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

Have an interest in writing.  Persons 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.  Read more.      

What You'll Need:

Creativity

If you can think it, you can manifest it.  In this case, that "it" is the entire concept of your finished book.  As an artistic individual, you must realize that you possess the ability to see something in your mind and then cause others to see the same thing.  With concentrated effort and determination, you can cause an idea that comes to you,  often effortlessly, to become something tangible and valuable to others.  You're a creator.  An illustrator uses a mental image and creates a beautiful picture for someone to hang on the wall.  A music producer makes a song we can dance to, most often, out of sounds he or she heard first only in their mind.  Writers have the complex task of using their own ideas and combining just the right words and sentences to get readers to understand and mentally view exactly what they've seen mentally.  As you write, you must use this creative gift to its full capacity.  Now isn't the time to be reserved.  Let your creative juices flow, and flow, and flow.

Pen/Pencil

As a writer, it's imperative that you always have something to write your ideas down with.  If an idea comes to you while you're away from home or some place where a pen isn't handy, you'll regret it later because the idea will probably escape you and you may never be able to recall it exactly the way you initially thought of it.  Keep pens and pencils in your car, purse, backpack, at work, or even on a necklace.

Dictionary

I have an immense vocabulary from which I can get words to convey every thought that I have.  However, I can count on one hand how many times I've won a Spelling B.  Moreover, sometimes words just escape you when you need them the most.  You may have used them hundreds of times, yet when you need the most important one you may forget it.  Whether you feel you need it or not, as a writer, you should always have a dictionary handy.  Opt for a thick one with all versions of each word. If you only use online dictionaries, such as dictionary.com or Merriam-webster.com, that is fine but you may be limiting your resources.  If you're a millennial, the thought of carrying around any book that a teacher hasn't forced you to may sound absurd.  But, there's a good reason for my reasoning; electronic devices need to stay charged in order for you to look up a word online. A dictionary, needless to say, does not.

Grammar Book

Just because you speak your native language, it doesn't mean you speak it perfectly.  You may speak English well, but you may not qualify to be a public speaker.  More often than not, I can point out at least one instance of improper grammar when someone is speaking.  The sad thing is that most people believe they use proper grammar most of the time.  The following sentences show the use of improper grammar:   

Jake and Josh is taking a test. 
Take your butt off of the table.  

The grammatically correct way to write those sentences are:

Jake and Jose are taking a test. 
Take your butt off the table.

Honestly, I used to think it was fine to use "of" after "off" until I took measures to ensure my grammar was up to par.  Two helpful websites that'll surely improve or confirm your use of grammar are grammar.com and grammarbook.com.

Punctuation Book

CD or USB Flash drive

Notebook

Computer/Laptop

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Book Writing 101: Take Baby Steps

     Since you're new to this, crawl, stand, then take one step at a time.

     These are the major questions to ask yourself and steps to take to write a book:

•  What is your reason for writing this book?
•  Will it be fiction or non-fiction?
• What genre will it fall under?
•   Who do you want to read your book?
•   What is the theme of the book?
•   Take out your notebook, binder, or computer/laptop.
•   Enter your answers to questions 1-5 on the first page.
•   Create an outline for the book.
•   Use the outline as a guide to write your book.
•   Decide which features you'll include.
•   Now you'll need to edit, design, copyright, publish, and possibly illustrate it.
•   Decide whether you'll complete these tasks independently or by hiring others.
•   Ask for Back Cover Blurbs/Book Reviews.