 Hello, hello, writers. I'm Christine Kiefer, author of fantasy fiction and creative writing resources, and you are listening to the Well-Storied Podcast, where I share insights, encouragement, and actionable advice designed to help you craft sensational novels and build your best writing life. Always in 30 minutes or less, so you can get back to writing, of course. Ready for the show? Let's get talking. Hello, writers, and welcome once again to the Well-Storied Podcast. I'm Christine Kiefer, your host, and today is Friday, January 31, 2020. In today's episode of the podcast, I am breaking down a quick start guide to self-publishing your book. The self-publishing process undoubtedly comes with a massive learning curve. If you've made the decision to self-publish, but you aren't sure where to begin, today's episode is the one for you. But before we dive in, I'd like to quickly mention my recently overhauled Patreon platform. If you would like to gain access to additional insights and encouragement on the writing craft and creative process, you are going to love my new Patreon audio exclusives. These additional, intimate podcast episodes are available exclusively to my well-storied patrons, whose monthly pledges now help me maintain the blog and podcast, and compensate myself appropriately for the time I spend creating these free weekly resources. To support Well-Storied and start listening in, simply visit Patreon.com slash Well-Storied to become a patron today, and you'll immediately gain access to the two audio exclusives I've already published, which are titled Finding Peace in the Creative Process and How I'm Refalling in Love with Reading in 2020. Again, if you'd like to listen in, simply visit patron.com slash well-storied, no hyphen. Alright, without any further ado writers, let's dive into today's episode. If you would like to read along as you listen in, simply visit well-storied.com slash start self-publishing. A quick start guide to self-publishing your book. So, you've decided to self-publish your book. Congratulations! The decision to self-publish shouldn't be made lightly. If you haven't yet researched the pros and cons of publishing your book independently, I encourage you to check out the podcast episode titled The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing. If, however, you've done your due diligence and you're ready to begin your self-publishing journey, today's episode will serve as an overview of the self-publishing process. Firstly, know that there is no right way to publish your book independently. To self-publish simply means to publish without the support of an established publishing house. The intent behind a writer's decision to self-publish can vary wildly, from the desire to have a few printed copies to share with family and friends, to the pursuit of a career as an independent author. Understanding what you'd like to accomplish by self-publishing your book is key to creating a self-publishing plan best suited to you and your stories. If you haven't yet established your definition of writing success, now's the time to do so. If you're planning to publish for profit, now is also the time to explore the most common author business models. You can find articles and podcast episodes on both of these topics linked in today's episode transcript below. Authors who choose to self-publish must contend with the stigma that their books are of inferior quality to those published by traditional publishers. This stigma doesn't have to hold true. Successful indie authors understand the importance of building their own publishing teams, working with editors and proofreaders, cover designers, and formatters to create high quality books. Though the stigma surrounding self-publishing is slowly abating, authors who self-publish with the intent to build a career in writing often call themselves indie authors or refer to their books as being independently published. These terms indicate a level of professional commitment to their craft despite their decision to forgo the traditional publishing industry. All this said, there's nothing wrong with self-publishing a book on the cheap if you aren't looking to make a living from your writing. If you are, I encourage you to check out the podcast episode titled The Cost of Self-Publishing Fiction to learn more about the expenses involved in self-publishing to a professional caliber. How do authors self-publish their books? Rather than drawing upon the resources of a publishing house, indie authors work directly with online distributors to get their books into readers' hands. Doing so is as simple as uploading your book cover and finalized manuscript to your distributor of choice, creating the book's print and e-book listings and pressing publish. No need to stock and ship physical copies of your book yourself. Distributors like Amazon KDP, Nook Press and IngramSpark offer print-on-demand services through which they will print and ship books directly to readers upon purchase. Popular e-book-only distributors include Apple Books, Google Play, and Kobo Writing Life. In addition to listing your book in their online marketplaces, many distributors allow you to make your book available to schools, libraries, and bookstores worldwide. Distributors either charge a fee or offer a royalty rate per sale, though some charge a one-time listing fee upfront. Despite these rates and fees, self-publish authors still make a far higher royalty rate per sale compared to authors in the traditional publishing industry. You can check out the podcast episode titled The Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing to learn more about how trade authors earn their livings. Should you go wide or stay exclusive? Some distributors, mainly Amazon KDP, offer monetary benefits to authors who choose to list their books exclusively on their platform. For example, enrolling your book in Amazon's KDP Select makes your book eligible for 70% royalty earnings on sales to customers in Brazil, Japan, India, and Mexico, allows you to earn additional per-page red income from Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owner's Lending Library Customers and grants you access to exclusive promotional tools. Given that Amazon drives the bulk of self-published authors' income, staying exclusive is an attractive option for many writers. However, authors who stay exclusive place all their eggs in one basket. This can be dangerous considering that Amazon retains the right to change its fee structure and exclusive benefits at any time. Diversifying income streams by going wide, in other words, listing through multiple online distributors, is a smart choice for many writers as it allows them to cater to a wider pool of readers and create more long-term stability when fees and services fluctuate. For additional reading, check out Exclusivity vs. Publishing Wide for eBooks, print, and audio with Joanna Penn of thecreativepen.com. That's linked for you in today's episode description and transcript. Should you use an aggregator to distribute your books? Listing your books online can take time, as can updating your listings. If you plan to go wide and find yourself pressed for time or patience, you may wish to use an aggregator to list your books through multiple distributors at once. Bear in mind, however, that aggregators charge a higher fee for their services compared to distributors. The most common aggregators are Draft2Digital and Smashwords. Here's an overview of each. With Draft2Digital, you can distribute your print, eBook, and audio book to Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Toleno, Overdrive, Biblioteca, Scribd, Hoopla, and more. No upfront charge, but a 10% fee on sales. With Smashwords, you can distribute your eBook through the Smashwords Marketplace and Premium Catalog, which includes Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, Kobo, Overdrive, and more. Again, no upfront charge and a 10% fee on sales, but do note that Smashwords only distributes to Amazon if you've made more than $2,000 in sales. When I published Build Your Best Writing Life, I chose to upload my book directly to Amazon KDP, NookPress, Kobo, Google Play, and IngramSpark. I then used both Draft2Digital and Smashwords to maximize my book's availability worldwide, though this certainly isn't necessary. Which format should you publish? Because it's more difficult to get books into physical bookstores when self-publishing, most indie authors earn the bulk of their income from eBook sales. For this reason, some indie authors choose not to publish their books in print, as print cover design and interior formatting typically cost several hundred dollars in total. Publishing your book in eBook format alone is a valid approach if you'd like to keep your production expenses as low as possible. However, with every new format you offer, your work will appeal to a wider array of readers. Each format you create will therefore act as an additional income stream, helping you increase sales and earn more revenue. If you have the budget and an interested readership, I recommend offering your book in as many formats as possible, including print, large print, and audiobook editions. As your career and readership grow, you might also wish to offer your books in hardback and foreign language editions. Ultimately, however, it's important to consider your personal definition of writing success when deciding which formats you'll offer, as each format requires time and money to produce. All in all, self-publishing is a highly personal process. There are endless ways to go about self-publishing your fiction and building your career as an independent author. In the end, what matters most is that you understand the options available to you and pursue the self-publishing path that's best for you and your stories. Thank you for listening to today's episode of The Podcast Writer. I hope you found it helpful to your writing journey. If so, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode and to give the podcast a quick rating and review. Doing so goes a long way toward helping the podcast reach new writers and lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm creating. You can also give me a shout out directly on Twitter at christen underscore keeper. For additional guidance as you work to craft sensational novels and build your best writing life, be sure to head on over to www.well-storied.com where I share blog posts, workbooks, e-courses, and other helpful resources for writers. Again, that's W-E-L-L-S-T-O-R-I-E-D.com. Thank you again for tuning into today's episode, my friend. Until next time, happy writing.