Everyone has at least one book inside of them. Most people, however, will never take the time to write the book. It is a time commitment. I wrote and self-published a book a few years ago and it took 4 years from when I first sat down with a basic concept until I was ready to start promoting and selling the book online. I have a few additional books in the initial planning stages, but have mainly been concentrating on writing for the web. I’ll get to them though…
A lot of people, with varying degrees of success, are able to write and publish their books. According to the latest Bowker Report (September 7, 2016), more than 700,000 books were self-published in the U.S. in 2015, which is an incredible increase of 375% since 2010. That’s a lot of competition.
Fortunately, it has never been easier to self-publish your book. Following are methods you can use to start selling your book today!
Your own website: Purchasing a domain and signing up for web-hosting is easy – the hardest part is figuring out what your domain name is going to be. Do you want to use the title of your book or your name or a cute company name? It’s your choice! You are in control! I recommend you use WordPress as it is very user-friendly and there are literally millions of plugins to make your website functional and attractive.
Step 1: Write your book.
Step 2: Save it as a pdf.
Step 3: Upload your book to your website.
Step 4: Start promoting your book!
If you don’t want to set up an entire e-commerce store, use a plugin such as Easy Digital Downloads which is, as the name implies, easy to set-up and easy to use.
Amazon – Kindle Direct Publishing (Aff): Self-publish eBooks and paperbacks for free with Kindle Direct Publishing, and reach millions of readers on Amazon. Get to market fast. Publishing takes less than 5 minutes and your book appears on Kindle stores worldwide within 24-48 hours. Make more money. Keep control of your rights and set your own list prices. Make changes to your books at any time. Publish in digital and print. Publish Kindle eBooks and paperbacks for free on KDP.
Barnes & Noble – Nook: A free, fast, and easy-to-use self-publishing service that enables you to publish and sell directly to millions of readers. All the great aspects of NOOK Press and one unified experience to make publishing your print or eBook as seamless as possible. Whether you’re a seasoned or first-time author, or you simply want to print a beautiful book for personal use, Barnes & Noble Press helps you create your book, your way. We’re here to help independent authors and content creators succeed by using the expertise and resources of Barnes & Noble.
Apple – iBooks Author: Create and publish amazing books for iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Available free on the Mac App Store, iBooks Author is an amazing app that allows anyone to create beautiful textbooks — and just about any other kind of book — for iPad, iPhone, and Mac. With galleries, video, interactive diagrams, 3D objects, mathematical expressions, and more, these books bring content to life in ways the printed page never could.
Shopify– Your brand, your way. No design skills needed. Establish your brand online with a custom domain name and online store. With instant access to hundreds of the best-looking themes and complete control over the look and feel, you finally have a gorgeous store of your own that reflects the personality of your business.
Etsy – Etsy is a marketplace where people around the world connect to buy and sell handmade and vintage goods. Etsy offers a meaningful and personal shopping experience to consumers and gives independent, creative businesses around the world the tools to be successful. Our mission is to reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world.
Volusion – Volusion’s all-in-one platform makes it easy to get your store set up in minutes — and selling for years to come. Our sleek dashboard makes it easy to run your store, whether it’s accepting credit card payments, stocking items or updating your site design.
Yahoo Small Business – Merchant Solutions is the most customizable and flexible ecommerce platform in the market. Try one of our plans and see how we can make your store the best it can be. Every plan includes online store design, product/inventory management, shopping cart and checkout, payment processing, order management, and merchandising and promotions.
