Step-By-Step Guide to Become a Self-Published Author

Have an interest in writing.  People who become authors have a passion and/or talent for writing.  With the exception of those who hire shadow writers, (real authors who write for non-authors), true writers have some desire to make their thoughts known to the public.  

You may not have contemplated life as a published author.  Nonetheless, it's likely that you've always had a knack for writing.  You may be adept at writing songs, poems, essays, short stories, or even jokes.  Creating clever rap songs, and being able to spit eloquently at the drop of a hat, may be your strong point.  Or, you may tell exceptionally scary campfire stories.  

Wherever your talents lie, words tend to come to you effortlessly and you and others know this.  Ideas come to you quickly and you find that you often fill up a notebook with original content faster than a wildfire can spread.  Becoming an author is befitting for someone like you, yet it could be disastrous for someone without an interest in writing.      

Have an idea of what you plan to write about.  If you want to get your book published, you should have something to convey to the reader.  You need to have a message that you'd like to spread to the masses.  Even if you simply desire to tell your own story; something interesting, miraculous, or out of the ordinary that happened to you, at least you won't publish a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that no one cares about.  So, make sure that you have a clear and concise message for your book.   

Make time to write on a regular basis.  Even if you don't have a deadline to complete your manuscript, you should consistently add content to it.  In order for ideas to flow uninterrupted, your mind needs to be on adding the next line, paragraph, or chapter.  So, how often is often enough?  Well, unless you have writer's block, you should put pen to paper daily until you've written the last page.  If time doesn't permit you to do so, just dedicate as much of your downtime to writing as you can.

Complete your manuscript.  Whew!  You've put many hours into writing your manuscript.  At this point it should be complete.  Be sure to reread and edit it at least three times.  You'd be surprised at how much a manuscript can be perfected each time you go over it.  Just when you think it's flawless, it's not.

Illustrate your book or hire an artist.  Now it's time to add any illustrations, photographs, and/or clip art to your work.  If you're doing the artwork or taking the pictures yourself, be sure that the images are relevant and important to the content of the book.  For instance, it was imperative that the author of Cinderella include images of the pumpkin and the glass slipper to produce the desired reaction the reader should have to the story. 

There are some important copyright laws you need to observe when including clip art for commercial use^.  

Type your manuscript into a word processor.  Next, using a word processor, you should type and save the content of your manuscript.  Microsoft Word is no longer free. Therefore, if you don't already own it you'll need to purchase it or download an alternative program.  Newer software is available to download for free such as LibreOffice Writer and Apache OpenOffice.  I've used both.  LibreOffice Writer is cleaner than OpenOffice and works seamlessly to open and edit documents previously created and saved in Microsoft Word.  Those who have used Word have their favorite version(s).  My preference is Word 2003-2007.

Once you've chosen the software you're most comfortable with, continue using it until you've finished typing and designing your book.  

Save your typed document on your hard-drive and on disk.  It's very important that you keep multiple copies of your original work.  Saving a single copy on your desktop or laptop computer is never a good idea unless you have a memory like an elephant, being able to recall every word of your manuscript at the drop of a hat.  After updating my file on my computer, I immediately create a copy on a flash disk by choosing "File", then "save as", "computer/my computer/this PC", then the drive where my flash disk has been inserted.  By doing this, you'll always have a back-up copy should your computer crash or you forget your password.

Scan your illustrations and upload them to your computer.  After all of the illustrations for your book have been completed (either by the artist you hired or via the talent of your own hands) place them on a scanner with a flat surface and scan/upload them to your computer.  Many all-in-one printers offer a scanning option in addition to printing, photocopying, and faxing.  Be sure that you don't use one with only a feeder because your illustrations may get jammed, torn, or fail to upload properly.  By placing each illustration on a flat screen (where you'd normally place a sheet of paper you want to copy), your chances of having clean, sharp images are much greater.  Be sure to clean the glass on the printer thoroughly before scanning.  You'd be surprised how easily a speck of dirt, oil from fingers, and even dust can ruin the images you scan.  Also, by uploading your illustrations, you'll have copies of them should they get lost, stolen, or damaged.

Save a copy of all illustrations onto the same disk as your manuscript.  As with your handwritten manuscript, that you'll eventually type into a word processor, you'll need to save a copy of your illustrations onto a disk. Be sure to save them onto the same disk as your manuscript.  Why?  Because disks and notebooks get lost, misplaced, moved, and sometimes destroyed.  Moreover, you may decide to write a second, third, or fourth book (such as I have).  When you keep the images and text in the same place you can easily edit and update your work when and if necessary.  Throughout the years, I've created new editions of my books.  If I hadn't kept theses files together, it would've been a nightmare trying to make the changes that were needed. 

Insert the illustrations where they belong in the book.  This is actually part of the book designing process. If you don't know how to do this, you may opt to hire someone to take on this task.  Otherwise, using a word processor, insert images on or opposite the page of the written content that corresponds with each image.  You'll be able to reposition and resize the images once they are inserted. Word processors such as Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and OpenOffice offer an on-screen image icon that allows for quick insertion of most images stored on your hard-drive, USB storage device, or CD that is connected to your computer.

Design the book.  Book design entails placing, positioning, and sizing text, images, and the book itself (what is known as the trim size/size of the book).  If you are good at spacial coordination and already have desktop publishing skills, this will be a fun task.  If not, you may want to hire someone to do the designing or utilize some of the newer design programs available.   

Register with a POD/Print-on-demand company.  x

Decide on size for your book.  x

Purchase an ISBN/International Standard Book Number.  It is a requirement that every commercially sold book have a unique identifier.  This is known as an ISBN, which consists of 10 or 13 digits.   You'll find this number on the copyright page in most books published after 1966.   If you want to own your ISBN, you'll need to buy it from a supplier. Owning it automatically makes you the publisher of the book it's assigned to.  You can, however, obtain an ISBN for free or at a significantly reduced price if you allow a P.O.D. company to assign one to your book.  These companies purchase them in bulk, at a discount, thereby providing wide distribution of ISBN's to their customers.  Now the catch, to having a free ISBN assigned to your book, is that the Print-on-demand company will retain a percentage of the price of each sale.  The amount that is left is referred to as a royalty (the monetary percentage of the sale that you receive).  

Apply for an LCCN/Library of Congress Control Number (optional).  Self-published authors aren't always taken seriously because of not being represented by a prominent publishing house, not being a household name, and often because many self-published books are riddled with spelling, grammatical, and formatting errors.  If you believe that your book won't fall into these categories, you'll need to set yourself apart from self-published authors who don't measure up the way you feel you will.  One way to do this is to include a Library of Congress Control Number on the copyright page of your book.  Open the books that you have at home and there you'll find one on each copyright page.  Obtaining one for your book is totally free.  The purpose for the LCCN is for the Library of Congress and librarians to easily locate, store, and catalog your book.  Apply for an LCCN if your book has already been published.

Apply for a PCN/Preassigned Control Number (optional).  You do not have to pay a third party to obtain one.  It's absolutely free and delivery, of your unique number, is via e-mail within a few days.  The purpose for the PCN is the same as for the LCCN (so the Library of Congress and librarians may easily locate, store, and catalog your book).  Each book title can only have one Control Number.  Therefore, the PCN and the LCCN are identical.  Apply for the PCN before the publication of your book. Before you upload your files to a POD/Print-on-Demand self-publishing website, obtain a PCN and print it on the copyright page of your book (preferably just above the ISBN).  Do not type "Preassigned Control Number" on the page.  You must enter it as "Library of Congress Control Number" and then enter the unique number for that title.  To apply for yours, click here and then choose 'Open an Account'.

Purchase a barcode for your book.  x

Copyright your manuscript.  x

Include a copyright page in the book.  x