- Edit your manuscript until it's the best it can be. After you have done that, send it to a professional manuscript assessor for an evaluation, and a copy editor to check grammar etc.
- Have a professional cover design service create your cover. An eye catching cover is a must. It will adorn the cover of your paperback and also be used as a description of your story on-line.
- Write a catchy book blurb. Think of it as the shop window for your story. It will tell readers what they might expect when they read your book so, make it enticing.
- The front matter. Look at the books on your bookshelves at home. Check out what information is required to be added to the front of your manuscript before you upload it onto your publishing site. That is, title page, copyright page, Dedication, Acknowledgements.
- ISBN and Barcode The International Standard Book Number (ISBN), is a number that uniquely identifies your book. This can be purchased from your country’s national ISBN registration agency.
- ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Indentification Number) If you live outside the US, whoever you publish with, will withhold 30% tax on your royalty payments. To prevent this happening, you can apply for an ITIN if your country of residence has a tax treaty with the US.
- Decide on a size for your paperback Information on sizing can be found on the Createspace site.
- Pricing of your book is entirely up to you and if publishing on Amazon and or Smashwords, you can change your price at any time. A good rule of thumb is to look at the pricing of other books in your genre.
- Categories and keywords These help readers find your book on-line so it's important to give some thought about your choice before you start to upload your book onto your publishing site.
- Cost involved. Don't be sucked in to paying a web site thousands of dollars to publish your book when you can upload it yourself for nothing. Your costs should only be the following:-
- Book cover(s) for eBook, paperback
- Manuscript assessment service
- Copy editor service
- ISBN and Barcode
More information on the following posts:-
