How To Self Publish With Amazon - My Gull Wheels On's Blog

After much searching I believe I have found the safest way to self publish in today's world.<br><br> CreateSpace.com - a service of Amazon<br><br> You set your own price. They may discount it later but you always get about 65% for each book sold. You retain full rights to your work so you can republish, sell the movie rights or whatever you like.<br><br> After you are done with that you can make a CD Audio Book of your work through the same service... but that is another story. There is another service called DTP-Amazon where you can publish for free on the Kindle platform. This elctronic version of your book does not have page breaks... but agin that is another story.<br><br> Back to the book publishing...<br><br> You will have to work on the layout of your book using templates they provide you but if you can use Microsoft Word proficiently (or know someone who does) you will have no problem.<br><br> You will then have to have to convert your Word document into a PDF and then upload this file. You can do this online for free at Adobe.com (the first five conversions are free) or you can get a software program like 'My PDF Maker' for very little money online.<br><br> The worst part is proof your work several times... I have been writing for years and no matter how many times I proof my work it seems that I still can find a mistake.<br><br> You will also be able to download templates for your cover art etcetera. I used photoshop to create mine and saved it as a jpeg following the instructions.<br><br> They have several book sizes available to accomodate the form and format of your poetry.<br><br> It takes some time but you can do it!<br><br> The good news is that it costs $39 to have them promote it on Amazon AND all the other respectable 'print-on-demand' bookstores.<br><br> You will have to pay for a proof copy of your book but mine (about 100 pages) only cost $2.15 plus shipping (which can be up to $25 if you are in a hurry like I was). Even better, once it is ready and is available on Amazon etc. copies for yourself only cost the same as your proof - $2.15 in my case.<br><br> This is great because I want to send some to friends and relatives.<br><br> Now for the bad news... your book will be lost in a myriad of other books being published, so you have to market your book effectively or make it stand out in some way.<br><br> My book is called 'Poetic License Suspended' and is available on Amazon and soon will be available at other print on demand services. I wish I could send all of you a free copy as it includes 50% of new poems I have written...<br><br> The new poems... I had about forty poems and needing more I wrote segue poems which introduced each of my poems (which you can read here.) <br><br> I also published a book called Faith In The Grace... Now here I can give you a free copy. Go to FaithInTheGrace.com and there is a link for a pdf file which has the content of the book exactly as it is laid out.<br><br> Good Luck and God Bless!<br><br> My Gull Wheels On<br> a.k.a. Michael Wilson<br><br> P.S. I wish I could pick the order of which blog page is shown first... as this is in response to a question by a fellow souper.<br><br> FYI - I started on this quest three or four years ago... To find a fair way for my Mom to publish her poetry... And her Mom's poetry... She went online about four years ago and entered an online poetry contest where everyone was a winner and everyone was sold a book with their poem on page one... she also spent a lot more money on other processes to get her poetry published only to find it to be a ruse to bilk her out of her money.<br><br> This infuriated me... as she is on Social Security and it is her only source of income... I am disabled (Bi-Polar) and am online full-time so I started this quest in earnest... but I first had to learn how to write at least half-decent poetry...<br><br> I don't know if I can write good poetry yet - ha! - yet I have found the answers she needed...<br><br> For community and a great online experience... come here to PoetrySoup.com and to publish... go straight to the big guys... and (for now) we can do the whole job for less than a $100 - which includes a few copies to give to friends and family... I am now formatting her book and will soon have it completed. (Of course I am going to pay the $100 - even though I earn even less than her as being bi-polar and living like a hermit does not pay so well.)<br><br> BTW - Thank you for all the kind and inspiring comments you all have left me.

Doris Culverhouse Date: 1/22/2010 8:05:00 PM thaks for the info. seems a little difficult. but possibly doable. Login to Reply

Audrey Haick Date: 1/19/2010 4:56:00 PM Thank you very much for this information, Michael. It's truly appreciated, I'm sure by many Soupers! Thanks again. Peace, Audrey Login to Reply

Sue Mason Date: 1/18/2010 2:14:00 PM Thanks for the info. Someday when I have a decent computer I'll see what I can do but in the meantime I'll try and do something locally through a local printer. Like the mother above, my income is limited but I'd just like to say I was published and am fully aware there is no money in poetry ... smile ... Login to Reply

Linda Witt-King Date: 1/17/2010 9:13:00 PM Great information Michael. Thanks for sharing your research. Login to Reply

Laura Mckenzie Date: 1/16/2010 10:46:00 AM Thanks for all your useful information on publishing! Laura :) Login to Reply

Sean Kelly Date: 1/15/2010 2:22:00 PM Thanks for the info Mike . I'm like Constance , if only I had the " bottle to " . Best of Irish Luck to you and write onnnnnnnn .. Seán .. The reality is , if I had the bottle , I would probably drink it : Sláinte .... ( hic ) ... Login to Reply

Corinne Curcio Date: 1/15/2010 9:50:00 AM All that DIY sounds like it's right up my alley, since I do something similar with my self-produced CD's. Thanks Mike. I'll definitely look into it for my poems. Login to Reply

Debbie Guzzi Date: 1/15/2010 9:34:00 AM That's alot of info and a lot of work! Though I have done similiar I find the greatest difficulty..NO MATTER THE PRODUCT or QUALITY is the marketing. I have not been able to do it. (sigh) Light & Love Login to Reply

My Gull Wheels On Date: 1/15/2010 8:42:00 AM You are welcome. Good luck and God bless. - Mike Login to Reply

Constance La France Date: 1/15/2010 8:23:00 AM Thanks so much, Michael, for the information.. now if I ony had the "courage" but that's another story.I am going for my free copy of FaithInTheGrace.com book, right now and thanks for that too. God Bless. Login to Reply