Everybody has a story to tell. And November is National Novel Writing month. So, you may be working hard to pen your novel. Next up: landing a publisher.

Interesting a traditional publisher is no small feat. In the bad old days, years of work often resulted in nothing. Not any longer.

More and more writers are choosing to self-publish. Using online services, books can be published inexpensively and easily. And you can make money along the way too!

Here are some options available.

Amazon.com

Amazon’s CreateSpace prints books as they’re ordered. Authors upload books for free. ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) also are free.

You should order a proof copy of your book. Check for errors and see how your book will look. Proof copies start around $4.

You set your book’s price. But you need to figure in CreateSpace’s charges. You’ll pay for the printing; this starts around $4. Amazon also takes a percentage of the list price.

For books listed on CreateSpace, the commission is 20 percent. For books on Amazon, commission is 40 percent.

CreateSpace also offers a Pro Plan for $40. It costs $5 each subsequent year. You’ll pay slightly less to have your books printed. Amazon offers paid editing and layout services.

Lulu.com

Lulu offers a variety of sizes and bindings for your book. You pay for the binding and then a per-page fee. Bindings start at $2.50; per-page fees start at less than two cents.

Your book will be listed in the Lulu Marketplace. Or, you can manufacture books to distribute yourself. Prices for these books are different. Bindings start at $1.50, and per-page fees start at two cents.

An ISBN is available for $100. Lulu also offers a variety of paid services for editing and layout.

Electronic distribution

You should also make your book available digitally. E-book readers are gaining rapidly in popularity. You’ll want people to be able to read it on computers, the Kindle and other e-book readers, and the iPhone.

Amazon’s Digital Text Platform helps you publish your book for the Kindle. It is free to upload your book. It will appear in the Kindle store.

You set the list price for the book. You’ll get 35 percent of list price. Amazon may discount your book; this won’t affect your earnings.

The Kindle uses a proprietary format. You should make your book available in other digital formats also. This means you’ll need to visit other sites.

Scribd.com is one of the most popular destinations for document sharing. It has become popular for sharing and selling book-length works.

There’s no charge to get up and going on Scribd. You can upload your book in a variety of formats. The ePub format works with many e-book readers and iPhone book apps. Unfortunately, Scribd has temporarily suspended the ePub format due to formatting issues.

Another option is the PDF format. Many e-readers accept PDF files. PDFs can also be read on the iPhone. However, this isn’t ideal.

You set the book’s price. Scribd keeps 20 percent.

Lulu also distributes e-books in its Marketplace. You set your price. Lulu adds a commission of 25 percent or 19 cents, whichever is greater.

Finally, most self-published books are sold to the writer’s friends and family. Don’t expect your book to become a best seller. Nor should you expect to see it in bookstores. Most won’t carry self-published books. :study:

A friend that I used to supervise who left the job on a disability has been trying for several years to establish herself as a novelist. She has taken many classes, contacted several publishers etc. She has one book published, The Kevlar Heart, and she is trying to get another one published. I enjoyed reading her first book and look forward to her next book.

Here is her web site:
The Kevlar Heart

Sounds like a good book. At first I thought it was going to be about a surgeon who replaces valves in hearts. It would make a good movie

Being a retired cop she uses her expertise in that field for her books. Her writing style has been what she calls "cozy" but the last time I visited with her I believe she said her next novel was going to be in different style.

What I found interesting was that she was told by either her publisher or someone else that she didn't need to write an entire novel, beginning to end, before submitting. She was told to write just the first chapter and submit it. I guess the reasoning is if the first chapter doesn't grab you then they wouldn't be interested in publishing it....

Mikey wrote:Being a retired cop she uses her expertise in that field for her books. Her writing style has been what she calls "cozy" but the last time I visited with her I believe she said her next novel was going to be in different style.

What I found interesting was that she was told by either her publisher or someone else that she didn't need to write an entire novel, beginning to end, before submitting. She was told to write just the first chapter and submit it. I guess the reasoning is if the first chapter doesn't grab you then they wouldn't be interested in publishing it....

I guess then when you write the first chapter you better make it really good and put your heart and soul into it but then I guess if you are a good writer your heart and soul is in it all fully to begin with eh? I'm no writer and I'm prolly not a very good critic either but I do enjoy reading Bullfrogs stories and not just his pirate story.......he just is able to make everything interesting using all the right words in all the right places :[IMG]2thumbs01

Thank you kindly. A lot has happened in my story. After the princess double crossed the Viceroy with her letter home and announced to her father that she was never coming home they had to leave their island home of Tortuga and relocated on the mainland in what is later known as Belize.

They are about to jump a full blown galleon that is the equal of the Vengeance sailing out of New Granada (Venezuela). A character is going to get killed in this battle.

A child was born on Tortuga and another one is on the way.

Mine would be full of "manure", all I know is horses. lol