Free Topic Friday – Options for Self-Publishing

Happy Friday, Writers! Welcome to another Free Topic Friday!

Today we are reviewing some of the publishing options for writers who are interested in self-publishing their work instead of going the traditional route.

Createspace

Createspace started in 2007, Amazon’s self-publishing arm lets users publish e-books for Kindle, as well as paperbacks. The books are sold on Createspace.om or Amazon.com. The site also offers an expanded distribution option, but there is a fee. Using Createspace to create your book is free and there is no cost for the Kindle version. Createspace takes a portion of each paperback, which of course covers the cost of actually producing the book.

 

LuLu.com

Lulu.com was founded in 2002. This website offers e-books and printed books. The company takes twenty percent commissions on books and the author receives the rest. Lulu offers e-book distribution to iBookstore, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Bookstore, the Lulu Marketplace, and Amazon. The printed paperback books are distributed through Amazon and the LuLu marketplace. Printed books are available in multiple formats and sizes including paperback, coil bound, and hardcovers. Books can be printed, in black-and-white or full-color. Lulu.com also prints and publishes calendars and photobooks.

 

Nook Press

NOOK Press is Barnes and Noble’s publishing company. NOOK Press is an online, self-publishing portal where independent publishers and authors can publish their eBooks directly to the NOOK Bookstores. NOOK Press now also provides the option for indie authors to publish hard copies as well as ebooks. NOOK Press allows users to create new Projects, edit/format existing manuscripts, collaborate with their colleagues and monitor their sales. eBooks sold through the NOOK Bookstores are available for sale on BN.com, NOOK.co.uk, NOOK devices, and NOOK eReading software for Android, iPad, iPhone, Windows 8, Mac and PC.

Kindle Direct Publishing / Amazon

Kindle Direct Publishing is Amazon.com‘s e-book publishing unit launched in November 2007 to be used by authors and publishers to independently publish their books directly to Kindle and Kindle Apps worldwide. In 2016, Amazon also added a paperback option which uses print-on-demand technology. Amazon has the KDP Select publishing option that requires 100 percent exclusivity, meaning e-books published under this option cannot be sold anywhere else. While under KDP Select, an author can offer their books free for five days or discount it for up to seven days through a countdown deal, while still earning 70% royalties. The author can opt out from KDP select ninety days after enrollment. If the author does not opt out, it will auto-renew the book for another ninety days. eBooks that are permanently priced below $2.99 only get 35% royalties. All KDP Select books are included in Kindle Unlimited, which is a monthly subscription that allows unlimited reading of e-books. With Kindle Unlimited, authors receive compensation based upon the number of pages Kindle Unlimited users have read.

Wattpad

Wattpad provides writers with an opportunity to write and promote their books while reaching a wide and varied audience of more than one million users. Wattpad readers actively engage in the entire process. Directly interacting with the writers and sharing their opinions with fellow readers. Wattpad has formed ties with publishing houses to try to help Wattpad authors receive compensation for their works. A new branch, Wattpad Studios, was developed to connect popular writers to both the publishing and film industries. The Wattpad website serves as a springboard into the more traditional publishing industry.

Smashwords

Smashwords is an e-book-distribution platform founded for independent authors and publishers. The company began public operation in 2008. Authors and independent publishers upload their manuscripts as electronic files to the Smashwords service, which converts them into multiple e-book formats for reading on various devices. Once published, the books are made available for sale online at a price set by the author or indie publisher. Smashwords does not use digital rights management.

 

We hope that this information will be helpful to you when it comes time for you to make a decision on where to publish your books.

 

Write On, Writers!