The next step in learning how to self publish would be layout and, well, publishing your book! You've now got your ISBN(s) barcode and you're ready to put that book together.
First of all you're going to need some way to convert your files into PDFs the likely format your printer of choice will need. A program such as Adobe Acrobat or another program capable of creating PDFs.
Open Office Is one such program, and it's free. It has a wide range of features, word proccessor, spread sheets, data bases, that sort of thing. And can save you money in that it can work with a lot different file types. I have it myself. However, Open Office is still leans more toward word processing and isn't really that good when it comes to book layout with pictures. If you're a writer it might be something you want to check out, as it can save you having to buy Acrobat if you're not looking to make complicated PDFs.
For those of us visual artists going the self publishing route, it really might be key obtaining a book layout and design specific program such as Adobe Indesign or Quark Xpress.
I mostly do my work in Adobe Flash and/or Adobe Illustrator I have Photoshop, but I hardly ever use it. You can do page layout in all of them. However, you still need means of putting those pages together.
I have to admit I don't know if you could pull that off in those, as I opted to invest in Adobe In Design. I look around for freelance work, and figured picking up a new program would allow me to expand my options and give me the opportunity to make more money.
I'm still just getting into In Design. The "magazine cover" featured in this post. I did that with Adobe In Design. It took very little time to figure out how. You have text boxes, image boxes, you can layer them, put them where ever you want. It's fairly user friendly right from the start. This is coming from someone that knew virtually nothing about things like that. I highly suggest getting In Design if you can.
NOW LETS GET TO THOSE ISBNs AND BARCODES!
So now you have an idea of layout and I bet you know where I'm going now. Once you have your barcodes, with the layout technique of your choosing, you just put it on the cover of your book. That's it. You just have to make sure it's in an area where it will be printed fully and scanable.
NOW FOR THE PUBLISHING!
The publishing part of self publishing is not without it's pitfalls. First of all you have to decide how much you're willing to spend to make things happen.
Now the many many things out there to read are beyond the scope of my blog to delve into. at the end of this I shall provide a few key links you may want to check out.
And so I shall skip ahead to Lulu.com my first choice for publishing. Depending on what your plans for self publishing are Lulu may be the right choice.
First of all they're "free-ish". They do have their basic service, you pic you book format, up load your files, and work everything out. That's just the "in a nutshell" description of the process.
They're basic "Published by Lulu" option is the free one. I think. Their guidelines mention it's subject to change so who really knows. That option is free, because they simply assign one of their own ISBNs to your book and are "officially" your publisher. You're not really stuck to them if you choose to take your book out of print and move elsewhere you just have to give them notice so they can work on bringing everything to a halt.
However, with the basic option you don't really have any real visibility for your book beyond Lulu, retail wise. Because they have expanded features they want you to buy. Like their "expanded distribution" for $49.95. For that then they are supposed to list your book with Amazon and other retailers.
Be Warned! Lulu's Expanded Distribution, does not have sterling reviews what few there are.
Also at the basic level, books available for print are quite limited. I was VERY frustrated to beging putting things together for my book only to look back over Lulu's site and find the perfect size for my book, wasn't avaible to my chosen print/distribution methods and basic level.
Lulu also has their "Published by You" feature for $99. For that what happens is they simply sell you one of their ISBNs. They are one of the few authorized by RR Bowker to do so. You get some better distribution options and book formats. For me $99 for one ISBN was a bit spicy considering how much I'd save saving up for 10, especially because I have other bookable ideas.
If that sounds like something for your project, look into Lulu.
HOWEVER, Lulu pricing is really high. If you're doing a simple book, like a younger kids book I'm working on, to make a reasonable profit you have to set your price ridiculously high.
The lowest I could get my starter price to be was $10.25, which to make a reasonable profit. I couldn't even rationalize buying my own book. So you have to take that into account.
AND NOW LIGHTNING SOURCE!
As you probably guessed they're the print service I'm planning on going with now. I've actually gotten mail from real people regaurding my questions, and rather promptly.
They don't have all the printing options I would like, but I found an option that works. Also I gave them a general idea of what I was thinking about the demensions of my book, pages and size, and asked about the base printing cost. On-Demand Printing costs more per book.
The base price of my book with Lighting Source was only about $3.50 So I can set the wholesale price to be a bit more inline with my book and hopefully potential retailers won't mark it up too much.
Now with LS costs for your proofs seems a little spicy at $30, which is mostly for the overnight delivery. However, considering other print on demand services want "huge" start up costs for your books, it's a steal. LS does have inital set up fees per book, but when you think about people having to actually do things to make sure your files print right. And the overall service is $12 per year. You're still comeing out ahead when something like Amazons Book Surge want's $300+ to start.
One other catch with Lighting Source, a catch I'm stuck on right now. You do need to have at least one ISBN as you work on finalizing your application. So I can't do that til I've saved up for my numbers.
All in all though, I'm still pretty confident with them.
And as I mentioned now some key linkies you may wanna check out.
LINKIES!
And this Cnet Article
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