How to Self-Publish Your Book: 4 Essentials for Authors

February 26, 2016

One of the questions I get asked most often is:

How can I self-publish my manuscript? What do I need? How do I turn my pile of ideas into a polished book?

(Okay, that's three questions.)

Self-publishing is not for everyone. If you're looking to get rich quick without a lot of work . . . well, look elsewhere.

But! If you're a writer who puts in the time and effort to make her work as strong and polished as possible, who cares deeply about his reader, then I've got my top recommended tools to turn you from writerly hopeful into published author.

Are you ready? Okay, let's go.

1. Something to write on, digitally speaking

The first must-have every self-publishing author needs is something to create your manuscript with. This can be as simple as your basic word processor -- Open Office Writer is a great free option available for both PC and Mac.

If you'd like to save yourself some time and sanity and make your manuscript look much more professional with much less effort, you may want to upgrade to Scrivener. I wrote and published my novel, The Light Between Us, with Open Office, and then used Scrivener for my next book, Night Cycles. I will never go back to Open Office for work I'm going to publish to Kindle. Nope nope nope. If you have the extra cash, I'd recommend trying out Scrivener for a free test drive to see what you think.

You don't need Scrivener, of course. Open Office and Microsoft Word will do just fine. But you need some kind of word processor. If you don't have one, you need to get one ASAP. I'll wait.

2. Be Your Own Publisher from Lucy Pearce

Okay, so you've got your word processor of choice downloaded. But now you're looking at your manuscript and wondering how in the world you're going to be able to turn it into a professional looking book, much less defeat the frustrating + tricksy wiles of Kindle.

In between publishing The Light Between Us and Night Cycles, I purchased Lucy Pearce's e-course, Be Your Own Publisher.

This course was hands-down the best investment I have ever made in my writer career. Seriously, ever.

In Be Your Own Publisher, Lucy covers everything -- e v e r y t h i n g -- from writing your first draft to editing to cover design to navigating CreateSpace to formatting for print and Kindle to self-care.

I cannot begin to tell you the amount of tooth-gnashing and hair-rending Be Your Own Publisher saved me. But you can go look at the innards of The Light Between Us and Night Cycles in Amazon's free "look inside" feature to see just how much Lucy's course taught me. My books went from looking super n00b-ish to polished and professional solely because of Be Your Own Publisher.

Do yourself a favor. Get this course.

3. A Good Proofreader

Another asset that you cannot do without as you seek to self-publish your book is a good proofreader. This might be your mom, or your writing accountability buddy that you're swapping critiques with, or someone that you hire.

Whatever you choose, you absolutely need someone else's eyes on your manuscript to help catch copy errors. Because you will miss your own errors. I learned this the hard way. Don't be like me.

4. A Professional Cover Designer

With free + low-cost options like Canva available, it's really tempting to try to create our own book covers. I mean, that's money saved!

Except that a good professional cover designer can elevate the professional look of your book in a way that you probably can't on your own, because they've got loads more experience at graphic design than we writers do. And a more professional looking cover means that more new readers are likely to take a chance on your work.

Need a designer? I’ve branched into creating affordable pre-made book covers for a variety of genres! Find them all here.

Some Nice Extras . . .

If you're looking to go the extra mile with your self-published book, you might also want to purchase your own ISBN to help support bookstores who sell your work and/or invest in some Facebook ads when your book is available. But if this is your first time out, the above four essentials are what I recommend you focus your energy and assets on. You've got this!

Whew! Are you still with me? That might sound like a lot, but getting your book out on your terms is not as difficult as you might think. (And I'm serious on checking out Lucy's e-course. It will eliminate SO. MUCH. overwhelm.)

And! I have a lovely freebie that will be of huge benefit to you if you're looking to publish a poetry manuscript soon, but need a little help putting the darn thing together. It's a 13 page e-book called How To Assemble Your Poetry Book, and it's available for immediate download -- for FREE (I know, right?!).

In How To Assemble Your Poetry Book, I walk you through how to take that pile of poems you've written and turn it into a cohesive, enjoyable text.

Ready to download it? Enter your info below and I'll email your copy of How To Assemble Your Poetry Book right away:

Enjoy!

*This post contains affiliate links. I only promote products that I adore. Thanks for supporting independent authors + artists!

What Happened to Me After I Started Writing

February 20, 2016

“The beginning is always today.” ― Mary Shelley

I’ve loved the written word for nearly as long as I can remember. From “reading” (a.k.a. reciting from memory) The Little Red Hen to my mother as a three-ish year old to submitting a 30+ page mini-novel in response to my eleventh grade English teacher’s short story assignment to earning a degree in creative writing — I love words. Reading them, writing them, or gluing them into my art journal, I am a word junkie.

So it may surprise you to hear that I’ve only been practicing a regular writing habit for the last eight years.

You see, from childhood, I operated under the misconception that writing only mattered if it was going to be seen by someone else. So any time I had any kind of a creative writing assignment in elementary school, high school, and beyond, I went all in on it.

But on my own time? I did a whole lot of nothing.

Well, that’s not true. I read. I glowered at new authors’ books as they blossomed on our local book shop’s shelves, full of resentment (I mean, really — who did they think they were publishing a book? the nerve!). I perused Writer’s Market and calls for submission, only to turn away in panic, because scary deadlines. I pined away for a publication contract of my own, but did little in the way of actually pursuing one. I listened to writing podcasts, but never implemented the advice I heard. I participated in (and won!) National Novel Writing Month, but never did anything with my rough drafts — even the ones that weren’t half bad.

So I did spend a whole lot of time and energy thinking about writing, and being jealous of others who were writing and publishing. But I also let fear shackle me.

Until 2007, when I started a blog.

It wasn’t my first blog (Livejournal of 2004, I’m looking at you), but it was my first serious attempt at one. And by “serious attempt,” I mean a space in which I wrote regularly, regardless of how many people were (or, more accurately, weren’t) reading it.

In short, I blogged for me.

And I kept doing it. For years. Eight years and counting at this point. My focus evolved over time (like, a lot — I started out as a food blogger), but still — I wrote and hit “publish” regularly.

At first, it felt weird. Even with a lifelong adoration of the written word and a degree (with honors!) in creative writing from a prestigious liberal arts college . . . it felt awkward. Clumsy. Like writing into a void (which, let’s be honest, is what a lot of internet writing is).

But I kept on. And, eventually, I noticed that things were different. I was different.

What Happened After I Started (and Kept) Writing

It took three or so years, but one day, I realized that I was stronger than I was before I started my little blog.

I was a better writer than I had been. My technique was better. The resulting posts were better.

I created connections. I made friends with other bloggers, participated in hops and challenges, and both wrote guest posts and published others’ words on my blog. In a word, I was supported.

I was much more confident. The blank page no longer seemed quite as intimidating. In fact, I was so much more confident that I self-published my first book. And that confidence bled into all areas of my life, not just my work as a writer.

I took myself more seriously. No longer did I long to be a writer — I was a writer. I was writing, regularly, and sharing my work with the world. Maybe I wasn’t the next Anne Lamott (yet…!) (#bigdreams), but I was doing the work.

And, eventually, all of this combined to give me the, ahem, balls and belief in my own work to self-publish not only a fun little romance, but also a born-of-my-bloody-heart poetry collection — a.k.a. to take my writer-self from hobbyist to professional.

All because I started writing — for myself.

How to Get From Here to There

I think so many of us who long with the fire of a thousand suns to Be A Professional Writer balk at taking the actual steps toward making that dream happen because the road seems so long.

And it is. I’m not going to lie to you — it’s a long road. Countless hours of dedicated work that most people will never know, pouring your soul into words that maybe no one will ever read.

But

long as it may be, that road is the way from here to your writer dreams turned reality.

And really, it’s worth it. Now, looking back at 8 years of being a writer who writes (on top of a degree, honors, and all that came before), I can see how worth it is. I mean — people have read and are reading my books. Maybe not thousands of people. Maybe not even hundreds of people. But people are reading my books, and my words have changed small pieces of the world, and my heart is filled with delicious fire that I’m doing this work.

That’s the dream, right? Regardless of audience size, that is the dream.

And your journey from here to living right into the middle of that dream?

It begins today.

Source: http://www.sheofthewild.com/blog/2016/2/16...

The Poety Is eCourse is BACK . . . with a Giveaway!

February 13, 2016

Poetry Is . . . is back!

My 6 week writing ecourse designed to help you fall in love with poetry again is open for registration again! You can find out all the details and register HERE . . . or keep reading for a lusicious giveaway + your chance to win a free spot in the course.

But first, a little about Poetry Is . . .

A ROLLICKING ADVENTURE IN WORDPLAY + SELF-DISCOVERY

We all remember it -- how, sometime around the time the girls in our class starting sprouting breasts and the boys' chins blossomed into the uncertain beginnings of beards, the fun poetry of our childhood gave way to The Reading, Memorization, and Exegesis of Very Serious Poems.

Suddenly, we weren't playing with limericks for the silliness and enjoyment of it, but for the academics of it. Poetry transformed into an awkward, heavy, and undecipherable behemoth of a thing. And if we couldn't even understand half the poems we were required to read for English class, how in the world could we ever dream of writing our own, no matter how the words within us called for it?

But:

what if it didn't have to be like that?

What if poetry could be fun again?

What if poetry could be light?

What if we could read poetry with understanding?

What if poetry could be:

silly / sacred / informative / cathartic / playful / approachable / flexible / happy / awesome / an adventure / {fill in your favorite "What if?" here}?

WHAT IF POETRY ALREADY IS ALL OF THESE THINGS AND MORE, BUT YOU JUST DIDN'T KNOW IT?

I believe that it is.

For everybody.

For you.

Here. Now. In real time. In the midst of your busy life.

Discover all the juicy details here.

The Giveaway

Up for grabs is one free spot in Poetry Is. Huzzah! To enter, simply enter your email in the form below.

For extra entries, share this post on your favorite social media site, then tell me you did so in the comments. The giveaway closes + the winner is announced on Thursday, February 18.

And!! Anyone who enters the giveaway will receive an exclusive coupon code to get Poetry Is for 25% off. So even if you don't get the free spot, you still win big.