Below are my earliest un-revised posts on formatting and publishing, which have now been expanded, added to and updated in Writing & Publishing For Yourself: The Indie Author Handbook, Self-Publishing Toolkit, and Staying Sane Survival Guide (or ‘The Adventures of an I.T. Helpdesk’). For the latest information and instructions, and more revealing/insightful chapters on writing, check out the ebook.
The original basic tutorials on this site are linked to in bold below – you can also type ‘formatting’ into the search box at the top of this blog, to find these and similar useful/entertaining posts 🙂
Click here: Formatting paperback files for print on demand (POD)
Having your book available in print is useful for exhibitions, conventions, author events, technology-hating relatives, gifting to local libraries, and for sending to your old school teachers, who wrote in your last reports that you only used books for insect cruelty experiments. This tutorial (updated regularly) helps you navigate the pitfalls of formatting, uploading and making your book available to the public, on Amazon and other outlets, all for free.
Click here: Formatting text and illustrated ebooks
An ebook is one of the most common products marketed online today, and many authors discovered by major publishers and literary agents already have their fingers in this pie (the publishers usually sit up and take note once that finger is in the pie right up to the armpit). Ebooks are not just the end product of the writer – they are the ambitious writer’s calling-card, evidence of having created and delivered complete artistic works. With the market open to all, there is no excuse not to deliver products of a good standard quality – and if you can get through my free tutorial without biting your keyboard in half, you’ll be very pleased to have achieved it yourself without having to pay someone else to do it for you. Unless you want to pay me, of course… 🙂
Click here: Linking to multimedia in ebooks (Youtube links etc)
If you have video or music content to enhance your book, whether they are author interviews, character role-play, behind-the-scenes or location slideshows – this is the tutorial you need to help you create an ebook suitable for all e-reading devices, and to guide you through the copyright issues while publishing.
Click here: Using open source software to enhance your book trailer audio
If you want something a bit different to help promote your book, a book trailer doesn’t have to be the commonly used slideshow-meets-Powerpoint-presentation of fading/scrolling text and ubiquitous sunset/woodland/urban decay photographs. Try making some actual noise…
Click here: How to be a dignified indie author…
Write a good blurb, tweet a few times, accept any spontaneous reviews graciously, and keep all your friends…
(All my written tutorials are free, and do not endorse any methods of publishing where the author is expected to pay publishing, formatting or proofreading fees. The only time you pay for anything is if you buy copies of your books or your ebooks yourself. When purchasing copies of your print books, always order them from your author publishing dashboard, not the public customer product pages – your creator discount will only be applied when ordering through your publishing account).
Available now as an eBook: Writing & Publishing For Yourself: The Indie Author Handbook, Self-Publishing Toolkit, and Staying Sane Survival Guide (or ‘The Adventures of an I.T. Helpdesk’) by Lisa Scullard
If you have any questions or would like to see more tutorials listed here, just leave a comment below 🙂
I’m thinking of being an author, how do you do it
Looks like you have already started! 🙂 Just keep at it and see what works for you. You might find some helpful hints on my Writing tutorials posts – I also recommend a book called “How Not to Write a Novel” by Sandra Newman & Howard Mittelmark: http://www.amazon.com/How-NOT-Write-Novel-Published/dp/0141038543 When you’re ready to publish, check back here for tutorials on Formatting and Publishing by clicking on the links in the page above. Good luck 🙂