If you decide to do paperbacks you can use the free Amazon isbn if you want, but I prefer to buy my own ISBNs which you can buy in bulk from Bowker. Using a service like draft2digital will save you a lot of extra admin spoons and will allow for easier global distribution for your ebooks (paperback is currently in beta iirc). If you are going self-pub, cover art should be your next step although you could also be tackling this while things are being edited.įormatting covers for ebooks is easier than physical books as Amazon and Ingram Spark seem to decide their physical dimensions by planetary alignment and both are different despite Amazon occasionally using Ingram as an overflow printer. They’ll do some marketing for you if you’re lucky, but most trad authors are expected to maintain an active social media presence to boost their work. The publisher will also handle any additional editing, formatting, and cover art, but you will be expected to do most of your own marketing. Agents take their fees as commission out of the final deal reached with the publisher. Remember, any agent that wants money up front is probably a scammer. Most trad-publishers won’t read unsolicited submissions and won’t even acknowledge your submission. If you are going the traditional route, shopping around for an agent to rep you is your next priority. I can’t tell you how many promising books I’ve returned because their internal formatting was bad enough to be an accessibility issue.

They might also offer formatting services, which I’d highly recommend you take them up on if you decide to self publish.įormatting varies from ebook to paperback and isn’t impossible to do on your own (I know some people hate it) but is really easy to fuck up. This can help them pinpoint which service you’d benefit from most, as well as which areas you can strengthen on your own as a writer. If you don’t know what kind of editing you need, check to see if they offer a manuscript assessment. If it makes anyone feel better, kdp contributes very little money to Amazon’s overall profit.) (This is assuming you are using Amazon KDP which I would recommend for self-pub because it’s the biggest source of reliable income. His book helps demystify a lot of the process, especially how to use keywords for optimizing the Amazon algorithm.

(Mine are This advice stands true whether you decide to self-pub or trad-pub.Ī good book to read if you decide to go self-pub is Let’s Get Digital by David Gaughran. After that I’d highly recommend hiring an editor(s). You’ll probs go through a couple of drafts of the idea before you get to the final rough draft. You can either plot it out in detail or do a vague outline and see where it takes you from there. Sooo, I have an idea for my own vampire story (it’s cool, with secret society’s and murder and lesbians).

Challah and Callaloo by La Toya Hankins