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Publish Your Own

In this lesson, will learn how to self-publish your own eBook on .com and have your work distributed to some of the most popular online platforms such as Apple iBooks, , Barnes & Noble, Scribed, Overdrive, and Baker & Taylor (.com and Axis 360 apps). Best of all, no prior self- experience is required.

You will learn how to create a free account on Smashwords.com; how to properly format your eBook using Word; set your own eBook price for each online store; as well as how to share and promote your eBook on popular social media sites.

1. Style Guide - The first thing you will want to do is download the Smashwords Style Guide by Mark Coker on www.Smashwords.com. It’s FREE and contains everything you need to publish and distribute your own eBook. *TIP: Don’t skip any steps!

2. Download the Smashwords Formatting Template The link to the Smashwords template file for both fiction and narrative non-fiction is in page 5 of the Smashwords Style Guide eBook. Once you click to the link, you can Download click “Download” in order to open the file in Microsoft Word and save it to your local .

3. Create Your eBook Using Microsoft Word If your time is valuable to you, and you plan to publish multiple eBooks with Smashwords, Word is a good investment. You can purchase it about $130 by downloading it from Microsoft.com.  However, if you have a library card, you can use the library's equipped with Microsoft Word for free! Just bring a USB drive to save your work or you can purchase one at the library for $5.  Another free option is Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/), which is available for the PC, Mac and other platforms.  You can also use Apple to output a Word . file.  *WordPerfect is not recommended because it does not reliably export to Word .doc or RTF.

4. Saving Your Work Regardless of what version of Word you are using, save your document as a .doc file. If you have the newer version of Word, go to Save As: Word 97-2003. Also, save a 2nd copy as a backup in case of any mistakes.

5. Go Nuclear! When a document has been updated and opened with multiple word processors, it is in your best interested to use the Nuclear Method in order to remove any hidden formatting issues. This is how it is done: I. Make a backup of your manuscript. (This was mentioned in step #4, but it is worth repeating in case the Nuclear Method does not work for you). II. Copy and paste the entire manuscript into Windows Notepad (usually found by clicking the start button on the bottom left of the screen and typing “Notepad” in the search box.) or any other plain text editor. This will remove all of your formatting.

In accordance with the provisions of the ADA, this document may be requested in an alternate format.

Created by Luis Aponte August 19, 2019

III. Close Microsoft Word. Then reopen Microsoft Word so it’s showing a fresh empty document. IV. Return to Notepad, and type CTRL+A (press the CTRL key, hold it down, then press the A key at the same time) for “select all” (highlights all your text in the document) then CTRL+C for “copy,” then open a new fresh Word document and paste the contents of the Notepad document by pressing CTRL+V (for paste) or click to the menu and click Edit: Paste (in Word 2000 and 2003) or Home: Paste (Word 2007, 2010). V. From here, you’re ready to format your book. Let’s get started!

6. Activate Word’s Show/Hide One of the most helpful features in Word is the Show/Hide button ¶. It looks like a backwards “P”. In the 2016 version of Word, you can find it on the Home tab in the Paragraph group. When clicked, it exposes your paragraph returns, extra spaces, tabs, field codes or strange formatting. It’s a great tool to help polish your manuscript in order to make it as clean as possible before it is converted to other eBook formats.

7. Font and Line Spacing It is generally suggested to use MS Word’s Normal paragraph style, with size 12 Times New Roman font. Also, make sure the spacing between your lines are single-spaced and a trailing after space of 10pt. Line-spacing can be accessed by selecting all of your text at the same time with CTRL+A (press the CTRL key, hold it down, then press the A key at the same time); then clicking the bottom arrow on the Paragraph section of the ribbon.

In the settings window that will appear, make sure the spacing “Before” and “After” is set to 0 (zero) and the “Line Spacing” is set to Single. Under “Special” select First Line and the “By” 0.1. Finally, click OK. This should allow your paragraphs to automatically be indented in the eBook.

*NOTE: Never use the tab key to indent your paragraphs! Simply separate your paragraphs with the return button. If done properly, you should see the return symbol ¶ between paragraphs. See the Smashwords Style Guide for more important formatting tips.

8. Inserting Images If you have images, they should be embedded in your Word file with the Insert: Picture: As File option. You can insert .JPEG or .PNG images, but .PNG works best.

eBook file upload limit = 10MB. If you have a 2016 version of Microsoft Word and your file is greater than 10MB, simply left- click on an image once and then click the Format tab. Click on “Compress Pictures” and make sure this is applied to all pictures by un-checking the box that reads, “Apply only to this picture.” Next, click on the radio button for Screen (150 ppi); then click OK. If your pictures are large, it is better to resize them in MS Paint or another photo program, instead of resizing them in Word. See page 62 & 63 of the “Smashwords Style Guide” for more information.

9. Building Navigation and a Hyperlinked Table of Contents Simply put, building a navigation and hyperlinked table of contents allows your readers to instantly go directly to any they want to read with a single touch on the chapter’s title. Creating this option in your eBook is discussed in great detail on page 77-86 of the Smashwords Style Guide and even includes a link to a 25 minute instructional YouTube video.

Hyperlinked Table of Contents.

Navigation in .

10. Front Matter Front matter is stuff that goes in the first few pages of your book, before the start of your book. Examples of front matter include the book title, the copyright page, the license statement, and sometimes acknowledgements, book and summaries of “other by this .”

Try to keep your front matter brief! Most retailers only make the first 5-10% of your book available as a free sample, so if your front matter is long, it might prevent readers from getting a free sample

11. Your eBook Cover Image Your eBook cover image is the first impression you make on your prospective reader. Book covers are one of your most important marketing tools. When you upload your manuscript, you’ll be asked to attach your as an image file. An image file usually ends with the file extension .JPG or .png.

*TIPS:  Don’t design the eBook cover yourself – Unless you are a professional graphic designer, it is recommended you hire a professional in order to make it look as good as or better than best-selling books from major book publishers. You can hire cover designers on Mark’s List (https://www.smashwords.com/list) for under $100. Other companies you might want to consider are Fiverr.com, Reedsy.com, BookCoversForYou.com, UpWork.com, and 99designs.com.  Know Your Target Audience – Before you hire a designer, be very clear of who your target reader will be as well as what would be appropriate for the genre you are writing.  Great cover images make a promise – Ask yourself, if you were to take away the title and the author’s name, would your target reader be able to determine the type of experience they should expect by reading your eBook? Will it promise first love for a romance; fear for a horror; knowledge for non- fiction; or an inspiring personal journey for a memoir, biography, etc.

12. How to Upload Your Book! Once your book is properly formatted and you have your awesome-looking cover image prepared, click the “Publish” link from the main menu, anywhere on the site.

NOTE: Do not click this link if you want to upload a new version of a book you previously uploaded (instead, go to Dashboard: “Upload new version”).

On the Publish page, you’ll fill out all the data associated with your book, and you’ll attach your book file and your cover file. Before you click the [publish] link at the bottom of the page, triple check that you filled out all the options above.

If you click the [publish] button and it bounces you back to the previous page, carefully read the error messages before proceeding. If you’re having problems uploading, visit the Smashwords Support center at https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq#Uploading for troubleshooting tips.

Once your book is finished converting, it will immediately go live on the Smashwords home page where you’ll receive your 15 minutes of fame until new titles after your own bump you off the page. You’ll also receive an email, confirming the eBook conversion and reporting AutoVetter errors, if any.

If your book doesn’t have any AutoVetter errors, it will automatically be considered for Premium Catalog inclusion. Once our vetting team approves your book for the Premium Catalog, it will begin shipping to our retailers.

13. After You Publish: Check Your Work After your book appears on the site, check the formats for quality. The more formats you offer, the better your ability to serve your readers. If a certain format doesn’t do your book justice, you can deactivate it.

EPUB is your most important format, because this is what we distribute to the retailers. It is a requirement for inclusion in the Premium Catalog. The MOBI format is very popular for the many Kindle owners who shop at Smashwords.

To check the quality of your EPUB file (very important), download and install the free Adobe Digital Editions reader from Adobe. Once you install it, simply visit your book page and click on the link to download your full EPUB.

14. How to Market Your Book Although Smashwords makes it free and easy to publish and distribute an ebook, it’s your responsibility to promote your book. Read the free companion guide, “The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide” at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/305 for a complete overview of how to use Smashwords to promote and sell your book. It provides over 30 book marketing and author platform-building tips, all free to implement.

15. Learn the Best Practices of the Bestselling Smashwords The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success is a free eBook that examines 30 best-practices of the most commercially successful Smashwords authors. Learn how to maximize your success as an indie author and publisher. Even if you don’t yet publish and distribute with Smashwords, this free resource will help you become a more professional, more successful author or publisher.

Congratulations! You are a published author! Celebrate and share your eBook link with your family and friends on social media. If you would like additional resources on how to improve your writing skills; promoting your work (i.e. Guerilla marketing strategies); writing contests to enter; and/or creating and using and social media pages, visit the Information Desk at the Palm Beach County Library System.