Ashley L. Peterson
Have you always dreamed of publishing a book, but you have no idea how to go about it or if it's even possible? As the self-published author of multiple books, I'm here to tell you that it absolutely is possible. On top of the writing itself, the learning curve can be steep, but there are lots of great resources available online to help you out. This list captures some of my writing go-to's.
With the right tools and information, you can definitely make your book dreams a reality.
Free online writing courses and publication classes written by the world's finest publishing professionals. Sign up today for your first 10-day course.
There's a pretty steep learning curve when figuring out how to self-publish for the first time. This mini-ebook covers different self-publishing options and platforms, preparing and formatting your manuscript, cover design, marketing, and advertising. Want to know why your KDP paperback cover doesn't look the way it's supposed to? This ebook will tell you that, along with some other quirks that are hard to figure out on your own. It pulls together everything I've learned from self-publishing three books into one concise, easy to follow format.
Where Authors and Readers Come Together. Online Community of Authors and Readers, where Authors freely post biographies, books, sample chapters, link to bookstores, share their news, events, articles, stories, poetry for readers to discover and read. Promotion, author, author promotion, author marketing, book marketing, Marketing, Interaction, Book Store, book, ebooks, poems, news, events, articles, bookstore, Authors, Promotion, AuthorsDen, AuthorsDen.com, Author's Den
You can publish a Nook ebook or paperback with Barnes & Noble. They have author resources including a step-by-step guide to self-publishing, book cover design basics, and marketing advice. They also offer a full-service publishing option.
Tips, information and interviews about how to self-publish books. Topics include writing and editing advice, cover design and illustrations, ISBNs, print-on-demand, need to know info on ebook self-publishing, ebook pricing, and how to get into retail stores and libraries.
Booklife allows you to submit your book for free to be considered for a review by Publishers Weekly. This would normally be an expensive proposition, and while the chances of your book getting selected are low, it's still a pretty neat opportunity.
Any author, anywhere in the world, can join the Goodreads Author Program for free. All you need is an Internet connection and a published book (or a soon-to-be published book) that can be found in our database. The Goodreads Author Program allows published authors to claim their profile page to promote their book and engage with readers. Once verified, your author profile will include the official Goodreads Author badge, which you can use to tell your fans to follow you on Goodreads.
Benefits of Claiming Your Profile Page
MANAGE YOUR PROFILE
Update your profile picture, write your bio, and fix your book listings—by joining the Goodreads Author Program you’re able to keep the information about yourself up-to-date.
PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS
Run a giveaway, connect your blog, advertise your books—the Goodreads Author Program gives you access to the marketing tools you need to build buzz around your books.
INTERACT WITH READERS
Take questions from readers using Ask The Author, write reviews, and show off your taste in literature. Readers love to learn what books their favorite authors are reading!
Reach new readers,
sell more books!
Publish with Google Play Books and reach readers on their preferred platform
iBooks Author, free from the Mac App store, allows you to create beautiful Multi-Touch textbooks — and just about any other kind of book.
Give your book a great beginning with templates.
You might want to begin with a blank page and let your imagination guide you. But if that’s a little intimidating, just start with a beautiful Apple-designed template. Choose from a variety of styles, like classic textbook, cookbook, or photo book, in both landscape and portrait orientations. And you can choose from a number of page layouts in each template or create one of your own.
Building a book is as easy as dragging and dropping.
iBooks Author makes it simple to add text, graphics, movies, and more, so your book looks exactly the way you want. Drag and drop a Pages or Microsoft Word document to the Book pane to add it as a new section. Then, when you drag and drop in images, your text automatically flows around them. You can even import Adobe InDesign and EPUB files and edit them to perfection in iBooks Author.
Customize with a click.
iBooks Author has everything you need to create a great-looking book — beyond the written word. Add shapes, charts, tables, text, and widgets anywhere on the page with a single click. Style your text down to the letter with custom fonts, write elegant mathematical expressions using LaTeX or MathML, and add video or audio elements to liven up the read.
Add widgets. Add interest.
Widgets add Multi-Touch magic to books on iPad, iPhone, and Mac. They bring your reader swipe-friendly photo galleries, animations that burst off the page, scrolling sidebars to linger over, Pop-Over widgets for an element of surprise, and engrossing 3D objects that are entertaining and interactive. And widgets can be set to play automatically, offering your readers a fun surprise when they turn the page. With iBooks Author, it’s easy to create a book that’s as much fun to explore as it is to read.
Get help publishing on Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), a fast, easy and free way for authors and publishers to keep control and publish their books worldwide on the Kindle and Kindle reading apps.
New to Kindle Direct Publishing? Want a simple, step-by-step guide to publishing on Amazon? We’ve created KDP Jumpstart for authors like you. KDP Jumpstart is a streamlined, sequential approach to the steps required to go from finished manuscript to published book. To publish on KDP, you’ll complete four major milestones:
Getting started. Enter your author, payment, and tax information to set up your KDP account.
Book details. Enter information like title, author, and description to help readers find your book.
Manuscript & cover. Transform your manuscript into a formatted file and design a cover that grabs readers’ attention.
Rights & pricing. Decide where and for how much you want to sell your book.
Fulfill your dream of publishing your work and finding fans around the world. We make it easy to self-publish your books and provide help and guidance every step of the way.
Control your own content
With Kobo Writing Life, you’re in charge. You own your rights, set your prices, and run your own promotions. We don’t require exclusivity, so you’re free to publish elsewhere, too.
Self-publish to a global market
Through Kobo’s strategic partnerships, your eBook will be available around the world in the online bookstores of leading retailers in over 190 countries.
Get detailed sales analytics
See your updates in real time with our easy-to-use dashboard. Track your sales by country or by date—we're data nerds, too.
Smashwords makes ebook publishing fast, free and easy!
World's largest ebook distributor for self-published authors and small independent presses
Monthly payments and one penny payment threshold with PayPal
Upload your book once and reach multiple retailers and libraries. Spend more time writing and less time managing multiple retailer platforms!
Daily sales reporting from Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, OverDrive and the Smashwords store (learn more)
Global retail distribution to Apple Books (51 countries), Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Walmart (via Kobo!), OverDrive (reach 20,000+ public libraries!), Gardners (reach hundreds of small ebook stores and 2,000+ public and academic libraries), Scribd, Tolino (powers Germany's largest ebook stores), Baker & Taylor, Inktera and more on the way
Sell in the Smashwords Store where you'll earn up to 80% list
Global library distribution to OverDrive (20,000+ public libraries), Gardners (2,000+ libraries), Odilo (2,100+ libraries in North America, South America and Europe), Bibliotheca CloudLibrary (3,000+ public libraries in the US, Canada, U.K. and Australia), Baker & Taylor Axis 360, and Enki by Califa (supplies over 100 California libraries; acquires a subset of Smashwords titles)
FREE ISBNs. Or, use your own
FREE author profile page
FREE ebook conversion to multiple formats from a Word .doc
FREE unlimited anytime-updates to books and metadata
FREE consolidated sales reporting simplifies year-end tax reporting
FREE centralized metadata management
FREE exclusive marketing and selling tools such as our Smashwords Coupon Manager, Special Deals, Smashwords Alerts, Smashwords Series Manager and Smashwords Interviews!
Looking to find great offers on books? AllAuthor offers free ebooks and promising ebook deals on Kindle, iBooks, Kobo and more! Find new authors and get to know more about your favorite authors!
For authors, AllAuthor lets you create listings for each of your books, and has a great mockup tool to create promotional graphics.
Mental health blogger | Former mental health nurse | Living with depression | Author of Psych Meds Made Simple, [Making Sense of ...
