Some of you may not be intensely interested in writing or self-publishing. If so, you can stop here … right after you click on this shameless link to my books.
For the rest of you, read on.
A friend asked me earlier this week which company put together the Kindle and Nook versions of my three books. It was a question that took me somewhat by surprise. I thought he knew I had self-published all my books – both the paperback and digital versions.
“Oh, I know that,” he said when I reminded him, “but who created the digital files for you? There are lots of places who advertise about that and I wondered which one you used?”
When I told him I did it myself, he seemed amazed. “I didn’t know you knew how to do that kind of stuff,” was his response. I smiled and let him think I was a genius.
The truth is, I didn’t know. I had to figure it out.
I started the same way I suppose many author wannabes begin. I Googled self-publishing companies and looked at the first page of 23.9 million responses.
I won’t begin to list all the things I discovered. However, I did compose a brief, but by no means all-inclusive list of some of the more popular sites (listed in no particular order):
While I’m certain they are each terrific at what they do, I didn’t use any of them, because they all expect to get paid for their services.
Of course, that’s a legitimate expectation for the work they do. But I have a background in art, design and printing. However, even without that knowledge you can do it yourself. All you need is time, a sense of adventure, and the ability to laughingly absorb extreme frustration.
Now, this is why I told you earlier you could stop reading. I’m about to describe what it was like for me to set-up and arrange self-publishing for my books:
Painting With Light 