I get a lot of requests from friends and clients who ask, “How do I write my own book? Where do I start.” Here goes (and it ain’t that hard).
Since you are ready to write a self-published book, you must first realize there are no hard and fast rules. People write books in many different ways. I’m a blueprint kind of person so I like step-by-step construction plans. So, after 24 Human Resource training film scripts and ten books, here’s how I map it out.
YOUR BOOK CONTENT:
You first have to collect your thoughts – on paper. Again, there are no rules. But I recommend you don’t try to edit your words as you are writing. You will stifle your free thinking brain. There is plenty of time to refine that later. For now, write EVERYTHING you might want to say on a large yellow pad, type it into MS WORD, write it in Apple PAGES, or set up the Voice-to-Text feature on your tablet, laptop or desktop computer…and talk into your device. The device will convert your words into text. When you have exhausted your own thoughts and ideas, import all of your text into a common document. FYI: Don’t worry about your table of contents yet.
ORGANIZING YOUR CONTENT:
Eventually, your book should have an easy to read flow; which is why it’s good to have a table of contents. A table of contents alerts the reader as to what will be discussed so he/she can either jump to a specific chapter of interest…or they can follow the sequence you prescribe.
DO YOU NEED AN EDITOR?
An editor has the ability to look at your messy material, correct grammar and spelling, as well as organize your thoughts into a logical sequence. Some of you may be really good at organizing your thoughts into separate, logical “buckets” of information (or stories). However, for those of you who prefer someone else to do that for you, I have a couple of reasonably priced suggestions for editing. You can expect the cost to be in the range of $300 for 13,000 words…the more words…the more cost.
- Andria Early andriacaviglia@outlook.com
- Versana Tikovsky varsana@gmail.com
- This is an editing and proofreading company www.BookButchers.com
I have not personally used The Book Butchers but I’ve heard good things about them and their pricing is excellent; especially considering the wide range of services they provide (proofreading? content organization? plot and pacing?).
PUBLISH AN E-BOOK FAST:
Once you like your content and how it’s organized, you are probably ready to go to the design phase. The fastest(and cheapest) way to get your book self-published in iTunes or the Google Store is to write it as an E-Book.
IT’S A REAL BOOK!
You can litereally drag and drop your manuscript into an e-book software program and the program will format it for you. You can add pictures (or not). In minutes your book will look like a real book.
ADDING PHOTOS:
Of course you can insert your own images into your book (because you own them). But if you find pictures online. keep in mind they are not free and copyrighted by the photographer. My suggestion is to either buy them “royalty free” which means you pay a one-time fee of say $20 bucks. For that, I use www.ShutterStock.com OR…you can find high resolution phots at a dozen great websites. Check out the list in this article. https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/299457
ARE YOU AN APPLE USER?
If you use an Apple laptop, iPad, or Desktop computer, get the FREE app called iBookAuthor from the app store. It is easy and intutive. The BASIC VERSION ICON will look like this: (Again, the basic iBookAuthor app below is FREE).
If you want a lot more design templates to choose from the App will cost $19.95.
In either APP, when you like how your new iBook looks, Apple will walk you through the easy process of launching your new book on iTunes. Within a few minutes you will choose a price and your book will be fore sale in iTunes. Just send people the link and you’re making money.
You will, of course, have to decide on how you want to split the commission structure with Apple…but that will be outlined as you set up your ibook.
ARE YOU A PC USER?
For those of you who use Windows on a PC, there is similar e-book software called PUBLISHER. The ICON is on the next page.
Buy it and Download here https://products.office.com/en-us/publisher and they will show you how to push your finished book to the Google Store.
Of course, there are other ebook software programs. You can try them all for free.
WANT TO SELL YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON? (after all, it is the world’s largest bookstore) Getting your ebook on Amazon is a little trickier. You will need send them your electronic book file in a “KINDLE compatible format.” Read about how to do that here: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200634390
For more about how to price and distribute your book on Amazon, etc. Vsit this link. kindledirectpublishing@amazon.com
THE BEST PART OF AN E-BOOK (besides the low cost of under $1,000) IS…
An electronic book has an awesome advantage over hard cover or paperback books…in that you can add WEB LINKS to your book’s text. YES, your reader will be able to watch your videos as they read your book. In our e-book version of ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY we added YouTube links to the lessons we were writing about. It not only added value to the book but the link introduced our readers to our YouTube channel – and we got more subscribers.
TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING If you want to write a hardcover or softcover book; one that you can see on a bookshelf, autograph at book signings, and ship to buyers through the mail, you should expect the final cost to be approx. $6,000-$10,000 (depending upon how many copies you want to print).
FINDING A BOOK DESIGNER Once I have a written my books in MS WORD (and have had it totally proofread for spelling, grammar, content edited, and fact-checked by a professional) I send the manuscript to a designer to DESIGN THE FRONT AND BACK COVERS – as well as the INTERIOR DESIGN LOOK. (Don’t worry. They will NOT steal your idea…they are too busy doing what they do)
MY PREFERENCE I have tried a dozen different design firms over the years and the best company I’ve found is THE BOOK DESIGNERS in the San Fransisco bay area.
- WESITE: https://bookdesigners.com
- PHONE: 415-637-9550
My contact there is: Alan Hebel alan@bookdesigners.com
Their design prices are based upon the word size of your book. Let’s say you want to submit a book with 45,000 words (equals about 200 pages in a 6” X 9” book) They would charge you about $3,500 to design the exterior covers and the interior layout design. Turnaround time is approx. 10-15 days. However, they will send you 8-10 designs to choose from. Your problem at this point will be deciding amongst their cool designs.
OUCH THAT”S TOO MUCH $$
OF course, you can find cheaper designers – some as low as $395 here. There is also this source: www.Designcrowd.com where several designers bid for your design.
BAR CODES & ISBN (13 digit identifier number)
Books always have a barcode on the back of the book. Some have the actual price. You don’t have to add a price. There is only one place to go for barcodes and they are only $125. (NOTE: Send your new Bar Code to your book designer so they can place it on the back cover.) Here is how to get your bar code.
(BOWKER also has self-publishing packages…although I have never used them)
COPYRIGHT Bowker also offers a quick way to copyright your book for about $79. https://www.myidentifiers.com/copyrightsnow
OK, I HAVE A DESIGN, AN ISBN#, A COPYRIGHT…now what?
You need a book printer. I have also used a lot of them over the years and have settled on this company. They are reliable. They books always look great. They keep my files on hand to make it easy to reorder. They always ship on time.
GETTING YOUR BOOK PRINTED
I have had several of my books printed by this company.
LSC COMMUNICATIONS BOOK GROUP
4101 Winfield Road
Warrenville, IL 60555
WEBSITE: http://www.lsccom.com/solutions/books
CONTACT: This is my guy – jason.m.jacobs@lsccom.com
WAIT, WHAT ABOUT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS?
Getting registered here used to be a big thing but not so much anymore because nobody cares. You can still register your book there…but you will have to wait up to 6 months for an official number; which will delay your book release. Here is the link. https://www.loc.gov Also, here is the Govt. Copyright office: https://copyright.gov (I prefer going through Bowker)
AFTER ALL OF THIS WORK, ARE BOOKS PROFITABLE?
YES! An e-book may cost you $1,000 total but if you sell them for $7.99 you will clear about $5.00/book (after iTunes or Kindle commission) w/NO SHIPPING & NO WAREHOUSING COST. You only have to sell 200 copies to recover your costs. It’s 100% profit from forever on.
EXAMPLE: Let’s say you create a 125-page softcover book for a total cost of $8,000 (includes, design, editing, printing, bar code, copyright). You start with an order of 1,000 copies to start. You want to sell them for $14.95. How much will you make? Your total printing cost per book will be about $3.00. That means you will profit approx. $12.00 a copy (minus shipping). You will make all of your money back if you sell 600 books. (You may sell 200-300 books at one speech.) The 400 remaining books X $12 bucks = $4,800.
HOW DO YOU SELL IT?
Amazon is a must. Go to amazon.com/advantage and you’ll read how to get a hard or softcover book into their physical inventory. Getting your book into bookstores isn’t very easy or effective these days unless you can prove you have very high demand. Airport bookstores are even harder…unless you pay them $4,000 a month for “real estate” placement. Yes, they charge you a lot of money for stocking your book. My biggest sales come from clients who hire me to speak. I suggest you send emails out to your client list. Take them with your wherever you go. If it’s a great book, word will spread. Regardless, it is the best business card you will ever have. Nobody throws away a book written by someone they know.
ABOUT ROSS SHAFER:
ROSS SHAFER is the preeminent keynote speaker on CHANGE & RELEVANCE. He has authored (9) business books, won (2) International stand-up comedy competitions, and earned (6) TV Emmys as a network talk and game show. He has also bought and sold (23) different companies. As a veteran of more than 2,600 keynote speeches, you might want to have Ross speak at your next conference https://RossShafer.com
Contact Helen Broder (303) 588-3739 Helen@RossShafer.com
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