Congratulations! You’ve just finished your first book. What an accomplishment! So many people talk about writing books, but of those people, few ever start writing a book, let alone finish one. So, you should be extremely proud of yourself.
There are a couple of ways to go from here. One method many authors use is self-publishing, which allows the author quite a bit of control that you would not otherwise receive when going by way of traditional publishing. Not to say that one method is better than the other because it’s all about what works for you. I’ve tried both ways.
Responsibility of self-publishing
With self-publishing, practically everything is up to you. Editing, cover art and best of all – approval. When you send your manuscript in, that is exactly what you will get back. You won’t have to wait for a publisher to read your book and say whether he will approve of it being published. Once you finish the process, a few days or maybe a week or two later, you will have your book in hand.
It is vital to remember that in knowing that everything is up to you, you have to pay very close attention to detail. With a professional publisher, there will likely also be a professional editor, someone skilled at catching errors, to make changes to your work before it is published. Unless you hire a professional editor to review your book before self-publishing, you will not have that second professional set of eyes going over your work. It is not an absolute must that you hire a professional editor, because some of us do have English and/or writing backgrounds and we know what to look for, however, if you know you don’t fall into that category, a professional editor may be in your best interest.
By the way, there is nothing wrong with needing to hire a professional editor. There are many well-known authors who have themselves admitted that they are not the best at English and grammar. Writing a book is not about how good your English and grammar skills are. Even those who are the best at this still hire a professional because that second set of eyes never hurts. Of course, different editors charge different prices for their work and it also depends on how much you’ve written.
Before you hit publish
Now, onto the good stuff. I use CreateSpace to self-publish. I’ve self-published three books this way, and my experience with them has always been great. They work very quickly. I’ve never had to wait more than one week before my book is in my hands, and I’ve always been very pleased with the quality.
Edit, edit and edit some more
Again, it is an option to not use a professional editor, but as I stated above, with self-publishing the editing will be entirely up to you. The folks at CreateSpace will not review your manuscript for errors. They will print off exactly what you send them as part of the book.
Do not rush this part of the process. I certainly understand that this is not something a lot of writers enjoy doing, but this is very necessary. Remember that these books will end up in the hands of potential readers, and while many are not necessarily skilled at catching every grammar and spelling error, if you’re sloppy with this process even the most casual reader will notice. Many can forgive the occasional error or typo, but if this is all over your book, this could give a very unfavorable first impression.
Be sure to justify your text
This simply means to format all your book’s text so that it is aligned to both the left and right sides of the pages. This is how books are usually formatted. This will give your book a cleaner look. By default, Microsoft Word aligns all text to the left.
To justify, first you have to open a Word document. You can either open a blank page or use a document you’ve already created. If you use a blank page, type in or just fill a few lines so you can see what it will look like. Now go to the top of the page and make sure you’re on the “Home” tab. Then look for the section that says “Paragraph.” On the left side of the second row, you should see four boxes, each with a series of lines. The lines symbolize each type of alignment and they’re self-explanatory. The first shows that the lines are aligned to the left. In the second box, they’re lined up in the center. This centers the text, what you would use when typing a title of a manuscript, report, etc. The third box shows the lines aligned to the right. The fourth box shows all the lines equal and the same size. That’s the justify box. This is what you’ll want to use.
Before you click on that box, make sure to highlight all of your manuscript so that when you click on the box, it will justify the text. The rule is that Word does not justify a paragraph containing a single line or the last line of a paragraph. Since justify adds a little more space between words in order to align on both the left and right sides, doing this with a short line will create much larger spaces and it will not look even with the rest of your manuscript. However, when I did this before self-publishing my books, every once in a while, Word would still justify the short lines for whatever reason.
It will look like this for that line.
Most of the time you’ll be fine, but make sure you go back and check your paragraphs after you hit the button to justify text just to make sure this doesn’t happen in your case. If it does, simply click on that line, go to the top and then hit the “align text left” button.
Convert Word File to PDF
CreateSpace will only accept your manuscript in PDF form. When you save your manuscript, just go to “Save As” and then an option for PDF should appear, either in a list or as part of the drop-down menu. If you cannot find it, then you will need to download the Adobe Reader for free. Once you’re ready to save as a PDF, I would suggest keeping the Word file in case you need to make changes later.
Now you’re ready to go!
Beginning the self-publishing process
On the left side of the CreateSpace homepage, you should see the area to log in. Look for the option to “Sign Up” and then click there. Once on that page, type all your information and then click “Create My Account.” Follow the instructions until complete.
Setup
Once your account has been created, you should be taken to what’s called your “Member Dashboard.” This is where your book titles will be listed along with your royalties for the month and an option to order more copies of your book. From here, go to the left of the page and click “Add New Title.” Type in the name of your project and then select “Paperback.” Next, under “Choose a Setup Process,” go to the line that says, “Guided” and then click “Get Started.”
Title
In this section, the spaces for “Title,” “Primary Author” and “Language” are the only areas you need to fill. The title should already be there from when you added it on the setup page. primary author is your name, and language is the language your book is in. The other areas are self-explanatory. Feel free to fill them in with any information you’d like.
ISBN
This stands for International Standard Book Number. This is required to publish and distribute a book. On this page, you can receive a free CreateSpace-assigned ISBN or there are other options on how to obtain an ISBN.
Interior
Here you can select the options for the interior of your book. Under “Interior Type,” the standard is “Black & White” but you can also choose “Full Color.” Under that where it says, “Paper Color,” choose between “White” and “Cream.” Next to those selections is the “Trim Size.” By default, 6×9 is shown and recommended.
Under these selections, you can choose how you’d like to submit your interior. You can either select “Upload Your Book File” or “Talk With Us About Professional Design Services.” The only option I’ve ever done is uploading my book file, so there won’t be instructions here on choosing the other, but the site is pretty user-friendly and you should have no problems if you choose to go that way.
When selecting “Upload Your Book File,” another section will open and this is where you will select “Browse.” Find where your manuscript (in PDF form) is located and add it here.
Cover
Now you can select either “Matte” or “Glossy” as the finish for your book cover.
Next, you can choose how to submit the cover of your book. There are three options here: “Build Your Cover Online,” “Professional Cover Design” or “Upload a Print-Ready PDF Cover.” For each of my books, I selected to build my cover online. If you select this, you should see “Launch Cover Creator.” This is where you want to go next if you choose this option.
Under the “Cover Creator” are some different colors and styles you can chose from. Once you chose the cover, you’ll be taken to another page where there are more items you’ll have to complete, such as, the “Title,” “Subtitle,” “Author,” “Front Cover Image” and more. As you type in this information, you’ll be able to see your cover right away with your new info. Once you are done, click “Submit Cover.”
Complete Setup
You’re almost finished! Now CreateSpace has to ensure that your book meets their PDF Submission Requirements. You will receive an e-mail within 24 hours letting you know if the requirements are met and what the next steps are.
Now you need to review and approve your proof. Here you will be able to order a copy of your book to review before the process is finalized. That’s right …You will have a copy of your book in your hands! This is what you will get to review to make sure it’s the way you want it before you are finished – no guessing game. Remember that this is only the proof. You will have to come back onto CreateSpace to approve your proof before your book will be ready to go. (The proof copy of your book will have the word “PROOF” written across the last page.)
Almost There …
All you will need to do now is head back to the Member Dashboard (if you’re not there already) and go down to “Distribute.” Here you will get to select the channels of your book distribution, you will be able to price your books, create the description and publish on Kindle, along with setting your book up for sale on Amazon. At this point, your book should begin showing up under these channels in about a week or so. It will give you an estimated time before you start seeing it there, but for me, it has always been less than a week.
Now You’re Done!
Congratulations! You now have your very first self-published book. You can order your own copies and let your friends and family know that the book is ready for sale.
Good luck!
Robert People has been writing for more than 20 years. He began writing poetry at the age of 12 and self-published his first book in 2011. He has finished three books since then and is working on more. He also writes screenplays and is venturing into the world of screenwriting. Robert has been married for more than 15 years, and has two children, ages 9 and 6. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter or WordPress.
