How to Self-Publish Your Book: A Complete Guide to Writing, Editing, Marketing & Selling Your Own Book

by Dr. Jan Yager

Overview

A new world has opened to writers who wish to have their words turned into finished books. With technological advances in typesetting, printing, distribution, and sales, self-publishing has become a reality. But while converting your writing into a commercially available title may sound relatively easy—based upon the claims of some companies that offer this service—there are many important considerations you should be aware of before going to press. Publishing expert Dr. Jan Yager has created an easy-to-follow guide that will take you from a book’s conception and writing to its production and sales. Whether your work is fiction or nonfiction, How to Self-Publish Your Book offers sound and proven advice at every turn, enabling you to avoid common pitfalls along the way to becoming a self-published author.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One takes you through the initial manuscript preparation—setting your goals, writing, sequencing, editing, and proofing, as well as creating a business plan for your book’s eventual release. Part Two focuses on the actual production of your book. It explains the importance of cover and interior design, what you need to know about producing physical books and e-books, and how to turn your title into an audiobook. Part Three provides key information on how to market and sell your book—subjects that are crucial to a title’s success, but of which most writers have very little understanding. Also included is a valuable resource section that guides you to websites which offer essential information on self-publishing service providers, including complete self-publishing companies as well as freelance editors, proofreaders, printers, distributors, marketers, and publicists.

Today, self-publishing workshops and lecturers charge hopeful writers hundreds of dollars, promising to turn their self-published books into bestsellers. The fact is that your book’s chance of success starts at its origin, not with the finished product. However you choose to produce your book, whether through a self-publishing company or through separate services, here is a complete road map to what lies ahead—based not on hype or wishful thinking, but on Dr. Jan Yager’s lifetime of experience in the world of publishing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780757004650
Publisher:	Square One Publishers
Publication date:	06/01/2019
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	165,791
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Dr. Jan Yager received her M.A. in criminal justice from Goddard College, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the City University of New York Graduate Center. Beginning at the age 23, she began her publishing career first working at Macmillan Publishing Company, and then at Grove Press working directly under the company’s founder, Barney Rosset. There she learned to do everything from selling foreign and subsidiary rights to acquisitions, publicity, and sales. Jan’s life has been all about writing and publishing books. She is the author of more than 40 books published by such major houses as Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, Scribner, Wiley, and Doubleday, as well as self-published by her own company, Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc.

Dr. Yager has been interviewed on such major TV shows as Oprah, The View, the Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, MSNBC, and BBC television in London. Dr. Yager’s award-winning titles include Foreign Rights and Wrongs; Effective Business and Nonfiction Writing; Career Opportunities in the Publishing Industry (with Fred Yager); Business Protocol; Victims; When Friendship Hurts (translated into 29 languages); Friendshifts; The Pretty One (a novel); Untimely Death (a novel, with Fred Yager); The Quiet Dog (illustrated by Mitzi Lyman); Work Less, Do More; Put More Time on Your Side; and others. Dr. Yager and her husband, Fred, reside in Stamford, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Preface xi

A Note on Gender xii

Introduction 1

Part 1 Writing and Sequencing Your Book

1 Writing Your Book 3

2 Sequencing Your Manuscript 17

3 Getting Your Manuscript Ready for Publication 39

Part 2 Publishing Your Book

4 Cover Design 101 53

5 Interior Design 101 71

6 Creating an E-Book 91

7 Printing Your Self-Published Book 107

8 Converting Your Book into an Audiobook 119

Part 3 Marketing and Selling Your Book

9 Understanding the Marketplace 131

10 Setting the Stage for Your Release 151

11 Getting Publicity 173

12 Selling Your Foreign Rights 205

Conclusion 223

Glossary 225

Resources 231

About the Author 251

Index 253

What People are Saying About This

Angela Bole, CEO, Independent Book Publishers Association - Angela Bole

"How to Self-Publish Your Book has been an important resource for the students in my self-publishing 101 course through the Writers' Program at UCLA Extension. Its practical how-to approach takes the students from A-to-Z and makes it easy for them to see how the various publishing processes fit together. Highly recommended." -Angela Bole, CEO, Independent Book Publishers Association

Editorial Reviews

06/17/2019

Leveraging an extensive career in traditional and self-publishing, Yager (When Friendship Hurts) offers a comprehensive guide to the latter field, with separate sections on writing one’s book, publishing it, and marketing it. Few would turn to her work as a writing handbook, or as a guide to book design, although Yager does discuss these matters in some detail. Where she shines is in her attention to detail: if one has ever wondered what a “printer’s key” was, Yager explains this; there is a discussion about the ins and outs of printing a list price on a book cover, and guidance for how to determine a book’s BISAC code (accompanied by an explanation of what these codes are and why they are important). Even better is the insight Yager offers into various aspects of being in the book trade, such as knowing the difference between wholesalers and distributors, getting a book into bricks-and-mortar stores (and deciding if one should bother), and knowing the nuts and bolts of producing e-book and audio versions. Thanks to such practical advice, this guide will prove invaluable to anyone seeking to self-publish in a professional manner. (June)

Publishers Weekly

How to Self-Publish Your Book by Jan Yager is a complete road map to becoming a successfully self-published author . . . this is one of the most comprehensive, practical, and ‘user-friendly’ how-to instructional guides available today on the subject of self-publishing . . .  if you only have the time or budget for one ‘how to’ book on the subject, then you would be well served as an aspiring but unknown author seeking publication to give How to Self-Publish Your Book a careful reading . . . unreservedly recommended.”

Midwest Book Review

"Excellent . . . we are so impressed with this comprehensive how-to manual."

Independent Publisher - Jim Barnes

"Self-publishing still has a poor reputation in the market and you can avoid the pitfalls reading How to Self-Publish Your Book . . . This book is packed with important information . . . I highly recommend this well-done book."

bestselling author www.terrywhalin.com W. Terry Whalin

"What distinguishes Jan Yager's How to Self-Publish Your Book from other books on self-publishing are the sections on writing, editing, getting permissions, creating sell sheets, and designing your book—all key elements in the success of any book."

author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books and edito John Kremer

"I enthusiastically recommend How to Self-Publish Your Book. It covers all the bases from writing and getting the content ready for publication to publishing it in various formats. It goes on to describe promoting your self-published book, including selling foreign rights. This comprehensive guide is a gift to every book author who is considering self-publishing.”

Brian Jud

"Realistic, accessible, and thorough . . . Yager's advice on everything from margin size and elements of a cover design to a sensible approach to social media and press coverage is useful and clearly laid out . . . [a] solid choice for authors who have written a book and are ready for the next step."

Booklist (ALA) - Susan Maguire

"The most comprehensive book ever on self-publishing—and the most helpful."

Founder - Book Publicists of So. Calif. Irwin Zucker

06/07/2019

One should usually proceed with caution and a dose of skepticism before accepting authors' assertions that their book offers readers everything. But that is clearly not the case here. Publishing expert, prolific author (e.g., Effective Business and Nonfiction Writing; Career Opportunities in the Publishing World), and Hannacroix Creek Books founder Yager has produced this compendium that covers in detail every major step for would-be writers to follow on their path to publishing. Part 1 concentrates on writing and preparing a manuscript for publication, including advice on editing and proofreading. Part 2 focuses on cover design, text design, creating an ebook, printing, and conversion to an audiobook. Part 3 involves marketing, publicity, and selling the work. Yager provides helpful tips for the novice to avoid being taken advantage of by the many publishing services out there and gives what she calls the "normal range" of fees to expect. There is also an extensive list of resources. VERDICT With self-publishing an increasingly common option for writers today, it would be hard to imagine a more useful and easy-to-follow guide than this comprehensive volume. Highly recommended to everyone hoping to self-publish a book that won't look self-published.—Edward B. Cone, New York

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