format myself or Elance it?

[blackcoffee]

Hi all,

I am editing and publishing a book for a nonprofit with 25 donated chapters. Each chapter is about 2500-4000 words. The book is related to education issues. All the content is now completed. I have a lawyer who is helping with copyright issues.

My goal is to publish this book as an ebook.

I am widely published, but have never self published before. I would love to hear from others about how they have self published. Please pass along any suggestions you have, mistakes to avoid, etc. So here are some questions that I am trying to figure out.

What service should I use? Smashmouth seems to be at the top of everyone's list. I really want the book to be as widely available as possible.

Should I format myself or use Elance to find someone to do it for us?

I have been using this article as a guide: How to self-publish an ebook - http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-20 ... -an-ebook/

Can anyone suggest other guides?

Thanks in advance for any ideas, suggestions or advice!

[Sommer Leigh]

1) Don't limit yourself to just choosing one service. Use all the applicable services. Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing, B&N's Pubit service, and Smashwords are the top three. Publishing through Smashwords will also get you access to Apple, Diesel, Sony, Kobo, and others, though there is a delay publishing to them. I am sure there's probably also a distributor for educational books, but I don't know what that might be. You'll have to do some google research. You can go through Smashwords for B&N and Amazon too, however you have to pay service fees to Smashwords to publish to them. If you handle it yourself directly with B&N and Amazon you don't have to pay Smashwords AND Amazon or Smashwords AND B&N.

2) Formatting can be a big pain. If you're computer and format savvy, you can probably figure it out on your own using the style guides provided from each of the major distributors. If you decide to do it yourself, do plenty of research first. You can also get help with it through CreateSpace. I have not done this personally, but I hear it's pretty easy to use, they have style templates to take some of the headache away, and I think, but I'm not positive, they have some pay-services too for those who need extra help. Downloading a file converter is also very helpful. Calibre is free. There are others you have to purchase. Again, this is a complicated area I only know a little about, so do your homework, save a copy of your manuscript you aren't going to mess with and then make another copy for you to work out your style issues with. If you don't want to mess with it yourself, hire someone.

Sorry I don't have much more info than that. Self-publishing is not my area of expertise, but I know a little. If you have specific questions it'll be easier for most people around here to answer them.

Good luck!

[blackcoffee]

1) Don't limit yourself to just choosing one service. Use all the applicable services. Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing, B&N's Pubit service, and Smashwords are the top three. Publishing through Smashwords will also get you access to Apple, Diesel, Sony, Kobo, and others, though there is a delay publishing to them. I am sure there's probably also a distributor for educational books, but I don't know what that might be. You'll have to do some google research. You can go through Smashwords for B&N and Amazon too, however you have to pay service fees to Smashwords to publish to them. If you handle it yourself directly with B&N and Amazon you don't have to pay Smashwords AND Amazon or Smashwords AND B&N.

2) Formatting can be a big pain. If you're computer and format savvy, you can probably figure it out on your own using the style guides provided from each of the major distributors. If you decide to do it yourself, do plenty of research first. You can also get help with it through CreateSpace. I have not done this personally, but I hear it's pretty easy to use, they have style templates to take some of the headache away, and I think, but I'm not positive, they have some pay-services too for those who need extra help. Downloading a file converter is also very helpful. Calibre is free. There are others you have to purchase. Again, this is a complicated area I only know a little about, so do your homework, save a copy of your manuscript you aren't going to mess with and then make another copy for you to work out your style issues with. If you don't want to mess with it yourself, hire someone.

Sorry I don't have much more info than that. Self-publishing is not my area of expertise, but I know a little. If you have specific questions it'll be easier for most people around here to answer them.

Good luck!

Thank you Sommer, your respond is exactly what I was looking for!