Support for Indie Authors discussion

So, Idea is finally publish my novel and decision is to be ebook.
I was considering amazon and smashwords. Shall I publish only via amazon, try several sites at once, or something else... I would apreciate tips, suggestions, advice... whatever. It is my first and I don't have any experiance with electronical self-publishing.
If topic is in the wrong place feel free to move it.
Thanks!

As it's your first book, start with publishing an ebook on Amazon. Go with Amazon KDP Select - it's a good way to launch a first book. After the ebook's been out there for a while, look into releasing it as a paperback through Amazon's Createspace.

Do lots and lots and lots of research. Read books on self-publishing. Read books on how to market and promote your own book. You have a lot to learn, but it's doable, it's a lot of fun, and it's incredibly satisfying.

- Make sure you write the best darn book you can write. Ultimately, the success of a book hinges on the author's ability to write a good book.
- Make sure you have it beta read by skilled beta readers to get some early feedback and advice.
- Hire an editor (at least a copy editor, if not a developmental editor and a copy editor).
- Hire a proofreader when you think the book is done.
- Hire a graphic designer to make a professional cover for you.

All of these folks who support authors and publishing are available as freelancers at very reasonable costs. Don't skimp on any of these parts of the process, or your end result won't be what you hoped for.

Best of luck to you! Welcome to the club. :) It's a great place to be.

Frederick wrote: " I would apreciate tips, suggestions, advice... "

My first bit of advice is to browse around the topics here and find any that interest you or may answer the questions you have. There have been many good discussions from which you may pick up a few tips.

It seems that many are finding that publishing through Amazon exclusively is a good way to get started. Some have moved to other platforms, some have found that sticking with Amazon works for them. I'm in that latter group, myself. But, this is not a one size fits all kind of thing. If something is not working out for you, try something new.

April wrote: "- Hire an editor (at least a copy editor, if not a developmental editor and a copy editor).
- Hire a proofreader when you think the book is done.
- Hire a..."

Or, if you have the skills or patience to do things like this on your own, do it. Saves time and money.

Thank you so much!
I considered KDP as starting point. As for the beta readers, proofreaders etc... I tried many during 6 years of making this novel. It is quite long and complex. Also, many told me of "unique style" I'm writing, so, sometimes, editing did nothing but made things worse. At the other hand, some things came soooo better after editing.
I came to the point of "enough". Enough changes, rewrites... People will either like it or not. And I'm perfectly aware of it :)
Well, maybe I give myself a book of my own for xmass :) :)

"Or, if you have the skills or patience to do things like this on your own, do it. Saves time and money."

I'm a veterinarian, working in IT, who thinks he can write. Is there anything I can't do? :) :)
I believe reality will punch me straight into head! Anyway, it is worth to try.

Frederick wrote: "People will either like it or not. And I'm perfectly aware of it "

Good! I think this is something some new authors are not aware of and they are often blindsided by early reactions to their first book. They get a couple of one or two star reviews and assume they are a terrible writer and their book is horrible. That isn't necessarily true. No matter what you write and how wonderful it may be, there will be some who will not care for it. You can't please everyone.

Another thing to keep in mind when you're fresh out of the gate, you may not see a lot of sales early on. It could take weeks or months, possibly years to see the sales you want. Be patient, give it some time. Work on the next book.

Will do...
Also, I'm not doing it for the sale. Just the fact that somebody will get interested for something I wrote and be willing to pay for it will be reward itself.
Next book is in progress :)

I started only at Smashwords. I got sales when the books were new this spring, but then the sales slowed and dropped to nil this fall. There are just so many books out there I'm lost in the pile. I have the books on Amazon as well but not exclusively. Same thing with the sales. Good early on, slow to nil now. I think for the next one I will go Amazon select for a while to build it up then pull from select and add to Smashwords. Just look over your book, put it aside for a week or two then look at it again. I should have done that and had to re-release when I found I still had 3 typos in the first one. Get the best cover you can get. If you can, get beta readers, that helped on mine. Then publish and aggressively market it. I did things backward LOL. Good luck and have fun. you write because you enjoy it and that is the first step!

Frederick wrote: "So, Idea is finally publish my novel and decision is to be ebook.
I was considering amazon and smashwords. Shall I publish only via amazon, try several sites at once, or something else... I would a..."

My advice: Pick a date you want to publish. Any date. Throw a dart at a calendar. Once you've got that date, add 4 months to it. You'll be amazed all the extra little stuff you'll think of in regards to marketing and future novels. Every little bit helps.

Nothing is worse than finishing the final copy of the manuscript and clicking publish without gameplans.

I wouldn't do Smashwords. They put your book out in so many different formats, none of them are DRM (Digital Rights Management) meaning that your stuff can wind up on every pirate site out there. I know, I give free copies that are not protected for reviews, but this just makes it wide-open and unprotected for the whole world.

Just another opinion here but I don't believe in limiting yourself to just Kindle. Go with as many platforms as you can. Why limit yourself to only kindle users? I publish directly with Kobo (it's easy using their Kobo Writing Life platform). That gets my book on Kobo and Chapters/Indigo. I also used Draft2Digital as a third party distributor (an alternative to Smashwords). This gets my book on iTunes and Barnes and Noble (and a few others but iTunes and B&N are the big ones). I've had almost as many sales using D2D as I have using KDP (kindle). iTunes especially is a potentially large market for books and is growing everyday. I wouldn't discount it by putting all my eggs in the kindle basket. If you are American, you can probably publish to Barnes and Noble directly like you can with Kobo (but I'm Canadian so I can't).

I am new to Ebooks, as well, but I'm seeing some great advice on here. My advice? I was exactly where you are about being done with all the editing, but then I published and later realized I missed some typos. AFTER people were buying it. I was able to pull the book and edit- I use Amazon's Createspace and KDP Select- but the damage was already done. I made a bad first impression. So even if you're burned out, my advice is to give it that one extra edit and proofread. Also, it does help to have professional editing and design. Not everyone can toss the extra money at it, though. So just put all you can into it before you release it into the wild. Save yourself some regret. Good luck!

Lisa wrote: "Just another opinion here but I don't believe in limiting yourself to just Kindle... Why limit yourself to only kindle users?"

It's like almost everything else we encounter, Lisa. Everyone has their own strategy and should go with what works for them. I've been doing Amazon / KDP Select exclusively and it's working for me. But, others might develop other strategies that work for them.

Just my opinion, but I think if I had it all to do over again, I'd go with Kindle Unlimited for the first 90 days, just for the exposure, and then, as the agreement expires, branch out to all of the other markets, like Smashwords and Lulu. Most of your sales will probably be on Amazon.

Thank you all, these are all great insights. As most work is done, I'll do my best to finish till 23 December. Still, have to read again all advice and decide where to publish.
Iy should be fun, now it turned into pain in the... heart :)

Here are my recommendations:

1) Hire a professional editor. You are never as perfect with spelling, grammar, or punctuation as you may think. This is very important on a first effort.
2) Pay for a professional illustrator. People DO judge a book by it's cover.
3) Make sure there is a hook in the first few pages because Amazon lets readers sample it and most decide in 10 pages.
4) Use Createspace for paper and Kindle select for electronic. Amazon will market your book more if you do. No reason not to do it. It's free.
5) Before publishing, order proofs and have some people read them with a red pen. It will save embarrassments.

The best marketing you can do for your book is make sure it doesn't suck.

My $.02
YMMV

What April said. Good advice on initial publishing.

I've published through traditional publishers, paper self-publishing, and ebooks. So far, the ebooks have not sold. You can't display them at signings, readings, etc., but sometimes people look at a paper book and ask, "Is this available as an e-book?" So, there's no reason not to make it available. I sell very few books online, more in conjunction with readings at book clubs, church groups, etc. My e-books were done by Book Baby and Kindle. Both worked quickly and responsibly. Kindle was quicker to answer questions.

Frederick wrote: "Thank you all, these are all great insights. As most work is done, I'll do my best to finish till 23 December. Still, have to read again all advice and decide where to publish.
Iy should be fun, no..."

All good advice, but I've learned how important it is to have at least a couple of beta readers. Use an editor AFTER your b.readers have read it and made suggestions. Usually a b.reader will make broader editorial suggestions, like, 'I think you should expand character x,' or 'I think one more chapter is needed after ....' Then an editor will go over the finished product and comb through the grammar and spelling tangles. Good luck.

Another thing: A good writer's group is invaluable. But 'good' is the key word. Make sure you find one that has members working toward publication. Sometimes groups become stagnant, no members advancing their careers, creating new works. That is not what you want. If someone has been working on a short story for months or years, or one book for a decade, that could be a writer in trouble. You are there to learn and benefit from others doing the same, not to be cozy and complain about how hard writing is. If a group is not right for you, move on and find another.