Self-publishing through my eyes-surprises,tough & easy moments

In my previous posts, I have explained the process of self-publishing on KDP and designing cover page on Canva. When we choose one option over other, there are few pros and cons of each option. I read a lot, took help of youtube videos for understanding the process of self-publishing. Luckily, I attended a workshop on self-publishing conducted at our local  library.

The information and knowledge I gained from these sources combined with my personal experience, I thought of putting together this post. This post will have the pleasant surprises, the frustrations, the things I didn’t find out until I jumped into the ocean of self-publishing. My experience with self-publishing a book on Amazon was a wonderful learning phase.

 

 

Let’s talk about the easy part first: Amazon has forever altered the publishing landscape, removing many of the barriers to getting a book out into the world.

• You can see your book from finished to being on sale in 24 hours: The entire process of uploading your manuscript is pretty fast.
• It’s easy to write and upload the book. The steps are very clear and you just have to follow it.
• It’s cheap. No publisher fees. No printing costs (for an e-book).
• You decide your price and see how it will perform on various other platforms. The explanation is very clearly explained.
• Instant worldwide availability. Reach a large number of countries in the world beyond the obvious English language countries

The Tough part:

• You have to do everything yourself: Not all writers can design their own cover or create illustrations.  You have to find people who can help with in this.
• It’s not very easy to get noticed. It’s hard to get those first one or two book reviews or break into the top rankings. Promotion matters a lot. I am still learning this step. Writing a book and uploading it on Amazon is just 40% job done. Rest 60% is all about marketing.
• Limited earning potential. Except for a few of the absolute best selling authors, mainly in fiction, and all of whom are offering multiple books in a series or collection, you’re not going to earn a lot from your eBook sales on Amazon.

I heard that Amazon favors new titles. Your success might be short-lived unless you follow up with another title soon. After I came to know this, I have started thinking about I am going to write next.

 

Things I didn’t know:

• Formatting was easier than expected. Uploading of an ebook was much easier than a paper version. I uploaded a Word document directly into Amazon and had very few issues with formatting.
• Editing the actual content is harder than I thought and more frustrating: Once the book is uploaded, it goes under the review phase and Amazon will send you an email confirming the upload or suggest any changes. This phase can be tiresome mentally.
• Minimum 100 pages are required for a paperback version: Initially, my book consisted of 80 pages. As I explained in the previous point, Amazon suggested me to add 20 more pages. It was challenging to add 20 more pages in an already finished book.
• Book cover has its own dimensions: When you are going for paperback version as well, the book cover dimensions matters a lot. Once you upload the cover, you will get to see the preview and have to make sure all the text it inside the margins. If your cover is designed by a professional, s(he) will help you with this. If you have designed your book cover on your own then you can get it edited as well as per the dimensions.

You can find my Amazon book here. If you enjoy the book and please leave a review and help spread the word.

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