How to self-publish a Spiritual book.
If you prefer to go down the traditional publishing route then that’s great. I however, self-publish. After investigating traditional publishing, I realised that I would have to be very lucky to find a good deal as an unknown author. Some authors are lucky with finding a publisher and do get those deals. But I didn’t go down that root as I felt my chances were slim.
Also a few things put me off traditional publishing as a new unknown author.
Losing the rights of my book. Of course, if a deal was worth it then I wouldn’t mind losing my rights, but I was an unknown author in a Spiritual field. I did not want to lose the rights to my book. I had heard of many authors who lost their rights and being inexperienced it scared me back then.
If I was offered a publishing deal and the publishers decided to no longer run with my book and stop printing, I could have ended up with a book that even I could no longer purchase or resell. (of course, there is always exceptions, this was just some of my reasons with my first book)
Being an Aquarian I liked the idea of doing it independently and always keeping the rights and control of my book. Had I thought I may have the chance to see my books in bookstores, airports and top shelf along with a good income I may have changed my mind. But my instinct told me that was not going to happen at that time.
If you go into traditional publishing then good luck to you and there are many success stories around. I would just add here though to be careful of what is known as vanity press. These are publishing companies that offer you a whole bunch of stuff but YOU have to pay THEM. This can be expensive and many authors have sadly lost not only a lot of money but their rights to their own books and never received a penny for sales. Just be careful before you sign. Facebook have some wonderful author groups where you can ask for feedback from others who have walked your path.
I took self-publishing and this was my journey.
First, I decided to go with CreateSpace. CreateSpace is part of amazon. Amazon has Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). From KDP you can self-publish your eBook and when I did my first book I used CreateSpace for the paperback and kindle direct publishing for eBook. However now KDP also do paperback and it is easier for me to do all just using Kindle Direct Publishing. (update – createspace is now KDP)
KDP works like this. It costs you nothing. Yep zero. Nada. Every time someone buys your paperback book KDP print a copy and send it to the buyer for the price you set. Out of that price they take their printing costs and then they take a percentage of your sales for their own profit. The rest is yours and will be paid into your chosen back account every month.
You can read tons about this but I will give you the basics rundown or how it works.
First you open your free account on kindle direct publishing.
Once you are inside, take a look around and become familiar.
You will be asked to give a tax number and to fill in a tax form.
If you live outside the states you need a number for your tax. Do not be scared of this as it almost made me run a mile. This part is not hard. Kindle direct publishing have a number you can contact for the tax office in the US (as it is a US company)
I phoned the number and was helped step by step. It took around five minutes and what I had thought a huge problem turned out not to be more than a quick call.
That done you will need to give a bank account number for your money to be entered and your KDP account is basically done.
Now you have your KDP set up.
Format your book.
If you haven’t formatted your book already now is the time.
KDP have paperback templates for your paperback.
Go to templates and download the size you want your book to be. I picked the 6×9 as it seemed to be a good size for non-fiction. I use this size for all my books.
You can choose a blank template or one that is set up with headings and chapters. I opt the latter.
One you have downloaded the template, you need to paste your book into it. And save it as a PDF.
Now you have your paperback set up you can change the font type or size ect to your liking. I use Garamond 12 but each to their own.
That is your paperback set up.
Now the eBook if you choose to do so. (I sell far more eBooks than paperbacks)
KDP has a kindle converter. I downloaded this and uploaded my book file and it automatically converts it to an eBook.
Book cover.
My first cover I made myself. I do not recommend this. My second book cover I paid a small fee on a site called fiverr. This site offers a ton of things for a small fee and I found a guy who did the job good. I now use Lily Dormishev, you can find her on Facebook. She is excellent at covers both paperback and eBook.
You upload your book to (KDP)
You can do so in two formats, e-book and paperback. I do both.
You can get a free isbn from KDP (that is the number inside every book. It is a code for that book alone) or you can buy your own. I get the free ones. There is good reason why some authors buy their own but I have so far not had the need to. The free isbn works fine for me.
KDP will walk you through all the steps.
Including pricing.
You choose the price of both your paperback and eBook. Amazon give good advice here about pricing, just follow the instructions. You can always come back and change your price.
Once your book has uploaded you are prompted to check your book for any mistakes on-screen and they will also check for any issues like formatting etc.
Follow the easy on-screen instructions and done. Your book is now ready to be approved.
You can buy a copy of your own book, an author copy for double checking everything or once approved put it on sale immediately. I always buy an author copy first.
Once you are happy with the finished product. Hit publish and your book will go live around the world in 24 hours. One by one you will see your book appear in amazon stores.
All your sales will show up on your KDP dashboard under reports.
Now it is time to market and sell your book.
I hope this quick rundown was helpful.
If you have a Spiritual book for sale pop over to my Facebook page and I will share it.
Good luck.