Paul Chiswick - New Author on the Block

The Practical Guide to Self-publishing

There are several excellent books available already on the subject of self-publishing, so why does the world needed another one? It's a good question and one to which we believe there is a good answer.

• Most self-publishing books assume the author's motivation is to make money and structure the subject matter accordingly, putting a heavy emphasis on marketing and sales.

• Many self-publishing books assume the author's intent is to publish a novel as opposed to any other form of printed document.

• Some self-publishing books focus more on the theory of self-publishing only touching briefly upon its practice.

• Few self-publishing books mention eBooks, an important and rapidly growing market for the self-published author.

• None of the books shows how to go about a self-publishing project in a practical and easily understood way.

In short, most self-publishing books contain a wealth of information on what self-publishing is, why you should or should not consider it, and how it works in theory.

The Practical Guide to Self-Publishing deliberately sets out with the intention of covering the subject somewhat differently. It makes the assumption that the desire to self-publish is not necessarily to make money, or even to publish a physical book at all. It may simply be to produce a keepsake for a family member or an eBook for digital distribution. Its primary aim is to demonstrate the stages of a self-publishing project step-by-step. Two very different projects are worked through: a Book of Memories, and a Novel.

Contents:

Chapter 1: What is Self-publishing?
Chapter 2: Why Self-publish?
Chapter 3: Pros and Cons of Self-publishing
Chapter 4: Skills Required for Self-publishing
Chapter 5: Traditional Publishing Process
Chapter 6: Self-publishing Considerations
Chapter 7: Tools for a Self-publishing Project
Chapter 8: Sample Project - A Book of Memories
Chapter 9: Sample Project - Novel
Chapter 10: Preparing for the Printer
Chapter 11: eBooks and Readers
Chapter 12: Producing an eBook
Glossary
Appendix 1: List of eBook file formats