Two weeks ago, I gave an overview of the traditional publishing process, and today I’ll focus on self-publishing, also called indie publishing. I don’t consider myself a self-publishing expert at all, but I did choose indie over traditional for three of my books (both Ellie Sweet books and Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel, co-written with Jill Williamson).

Some writers are evangelists for indie publishing, but that’s not me. I’m also not an evangelist for traditional publishing, for what it’s worth. Having done both, I love and dislike parts of both processes, and I think there are good reasons to pick either one. (Or both!)

Here are the basic steps involved if you are self-publishing a print and ebook simultaneously. (I’m not touching audio, since I haven’t done that on my own yet.)

You write the manuscript.

Hey, step 1 is the same for both! No matter which route you take, you can’t publish an unfinished book.

You edit the manuscript.

Again, we’re still on the same track as traditional publishing. After here, we’ll diverge.

You hire an editor.

In traditional publishing, you work to find a literary agent who wants you as a client (they work for you … but at first it feels like you work for them. It’s kinda weird). Then your agent find an editor who wants to buy your manuscript.

With self-publishing, you’re looking for a freelance editor who you respect, and who you can afford.

When I’ve worked with freelance editors, it was in my best financial interest to have that manuscript as clean and polished as possible because all of mine charged by hour.

At this point in the process, you want an editor who handles the story content (characters, plot, etc.) more than grammar and line edit type things. Though they might do both for you eventually, right now you’re just looking for a content edit.

These next few steps may happen all at once, or in a slightly mixed up order:

You hire a proofreader.

If your first editor was mostly for content/story, you’ll want to pay somebody to proofread. (You can maybe call in favors from friends for this step … but be careful. Poorly edited and proofed books is what gives self-publishing a bad rep.)

You hire a cover designer.

This is a really fun part, but it can get pricey quick. It’s really helpful if you go in knowing what kind of cover you want.

Covers are always important, but it’s SOOO important for self-publishing to remember that the thumbnail image of your cover is how most readers will encounter you. People aren’t finding your book at a bookstore, typcally. It’s on their Kindle, or scrolling through the retailer website.

You write copy. SO MUCH COPY.

You’re in charge of: your title, back cover copy, a shorter description, and your author bio. These pieces get used on retail sites, your personal website and social pages, on your book cover, and potentially for any guest posts or podcasts you do.

You can hire some of this done, but learning how to write good copy is a smart investment of time.

Posts you might find useful:

How To Come Up With A Cool Title

How To Write Back-Cover Copy

Writing A Bio (this one is an oldie! I’ll do a refresh on this topic soon.)

You create a marketing and publicity plan.

This could include any number of things, and technically you don’t have to do it. You’re the boss. BUT it’s tough to sell books if nobody knows about them, so some marketing probably needs to be in the mix. This could include blog or podcast tours, paid ads, emailing bookstores or schools and asking if you can come in and talk, etc.

This is also a good time, if you haven’t already, to pick a release date.

Posts you might find useful:

How To Launch Your Book

Creating a Realistic Marketing Plan For Your Book Release

You typeset the manuscript, or hire it done.

This part can be tedious, but you can definitely learn it. You can also hire it done.

Posts you might find interesting:

How To Typeset A Novel In Microsoft Word

You send a PDF of the typeset files to several friends for proofreading.

Also, when you have this file, you tell the cover designer, and you make a couple of choices about what size you want your book to be, and what color of paper you want to use. From this, the spine depth is calculated so you can get the full cover designed for your print book.

You design the ebook interior.

Again, this is often tedious, or it can be hired out.

There are a lot of programs you can use for this. Many people sing the praises of Vellum, but I think it’s still for Apple users only.

You buy ISBN numbers.

If you live in the U.S., these are purchased through Bowker and are annoyingly expensive for small orders. If you live in Canada, I hear these are issued for free. How nice for you. (Insert side-eye glare here.) I’m not sure how this works in countries outside the U.S., so that’s a good thing to Google if you’re interested.

You decide which retailers you want to sell on.

Amazon is the obvious. You can do print and ebook through them, currently.

IngramSpark for print books is a good option. If you want the chance to sell print books through stores, you’ll likely need an account there. (Barnes and Noble doesn’t want to sell a print book sourced by Amazon, for obvious reasons.)

For ebooks, you can also consider Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Apple Books You either have to set up separate accounts for these or use a company like Draft2Digital.

Within the retailer websites, you will make decisions about the price of your ebook and print book, what countries you want to sell in, and what genre/category should be listed. On Amazon, you make choices about if you want to be exclusive with them or not, and if so, what programs you want to be enrolled in (e.g. Kindle Unlimited).

You upload your final files to the various retailers.

This will usually involve some back and forth as formatting issues get worked out, so it’s wise to not count on this being a smooth and quick process.

You order proof copies of your book.

This is an important step that can be tempting to skip! Usually at this point, I’m feeling tired and ready to be DONE. But I’ve had times when I ordered proof copies and noticed mistakes in how the cover is lining up, so don’t skip it!

You put your book up for sale. You did it!

For those who have traveled this path, you know this is actually only the beginning, but for our purposes today, this is the last step.

Other resources:

Joanna Penn/The Creative Penn is my go-to for questions about self-publishing. She’s definitely an evangelist for it, has been at it a long time, and has had an abnormal amount of success. There are fantastic resources on her website, but I think she would be the first to tell you that self-publishing is a marathon, not a sprint, and you can’t expect her level of success by releasing one novel.

If you own Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel, you can check out chapter 23 on self-publishing. (And thanks for supporting our self-published book!)

Friend of the blog, Roseanna M. White, is also a successful hybrid author and wrote a post for us called 5 Tips To Successful Self-Publishing.

Questions?

Stephanie Morrill writes books about girls who are on an adventure to discover their unique place in the world. She is the author of several contemporary young adult series, as well as two historical young adult novels, The Lost Girl of Astor Street and Within These Lines. Within These Lines was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, as well as a YALSA 2020 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. Since 2010, Stephanie has been encouraging the next generation of writers at her website, GoTeenWriters.com, which has been on the Writer’s Digest Best Websites for Writers list since 2017. She lives in the Kansas City area, where she loves plotting big and small adventures to enjoy with her husband and three children. You can connect with Stephanie and learn more about her books at StephanieMorrill.com, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.