Ask HN: Has anyone here self-published a book? Any advice?

have you looked at http://leanpub.com ? It is a great platform to self publish.

I self published a book over a year ago. Happy to share all my sales data and let you know how I formatted it.

We haven't done it yet but are in the midst of the process. We talked with Kevin Gao who sold more than $100,000 of his ebook in a single year and is now running HyperInk (a publishing company you might want to look at). We shared what we learned from Kevin here -> http://www.kickpreneur.com/what-kevin-gao-taught-us-about-pu...

Hope you find something helpful there.

Guy Kawasaki just published a book on self publishing called APE (Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur): How to Publish a Book (http://apethebook.com/).

I used iuniverse. Their service is pretty good, although their support can be sucky and they tend to spam you a lot with newsletters (it's almost impossible to get off their mailing list unless you yell at them a few times). I think I'd still use them again.

Some advice:

- Spend a lot of effort on designing the cover, as you can't easily change it afterwards and it makes a big difference to whether or not people will buy your book.

- Proof read it thoroughly multiple times (and get someone else to proof read it as well if you're not 100% confident in your own spelling/grammar).

- Don't expect to sell many copies unless you do a bunch of marketing yourself.

I've self published two books now ("Double Your Freelancing Rate" and "Sell Yourself Online: The Blueprint") Together they've netted me a little over $100k in revenue.

1) Don't write in a vacuum. Build an audience of people who want to buy (double points if you presell to them), and deliver value to them once a week in the form of takeaways from chapters you've just written, thoughts you have on the subject, etc.

2) "It's a comedy book" means you're likely selling to consumers, and it's pretty hard to explain the value (e.g. why someone should pay you for your book) when you're selling to a consumer.

3) Don't promote the book, promote blog posts that reinforce what you're writing that end with a call-to-action to join a mailing list.

4) I'd usually say setup multiple packages, but again, I'm not sure if that'd work for a consumer product.

Glenn Fleishman's latest The New Disruptors podcast episode interviews a guy who did just that. Should be very relevant to what you are looking for. http://www.muleradio.net/newdisruptors/31/

I published 4 books. First I used chapbooks.com, which no longer exists. After that I tried lulu.com and the problem was the distribution. They don't have a good deal to distribution worldwide and part of my audience was in other countries other than US. I then switched to using createspace from Amazon. The process was a lot easier and smoother with Amazon and the distribution is better there too. I started with the print on demand version and it was very easy to make the ebook version. The books are available on Amazon site and can be sold worldwide.

I published my first book a month ago. Fiction. E-book. So not unlike a vanity press of old. My book is a comedy as well. Well, sci-fi comedy adventure with some romantic elements. The Dread Space Pirate Richard. With most of the majors including http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DIAYCLW/

I'm so new to it don't feel I can give any authoritative advice. I have sold copies. I have not hit the lottery. But it's a great feeling of accomplishment. Feel free to ping me via the email addr in my HN profile.

My next book will be technical, on Software Performance and Scalability. Then switch back to a sequel to DSPR.

You could try using PapyrusEditor (http://papyruseditor.com )

PS: I created this tool, let me know if you need any help.

A subquestion, if I may: Anyone know a good way of finding designers for the cover? Preferably designers who've done some work in publishing before, since what makes a good book / ebook cover is not the same as what makes a good website design.

A related question about making books freely available:

I'm currently writing a book about neural networks and deep learning. Ideally I'd like to make the book freely available online, with paid ebook and hard copy versions. But I'm uncertain about the impact a free online version will have on sales revenue. Anyone with much hard evidence? Or suggestions for how to make a reasonable amount of money, while keeping the book freely available?

Self-published a book in April, which is now selling in Paperback and Kindle versions (http://www.amazon.com/Berkshire-Hathaway-Letters-Shareholder...). It's been doing pretty well although there was a built-in audience and it's not too difficult to market a book when the author is Warren Buffett.

I did a printing of the book and am selling the physical version on Amazon Advantage. Advantage takes a 55% cut of the List Price, and handles all shipping, ordering, etc. I just have to send them inventory when needed.

The program works, but so far in my experience it's a huge pain in the ass. They send out Purchase Orders when they need more inventory and it's pretty unpredictable (an order could be 4 copies or 900, which means shipping really changes my COGS). They also "lost" a shipment of 800 books that took them a month to find. So I wouldn't recommend Amazon Advantage unless there isn't another option.

My friend Duncan McGeary is writing again.

His timeline is.

- Hermit, single guy, writes and gets three books published in the 80s

- He Marries

- Purchases a pop culture / comic book / store of awesomeness

- Can't keep writing and keep up his business and his family, so he quits writing

- The business expands (Sports Card Bubble, Pog Bubble, some other bubbles) opening 3 other locations

- The business contracts (bubbles pop)

- Focues on making one location super solid

- Gets his business dialed in

- Finally pays off all his debt, store is doing really well

- Works two days a week at the store, hires solid employees

- Devotes other remaing days to writing books

- Has been publishing ebooks

- Has tried to go the traditional publishing route

Take aways

- The dude has been around the block

- He writes at least one blog post a day (he has been doing this for 5+ years)

- He shares A LOT about what he is doing (store front business, book writing strategy, business strategy)

- He has hired artists

- He has hired an editor

The one warning I'll give, is a lot of the time his blog is him processing. You really are reading the guy's journal. So it may feel he repeats himself. I personally enjoy existing in the guy's head. It is a different type of blog. One where you eventually see him work stuff out and you almost get that "AHAH!" moment with him.

I really respect Duncan. I'd tell anyone interested in either business or writing to follow the guy.

http://pegasus-dunc.blogspot.com/ https://twitter.com/PegasusBooks http://amzn.to/149vsQG

Hmm. There is self-publishing and then there is not publishing with a legacy publisher. I recommend the later -- every writer needs a little help.

So technical stuff out of the way: * don't use MSWord (probably obvious), but it is way easier if you write in UTF8 with basic mark-up for italics. Markdown is great. * create an epub and then think about Kindle. You want to be everywhere. You need both formats so (Amazon is your primary target market) but it's easier on everybody if Kindle formatting comes second. * eReader specs are all over the map -- it's like a throw back to the browser incompatibilities from 10 years ago -- so clean mark-up is vital. If you want your book to look good on as many devices as possible, don't use a conversion meatgrinder (like calibre) to create files. Do look carefully at lean pub.com or pressbooks.com, especially if you don't need your hand held in this area. * you will need to buy an ISBN, either directly or through a third party

Editing * you need an editor -- your wife, your neighbour, a freelancer -- somebody needs to edit your work. Don't be fooled otherwise, even if you write a blogpost a day and have for the last two years. Good editors will catch problems with tone, spot areas that are confusing, and generally shape the work. This is especially important because writing down complex thoughts is hard. A lot of people think they have a book in them, when really they just a magazine-length article or a blog post or an idea for a tumblr. A good editor will call BS on your ambitions. * proofreading is not editing. Have someone that isn't you or your editor look over your work before you publish

Selling and Marketing * If you are going to spend any money what so ever on your project, spend it on the cover. Self-publishing is plagued by terrible covers and even pro designers trip up when they try to approach ebook images. Do yourself a favour and hire a real book designer. If you can't afford it upfront, publish first and then redesign the cover later. * You want to be on Amazon, B&N, Kobo, iTunes, and (maybe) Google Play. You can take this upon yourself or get help from a service like SmashWords or Bookbaby.com * And of course sell on your own site and through your own newsletters using shopify or the like. * Again, it should be obvious your book is not going to sell itself.

All that said, the hardest thing is the writing so get to it.

<shameless plug> I actually just announced the launch date for my self-published ebook this morning: http://www.petekeen.net/announcing-mastering-modern-payments... </plug>

I've been working on it for a few months after reading Nathan Barry's excellent book Authority. Based on that I started a mailing list right away and have collected a few hundred email addresses that I can market to.

I can't say I have any concrete advice (bdunn's advice sounds great, though). Best of luck to you!

I'm also about to publish my first book (about a guy called Elon Musk). Here are some links I've saved that were interesting to read:

Selling my e-book on Amazon (http://snook.ca/archives/writing/selling-ebook-on-amazon)

How you can make a million writing your own e-book (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2040044/Kind...)

How to Write and Promote New York Times Bestsellers: Tim Ferriss and Jack Canfield (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2012/09/01/how-to-write...)

How to (Really) Make $1,000,000 Selling E-Books – Real-World Case Studies (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2013/04/04/how-to-make-...)

How I Used Hacker News to Sell My eBook (http://rubysnippets.com/2013/04/26/how-i-used-hacker-news-to...)

An eBook pricing model that resulted in $100,000 in sales (http://blog.asmartbear.com/selling-ebook.html)

5 rules to sell thousands of copies of your ebook (http://mir.aculo.us/2012/10/20/5-rules-to-sell-thousands-of-...)

Not personally, but heard this a few days ago: http://www.blubrry.com/theeconomist/1795098/kal-kal-kallaugh...

Try out netminds: http://netminds.com/

Publicity and visibility will be your biggest challenge. There's a reason Charles Dickens was on an American reading tour in 1867-1868: visibility and publicity.

Here's an example of a graphic novel self published, initial print run crowd funded. A Possibly useful example.

Jason Brubaker developed a following for years by blog, showing the actual pages and process for creating his intended book. Then he took his community to kickstarter to fund the initial print run, and initial orders too, and initial publicity beyond his blog (aside from guest posts at other comic author blogs). He's done a second one book the same way, too.

The book: reMind

His fundraising story: "Grassroots Funding with Kickstarter.com" http://www.remindblog.com/2010/10/14/grassroots-funding-with...

Publicity and visibility will be your biggest challenge. There's a reason Charles Dickens was on an American reading tour in 1867-1868: visibility and publicity.

Here's an example of a graphic novel self published, initial print run crowd funded.

A possibly useful example.

Jason Brubaker developed a following for years by blog, showing the actual pages and process for creating his intended book. Then he took his community to kickstarter to fund the initial print run, and initial orders too, and initial publicity beyond his blog (aside from guest posts at other comic author blogs). He's done a second one book the same way, too.

The book: reMind

See his page on his process for more details: http://www.remindblog.com/making-graphic-novels/

His Kickstarter order-genrating and fundraising story: "Grassroots Funding with Kickstarter.com" http://www.remindblog.com/2010/10/14/grassroots-funding-with...

I self-published a book and built a platform around the sourcing for it.

http://www.aarongreenspan.com/authoritas.html

I answered a question on Quora about this general topic a while back.

http://www.quora.com/Self-Publishing/Are-there-any-self-publ...

I self-published a book on Regular Expressions...it's free, but people have donated a few hundred dollars to me:

https://leanpub.com/bastards-regexes

I used the Leanpub platform, which is more targeted toward technical writers, though it provides a great number of conveniences if you're writing something that is published in piecemeal.

I think the general advice is...get known. If you are self publishing, then you are on your own in terms of promotion. Put together a list of bloggers/sites who might be interested in reviewing your work and send it out. Create your own micro-site devoted to the book and publish excerpts that you think might stand on their own and generate interest.

Self-publishing is only easier in the sense that it is easy to put something out there. It doesn't make it any easier to get discovered or be successful

I have used publishers like Springer-Verlag, McGraw-Hill, J. Wiley, etc. in the past - a nice experience. I am now using leanpub.com and I am very happy with them. They take all the hassle out of writing.

I recently released the 4th edition of my Java AI book on leanpub.com https://leanpub.com/javaai and in a few weeks the 3rd edition of my "Loving Common Lisp. The Saavy Programmer's Secret Weapon" will be released.

Leanpub.com pays 90% royalties, minus a $0.50 handling charge so you might be pleasantly surprised how much money you can earn.

If someone hasn't mentioned it yet: http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords

I found it to be a great resource for finding information as well as people to do the cover and/or formatting of the eBook.

Yes I have one out... :)