I will!
My book Tales of Horror is not selling at all. I enjoy your show It's interest,
I looked at your Amazon listing and I think you are not doing yourself any favors with the description text. All you say about your book is that it's horror, there are no specifics, no hook, nothing that tells me anything about the content. If you want readers to pick your book over some of the more established authors you need to offer something unique and intriguing. You also picked a book title that is already used by short story collections by Poe and Lovecraft, no one will find your book if they don't specifically Google your name + the title
Beautiful video and beautiful you❤️
Hey Hanna,
I am wondering why you are using several pen names. I would think that it is helpful to publish everything under the same name, so that one publication is marketing another. I am very curious to know your reasons.
Because I'm writing porn, Chlottie
"Tweet about it with hashtags"
*looks at twitter going into what is very possibly a death spiral*
*sweats*
Lmaoooo gonna do a video about ways to build an author platform that's not centralized to social media
@@HannahLeeKidder We should simply go back to carrier pigeons. Have them drop paperbacks directly onto people's heads like "Here's the ARC!"
I'm super curious how much you're making from books vs videos
RUclips pays a negligible amount of money, if you're planning a channel lol
How to market my novel? Please
This is maybe a bit of a random question and not really your field, but for someone who's planning to publish in more than one language, would you recommend having separate platforms (one social media account and one newsletter for each language) or have everything in one place (so for example, a single Instagram account where you write the caption in all the languages/have n times the same post in different languages)? Hope I explained it clearly.
Not sure if this helps, but branding is a huge part of marketing yourself and your works. Dividing your audience into seperate social media accounts could hurt your numbers. I follow quite a few Instagrams with thousands of followers who have two languages in every post. I just scroll past the language I don't understand. It's definitely possible to have multiple languages on one account, and anyone who responds in a different language in the comments, you can respond in that language.
@@nicodiangelo9810 Thanks a lot for your advice! I was worried because, in my case, there would be 3+ languages, and putting them all in, say, an Instagram post would clutter it immensely.
(Btw, your handle choice is *chef's kiss*)
You could do the account in two languages with the most reach (like English & Spanish) and mention all languages it's available in in your captions, bios, story highlights and elsewhere.
@@Rayowag Thanks for the advice! That's probably what would be more feasible for me, though my worry is that it wouldn't pop enough. I guess either way there will be compromises
I have no platform. I don't use social media, I loath the concept. I already have strong social anxieties as it is, without the Zuckerberg algorhythm boxing me into some toxic bubble. My baseline is a huge hurdle for my promoting and marketing. Any advise on how to get my book known of in pre-sale?
Mmm, check out more platforms to see if anything ends up jiving (I'd recommend taking a look at Substack, based on your comment). You could look into in-person events as well, but it really depends on the genre.
Other than that, there's nothing else you can really do for presale. So (again, depending on genre), you might consider back stacking books for rapid release to work the internal sales algorithm, rather than focusing on preorders. A bit of a slower burn, but it's not a bad strategy. This post might have some relevant info on that:
novelpad.co/blog/how-to-create-a-book-publishing-schedule
I'm writing an m/m romance and I have ideas for my first cover. No shirtless cowboys, or muscle men. Both characters are on the husky side and over 30. I want it to be one at the forefront with a slightly taller one behind holding him. The second is going to be more faded, like it's a dream. That's my idea anyway. For sales, I have low expectations. I just want to get my story out there. I get tired of the m/m genre being saturated with traditionally attractive men, or if they are overweight, they have an eating disorder, or need a sexy well-built man show them love so they are then okay with themselves.
She writes f/m, but check out Marie Lipscomb! Her covers are great
@@HannahLeeKidder I will. Something I've noticed a few times is a book will boast heavy set characters or 'bears' (I'm looking at you four bears construction) but their cover is some ripped dude. Tease, show me the chubby guys. :)
@@HannahLeeKidder Just looked her up, oh yes. Exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
Haha Marie is the realest
@@HannahLeeKidder She sure is. :) She's my new idol for covers. :)
hi i missed u
hi i'm kissin
What’s your pen name?
I don't cross-promo my platforms 😊 they are ✨secret✨
@@HannahLeeKidder kinda figured, thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask anyway!
"Your cover is your most important investment" Well I guess /somebody/ never internalized the old adage of "Don't just a book by it's cover" Or like. Several million (billion?) somebodies.
But I guess evolutionarily speaking we've as a species fine tuned our "quickly judge based on what we see" skills, so. Fair tbh
hate the game, yanno?
@@HannahLeeKidder Yup yup, gotta work with what we've got for sure
But what about taxes?
Lol just kidding of course!
Thanks!
For FREE?
for FREE.
@@HannahLeeKidder As the kids say, h*ckin' poggers, yo
Praying that the tree does not fall on your house
Your face is very beautiful
I wonder if there's enough info to do a video on like...subscription model sites as a way to make money.
The only one I can think of is like patreon (I mean, I can think of more I just don't know how feasible it is for writers to find success on onlyfans or the like).
If there /is/ enough out there, it would be interesting to see a comparison between sites down the road somewhere