UPDATE: as of June 2023, Ingramspark removed their initial uploading fees, and I believe also any fees to make changes for 60 days. This is a great improvement and step in the right direction!
They did remove the upload fee, but have added in a distribution fee on top of the already large portion they take from your books sold. which is unfortunate :(
Thank you for sharing your experiences on these videos - its massively helpful and they're great fun to watch - you're an absolute star! However - for your info - Ive just discovered that (as of September 2023) Draft2digital are now charging for any changes after initial uploads - and they're not exactly clear about a lot of stuff throughout their process, so I would guess a lot of people will be caught out by this. For example, I was given the option to upload a full wraparound cover for my book - which I did - but i then received a rejection as what they actually wanted was a single cover page - although nowhere did i see this specified. And unless Im prepared to wait until 4th December, it'll cost me $25 to do this. Im going to chase them up on this but I have to say, D2D have just got off on the wrong foot with me!
Great thanks for the update. A uick question: you mentioned KDP requires an exclusive e-book signup. So how are you also publishing ebooks via the other companies? Did I miss something? thank you.
That is probably down to clever authors like you who have bravely spoken out. Thank you. Well done. Your books look fabulous. 6 years in self-publishing that is something to celebrate. 🎉🎊🎆🎇 Thank you so very much for being such a kind lady and sharing this information for free. I have thousands of books in storage. USA Borders used to sell my books. Waterstones advertises my book and turn my customers away. They claim it's not available. 😪 But I will have the last laugh. I always do. 🤣😭
Published via KDP this week and have sold 52 books so far. Very exciting but I am looking at using a few other platforms just to see what impact that has on my sales. Your guidance has been instrumental in my success of being self-published!
I have to give you props: You’re a mom. A full time author. You consistently post on TH-cam and IG. People struggle doing only one and you’re doing ALL THREE??? You’re amazing ❤
Wow... that was incredibly informative. As a first-time author, the publishing realm is absolutely foreign to me. I never set out to author a book, let alone publish one. But here I am... nearly sixty and learning to reinventing myself with four books, that until now, I had only dreamed of writing. Thank you for sharing your experiences and insight. Incredibly helpful.
I was literally about to invest thousands of dollars to a self-publishing company who promises to take new writers from dream to best-selling published author. This has helped me (even if slightly overwhelming because I'm new to this lol) and given me confidence to pursue self-publishing myself. I'm going to be looking into your how-to series with Mandi Lynn as well to guide me in this journey. Here you are a successful and accomplished writer talking about saving $50 while I was being convinced my success depended on a company team for the low price of $6000--which I do not have.
So glad you didn’t pay them, they sound like a vanity press which often scan authors with false promises that they never follow through on. You can do it!
Hello, I'm a 17-year-old author, and I'm excited to share that I'm publishing my very first children's sports book. Your video was incredibly informative and helpful, and I appreciate all the valuable information it provided. I would be delighted if you could share even more insights and advice on this topic. Thank you for your guidance!
1:00 Amazon has best royalties is right. A paperback selling for $7.77 gets a royalty of $3.10. The same book printed and sold by Barnes & Noble makes $0.23.
I am thrilled that I came across your page! I am new to the author/publishing world and by far your page is the most helpful!! I am about to binge-watch all your videos and take notes! I can't thank you enough!!😁
You're awesome. Thank you for sharing this and spreading the knowledge around. Being a young writer myself and trying to publish my first book, this is so huge!
How do u copy right ur books? Copyright looks complicated And when I want to upload are the sizes same with kdp? Or would I have to resize my entire document? 😩
Bethany, THANK YOU! Im Publishing my first book and your short videos are direct to the point and extremely valuable information for first timers!! You're Awesome!
Hi, Bethany. Thank you for this awesome video. I'm glad to announce that I will be publishing one of my books next month on KDP. I'm so excited. It's been my dream for a very long time. Ps: I'm a seventeen year old.😙
Thank you so much! I have been publishing my book through online platforms only but now I am trying to overcome my fear of rejection and try to venture into self publishing, thanks!
I'd love to hear about your sales numbers from each of these platforms. A comparison would be super helpful. I've only just begun writing my first book and this video was uber helpful. Thank you.
As a wanna-be author with a few complete manuscripts, this behind the scenes discussion is very helpful, even if it reminds me of learning where hot dogs come from.
This is awesome! I’m in the progress of writing my book, but I have been thinking about where to publish. Glad to know KDP, Google Play, and Apple were included here! I watched your other video on IngramSpark’s and B&N’s pros and cons earlier and I’m still bummed about B&N’s cons, but D2D caught my interest in replacing! Thanks for making this video! Hope to get my book up and going soon!
Yeah I really enjoy those three! And agreed, it was a bummer that they both have issues but I keep hearing such good things about D2D print for the most part so maybe they’ll be a competitor soon!
I’ve been publishing my books on Amazon and Kindle, but I’ll definitely be looking into these other platforms. 😊 Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas. 📚
@@ikigaime3158 hey, I'm a very good writer and I have a very rare and creative vision and imagination. I want to get into writing books and I was wondering did you have any advice. I'm a humble and respectful young man and I understand that writing is more than just making a book, it's like a hidden place where the body can release and meditate. It would be greatly appreciated, I was leaning towards self publishing because I know the books I'm going to be writing are going to be worth something.. but I'm open to everything..
@@bluesclues201 I have two pieces of advice I can give; 1) STUDY WRITING! It's essential to understand the craft. Yes, some people are born talented and can write a masterpiece without picking up a single book but for the rest of us, it's highly recommended you study writing. Read books. A lot of them, in the same genre as the story or novel you have in mind. Watching shows and movies is also a great way to indulge in writing. Learn the basics of plot structure, etc. 2) Write what YOU want to read. Don't follow trends; they change and fluctuate. Write what you would love reading because you're going to be reading your novel a million times over. 3) Bonus: do it because you want to :) It's an incredibly fun and rewarding process. Try not to treat it as a job because then you'll get burned out. Writing is a wonderful job but once it becomes a chore, I personally start losing motivation. You can DM me on Instagram at @ikigaiandme_ if you have more questions. 'll be happy to answer!
Good morning, and thank you soooooo much for this video. I pulled all my queries two weeks ago, and decided I'm going to Champion my own books. Even if idk what I'm doing. But your videos are helpful and very informative. ❤ thank you, again. ❤
Thank you so much for your advice. I've wrote three books by hand. And everyone one that has read them love them. But I don't know where to go from here. Your advice has helped me but I am very old school and am willing to pay you to read my books and do whatever it takes to get them published.
Researching how to self publish and your video is amazing!! I know it will definitely be helpful in the near future. Thank you for sharing your insight.
Just came across you in my research. Im in uk. Most of i find seems to be US. The question I have is about profits and quality. I had a book published by a small publisher, but it turned out to not be a good thing at all. My book was professionally edited, and they put it up as an ebook. So , ive been writing stories and poetry since i could hold a pencil, doesnt make me talented, but it is inherent ! And i often get asked , how do i write a book, should i write a book? My answer is the same advice i was given, dont ! Unless you have to, it is something you feel you must do, because . You need to learn your craft, study, fail, edit, over and over. Needless to say, im driven to write. Point of saying this is this: there are so many people now writing and publishing books and ive received some duds to say the least of people clearly thinking they can write anything and sell it, without professional editing, references etc .... what can you do or say to indicate that as an indie author, you are professional, have paid to have it edited, and that whay you have is a book worth buying ? And .... there are all sorts figures out there about what money indie authors make and on average its 500 pa (not sure if thats dollars or pounds!) But is that really all your to expect generally from say, a paperback book? So is it about how you market, or the combo of marketing and proffesionalism? But how would a reader know that the hreat looking product wit a nice civer, is actially a badly or well written book? If you are relying solely on just one person randomly choosing to buy your book, then hoping that one person gives a goid review (which in my experience most people dont bother with even if they liked it !) Then a good book could just sit there, just like the trad publishing simply ruined yr chances of a successful book because they missed a particular window for your book. It seems that just putting your hard written book, with lots of effort in the publishing too, is really a stab in the dark especially when up against so much "unfiltered" stuff. But i have 3 more books in my head, scribbles everywhere and really want to do them and get them out there !!! Im being a bit disabled by wondering how to make it worthwhile, and im doing other unrelated work too but im 60 and its about time some of this was published ! Many thanks
Wow, ive been thinking about writing a book one day and thought, no way, i dont know the first thing about it. Just clicked on you , WOW! DID I LUCK OUT !! I dont know if/ when ill write it but you took all the fear out of it. Thank you !!!! XOXOXO.
Thank you for this video. Some of my subscribers have been wanting me to publish a cookbook and I'm pretty lost as what to do. This video gives me a little bit of an idea where to start. Thank you again
D2D does make the print available on the other platforms (if they provide print copies). So, my paperbacks on amazon are distributed through D2D. Actually, I owe your videos for getting me curious about D2D because this made things so much easier than I think they might have been ^_^;; Having everything in 1 place
Thank you for taking the time and energy to share this! I've begun writing my book and am currently in the research stage of the best way to self-publish and came across this video; SO helpful!
I have just recently finished the editting and writing of my first book, I will probably be binging a lot of your videos as I move onto the publishing process. I think you provide a lot of good insight and I need as much of it as I can get
I've had a nightmare with KDP, nothing has been easy and my problems still continue... i don't even show up if i put my name in the search under books 😠
I've been writing for years but too scared to publish cuz idk what I'm doing. Thank you for the breakdown. I appreciate the details and explanations 😊🙏
That was me too, but this year, I am doing it. I'm tired of letting fear keep me from my greatness. I am very lost on a few things, like how to find free illustrations that go with my book, how to make my cover and back cover, and how to upload my finished product to one of the sites she is describing in this video. You can do it, too! have faith and go for it! Sending you prayers for strength and for removing fear! :)
I was terrified three years ago on KDP. I was not internet savvy and thought all my information would be digested! Be assured: it’s all step by step and you can change your mind each step along the way to Draft or Final. Even with Final, you can always Unpublished your item. Don’t worry that people will know about your book (I wish! Lol) there are millions of people on KDP. It’s a great learning tool and the support is helpful. Main caveat: don’t open more than one account or let others use your ISP address. Happy publishing.
Thank you for breaking this down for me. I use KDP and draft2digial right now only ebook pre order and just paperbacks on release day but it's nice to hear about other options
My book was going to be published with an American publisher, but we could not agree on a contract, so I'll be taking the self-publishing route. Thank you for doing this video. It has given me plenty of ideas and options to consider.
Thankyou so, so much for all of your amazing videos. You are incredibly helpful and most importantly, you make it sound so exciting. Looking to self publish within the next 12 months, just trying to do my research. Again, thankyou.❤
Did you purchase ISBN numbers separately before publishing to multiple platforms? Still struggling with figuring out how to publish on multiple platforms without having to purchase an ISBN number form Bowker.
This is a very insightful video! Thank you for sharing and being so transparent with your experiences. I am very close to having my first book ready for publishing. I have looked into KDP, but did decide to go with my own ISBNs so that I could publish through multiple platforms. I am still learning, but your content has been very helpful. Thanks again!
My book on Amazon KDP. In native language. Uploaded on August 13. 'In Review' till August 15. Then came 'Publishing' status. August 18 morning now, still 'Publishing'.. Impatiently waiting for my book to be visible to others.
Have you ever heard of Book Vault located in the UK? (Soon to print here in the US) they offer a large selection of bespoke options, embossing on Hardcovers and they also offer foil blocking. I'm excited about them
Hello. Do you know any company that would publish short books like 11- or 12-page Children books. I am with KDP, but Amazon says there are not enough page to print. Thank you.
Oh my goodness. Thank you SO much for all of these videos. I'm trying to learn the whole self-publishing thing right now and just glean as much information as I can, and your videos are so clear and so informative!!
Thank you so much, Bethany. This was super helpful! I have just finished my first book called Oddity Manor, and I had no idea where to go to start selling (I was going to go with Etsy!) Thanks again, you're the best 🤙
Thank you so much for this video. Very informative. I am in the process of removing my ebook from iUniverse and deciding which aggregator/platform to send it to.
This video was very informative. I was looking for a replacement for Ingram Spark. I published my book in 2018 and have not been marketing it. Out of the blue Ingram Spark sent me a bill and was told that the charges were found by their Finance Dept. These fees were over several years. I'm not sure what to do about this but feel they should have sent these at the time and I'm not even sure how these fees came about in the first place. I can not stand not being able to pick up the phone (free of charge) to resolve an issue. I will not use them for future books.
Hi Bethany-Thank you so much for this valuable information. You have helped put my dream on a more concrete direction and made me less over whelmed in this whole process. My question is about Adult Coloring Books and worried about censorship. Being that I’m worried about censorship-it is filled with “mature audience content”. In your opinion, which platform is the most lenient when it comes to censoring? Also, I am illustrating all pages myself. Every illustrated page has been designed completely by me and the idea for the design has also been thought up by me. There’s no pages in my coloring book that have been generated or came from the internet. The illustrations are completely my designs, all hand drawn. What publishing company in your opinion or have you heard good feedback about is which platforms are the better ones for me to look into when producing a self illustrated adult content type coloring book? I have subscribed to your channel and excited to watch your other videos because while the book I’m wanting to publish is a different style than yours, I still believe your videos have a lot of valuable information I can learn from. I’m glad I found your channel. Thanks again.
I’m working on a children’s book but I’m using Writer’s Republic. They do all the work (I’m waiting to get all my pictures illustrated) but I’ll get 80% of earnings. It’s been pretty good so far
I have a question, I hope you'd see my question... If I want to publish my book on all these websites, will I have to struggle with the copyright thing? Because some websites or publishers would limit you to only publish on their website and when you do publish on other website, it can be an issue. I'd like to know about this matter. And THANK YOU so SO MUCH!
I can’t thank you enough for these extremely helpful videos you’ve put together. I’m almost finished with my first book and was wondering if you’d be willing to read a chapter and let me know what you think?
I have stopped using IngramSpark as well. It's the revision fees that made them a bad investment for me, and though I never paid one, the thought of those book files being outdated compared to my other sales channels was a no go. I recently told them to cancel all my titles, and I feel really good about it. If you are on their email list (still am), they still send out free upload codes frequently despite a lot of people believing they had quit doing that. And yeah, customer service isn't that great, and I agree their fees do take advantage of authors who are not yet at the point of easily making back their publishing costs. (In fact, I think they offer the free upload codes because they know you'll pay a lot more eventually when the need comes to update book files, which can happen quite a bit in the life of any book).
Absolutely agree. The revision fees are my biggest reason for leaving, especially since you can't even review the files digitally until you've already paid. That's interesting to hear they send out free upload codes to their email list though, I didn't actually know that, I always got them off random internet sites lol... And I think you're right about them offering a free initial code because they know you'll have to pay later... All in all, they already take a big cut of the book profits, so they shouldn't be charging up front when no other companies do. :(
I'm new at this and what I'm wondering is how long did it take you to see any sort of success? My husband and I self-published on PDK without success. Did you do press releases and where did you start advertising? If you did press releases, where did you start? You are brilliant and I can use all the help that I can get!
What format does your books see most sales, hardcover, paperback, or e-book? Also, which publishers do give you jackets for hardcovers? Thanks you in advance...
If you pre-order your book before you finish it, how will you know that you're going to finish your deadline? What happens if you don't beat your deadline, wouldn't you just have to keep changing the pre-order date? Can you also do a video on Lulu if you have heard about it? I originally wanted to self-publish on them, but recent bad reviews came, and I change to Kobo and Amazon. Kobo seemed to be fine since I'm familiar with them, but I wish they would do more promoting. I know the majority it's on you, but I wish they would help out a bit more.
Do you mean if you put the book on preorder? If so, then you will make your deadline by *making* it happen lol! I have a video all about deadlines if you search it and how I calculate mine to include plenty of buffer time. If you didn't make it however, that would be an issue, so don't do preorders if you don't feel comfortable with strict deadlines.
My problems are 1) 40+ titles. Going wide isn't gonna be easy 2) getting into the Chinese and Singapore markets. I know amazon is good in Japan but idk about Taiwan and am sure its no good for China.
Hmmm that's tough... personally I'd use an aggregator like either Ingramspark or Draft2Digital and only upload to that one company because they will push it out to all the other companies, allowing you to publish wide while saving time and stress! Good luck!
@@BethanyAtazadeh I think I heard about them from Joanna Penn. I listen to a lot of podcasts so I might be mixing this up with someone else but I believe she uses them to fulfill direct print sales from her website specifically.
I’ve looked into them too! I think they look like a pretty good option. I believe you’re right about Joanna Penn talking about them. I think what she said she does is uses Book Vault for her UK customers and Lulu for elsewhere since the shipping is better that way. But rumor has it Book Vault will be eventually adding printing locations in the US as well. Either way, though, I think even with higher shipping Book Vault ends up being a bit cheaper than Lulu so I’m leaning more towards them for print on demand. 🙂
Thanks a lot for being so honest and open. Whats your experience with print inconsistency on kdp? Working on getting a poetry book, first time in my life, it will be in Turkish and would like Turkish speaking people to have easy access... Any recommendations?
UPDATE: as of June 2023, Ingramspark removed their initial uploading fees, and I believe also any fees to make changes for 60 days. This is a great improvement and step in the right direction!
They did remove the upload fee, but have added in a distribution fee on top of the already large portion they take from your books sold. which is unfortunate :(
Thank you for sharing your experiences on these videos - its massively helpful and they're great fun to watch - you're an absolute star! However - for your info - Ive just discovered that (as of September 2023) Draft2digital are now charging for any changes after initial uploads - and they're not exactly clear about a lot of stuff throughout their process, so I would guess a lot of people will be caught out by this. For example, I was given the option to upload a full wraparound cover for my book - which I did - but i then received a rejection as what they actually wanted was a single cover page - although nowhere did i see this specified. And unless Im prepared to wait until 4th December, it'll cost me $25 to do this. Im going to chase them up on this but I have to say, D2D have just got off on the wrong foot with me!
Great thanks for the update. A uick question: you mentioned KDP requires an exclusive e-book signup. So how are you also publishing ebooks via the other companies? Did I miss something? thank you.
@@SS-qp2ex I think if you do KDP Select you can't upload to others for 90 days. The regular KDP you can.
That is probably down to clever authors like you who have bravely spoken out. Thank you. Well done. Your books look fabulous. 6 years in self-publishing that is something to celebrate. 🎉🎊🎆🎇 Thank you so very much for being such a kind lady and sharing this information for free.
I have thousands of books in storage. USA Borders used to sell my books. Waterstones advertises my book and turn my customers away. They claim it's not available. 😪
But I will have the last laugh. I always do. 🤣😭
Published via KDP this week and have sold 52 books so far. Very exciting but I am looking at using a few other platforms just to see what impact that has on my sales. Your guidance has been instrumental in my success of being self-published!
Woohoo congratulations, that's so exciting! Nice work, so glad the videos have been helpful!
You're a real person right? Because I need to know the truth!!
Wow your a world of information to a novice writer like me! I appreciate your info very much!
Congrats!
This is too interesting! You owe us an update.
I have to give you props:
You’re a mom. A full time author. You consistently post on TH-cam and IG. People struggle doing only one and you’re doing ALL THREE???
You’re amazing ❤
Thank you! That means a lot!
She is amazing!
I second that!🥰
She's super mom.
Didn’t even think of that that’s crazy
Authors are so hush hush about distribution. thanks for lifting the veil and saving me hours of research. i subscribed
i can do distribution for you contact me
Wow... that was incredibly informative. As a first-time author, the publishing realm is absolutely foreign to me. I never set out to author a book, let alone publish one. But here I am... nearly sixty and learning to reinventing myself with four books, that until now, I had only dreamed of writing. Thank you for sharing your experiences and insight. Incredibly helpful.
So glad the video was helpful, thank you!
I was literally about to invest thousands of dollars to a self-publishing company who promises to take new writers from dream to best-selling published author. This has helped me (even if slightly overwhelming because I'm new to this lol) and given me confidence to pursue self-publishing myself.
I'm going to be looking into your how-to series with Mandi Lynn as well to guide me in this journey. Here you are a successful and accomplished writer talking about saving $50 while I was being convinced my success depended on a company team for the low price of $6000--which I do not have.
So glad you didn’t pay them, they sound like a vanity press which often scan authors with false promises that they never follow through on. You can do it!
You were SO smart to walk away!!
Hello, I'm a 17-year-old author, and I'm excited to share that I'm publishing my very first children's sports book. Your video was incredibly informative and helpful, and I appreciate all the valuable information it provided. I would be delighted if you could share even more insights and advice on this topic. Thank you for your guidance!
Hi. I am a copyright coordinator and i’m interested with your book. What is your email?
1:00 Amazon has best royalties is right. A paperback selling for $7.77 gets a royalty of $3.10. The same book printed and sold by Barnes & Noble makes $0.23.
I am thrilled that I came across your page! I am new to the author/publishing world and by far your page is the most helpful!! I am about to binge-watch all your videos and take notes! I can't thank you enough!!😁
You're awesome. Thank you for sharing this and spreading the knowledge around. Being a young writer myself and trying to publish my first book, this is so huge!
How do u copy right ur books?
Copyright looks complicated
And when I want to upload are the sizes same with kdp?
Or would I have to resize my entire document? 😩
I’m working on my first book after putting it off for years and you’ve given me a lot of insight as to how publishing works and I thank you!
Bethany, THANK YOU! Im Publishing my first book and your short videos are direct to the point and extremely valuable information for first timers!! You're Awesome!
Hey Jeff. My name is Alex and I’m a copyright coordinator.
Girl! The cover of Secret Gift is 🔥! Beautiful!!!
🥰 thank you so much!!
Thank you for sharing your experiences and this info! Venturing into self publishing is overwhelming
Hi, Bethany. Thank you for this awesome video. I'm glad to announce that I will be publishing one of my books next month on KDP. I'm so excited. It's been my dream for a very long time. Ps: I'm a seventeen year old.😙
Thank you so much! I have been publishing my book through online platforms only but now I am trying to overcome my fear of rejection and try to venture into self publishing, thanks!
I'd love to hear about your sales numbers from each of these platforms. A comparison would be super helpful. I've only just begun writing my first book and this video was uber helpful. Thank you.
As a wanna-be author with a few complete manuscripts, this behind the scenes discussion is very helpful, even if it reminds me of learning where hot dogs come from.
Thanks for such a generous information. You set a new writer on track.
This is awesome! I’m in the progress of writing my book, but I have been thinking about where to publish. Glad to know KDP, Google Play, and Apple were included here! I watched your other video on IngramSpark’s and B&N’s pros and cons earlier and I’m still bummed about B&N’s cons, but D2D caught my interest in replacing! Thanks for making this video! Hope to get my book up and going soon!
Yeah I really enjoy those three! And agreed, it was a bummer that they both have issues but I keep hearing such good things about D2D print for the most part so maybe they’ll be a competitor soon!
You are the first indie author that have taste in her covers. Others are ok and nice, but yours are like serious books that I would like to read. ❤
Wow, thank you!
I’ve been publishing my books on Amazon and Kindle, but I’ll definitely be looking into these other platforms. 😊 Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas. 📚
Absolutely, so glad it was helpful!
LITERALLY A LIFE SAVER!! I'm currently looking into websites! My debut SKELETON FLOWER will be available on the 30th of this month! Thanks, Bethany
Yayyy! Congratulations, so glad the videos have been helpful!
Title is brilliant
@@bluesclues201 Thank you!
@@ikigaime3158 hey, I'm a very good writer and I have a very rare and creative vision and imagination. I want to get into writing books and I was wondering did you have any advice. I'm a humble and respectful young man and I understand that writing is more than just making a book, it's like a hidden place where the body can release and meditate. It would be greatly appreciated, I was leaning towards self publishing because I know the books I'm going to be writing are going to be worth something.. but I'm open to everything..
@@bluesclues201 I have two pieces of advice I can give;
1) STUDY WRITING! It's essential to understand the craft. Yes, some people are born talented and can write a masterpiece without picking up a single book but for the rest of us, it's highly recommended you study writing. Read books. A lot of them, in the same genre as the story or novel you have in mind. Watching shows and movies is also a great way to indulge in writing. Learn the basics of plot structure, etc.
2) Write what YOU want to read. Don't follow trends; they change and fluctuate. Write what you would love reading because you're going to be reading your novel a million times over.
3) Bonus: do it because you want to :) It's an incredibly fun and rewarding process. Try not to treat it as a job because then you'll get burned out. Writing is a wonderful job but once it becomes a chore, I personally start losing motivation.
You can DM me on Instagram at @ikigaiandme_ if you have more questions. 'll be happy to answer!
Good morning, and thank you soooooo much for this video. I pulled all my queries two weeks ago, and decided I'm going to Champion my own books. Even if idk what I'm doing. But your videos are helpful and very informative. ❤ thank you, again. ❤
Thank you so much for your advice. I've wrote three books by hand. And everyone one that has read them love them. But I don't know where to go from here. Your advice has helped me but I am very old school and am willing to pay you to read my books and do whatever it takes to get them published.
Researching how to self publish and your video is amazing!! I know it will definitely be helpful in the near future. Thank you for sharing your insight.
Yay! So happy to hear it's helpful!
Just came across you in my research. Im in uk. Most of i find seems to be US. The question I have is about profits and quality. I had a book published by a small publisher, but it turned out to not be a good thing at all. My book was professionally edited, and they put it up as an ebook. So , ive been writing stories and poetry since i could hold a pencil, doesnt make me talented, but it is inherent ! And i often get asked , how do i write a book, should i write a book? My answer is the same advice i was given, dont ! Unless you have to, it is something you feel you must do, because . You need to learn your craft, study, fail, edit, over and over. Needless to say, im driven to write. Point of saying this is this: there are so many people now writing and publishing books and ive received some duds to say the least of people clearly thinking they can write anything and sell it, without professional editing, references etc .... what can you do or say to indicate that as an indie author, you are professional, have paid to have it edited, and that whay you have is a book worth buying ? And .... there are all sorts figures out there about what money indie authors make and on average its 500 pa (not sure if thats dollars or pounds!) But is that really all your to expect generally from say, a paperback book? So is it about how you market, or the combo of marketing and proffesionalism? But how would a reader know that the hreat looking product wit a nice civer, is actially a badly or well written book? If you are relying solely on just one person randomly choosing to buy your book, then hoping that one person gives a goid review (which in my experience most people dont bother with even if they liked it !) Then a good book could just sit there, just like the trad publishing simply ruined yr chances of a successful book because they missed a particular window for your book. It seems that just putting your hard written book, with lots of effort in the publishing too, is really a stab in the dark especially when up against so much "unfiltered" stuff. But i have 3 more books in my head, scribbles everywhere and really want to do them and get them out there !!! Im being a bit disabled by wondering how to make it worthwhile, and im doing other unrelated work too but im 60 and its about time some of this was published ! Many thanks
Wow, ive been thinking about writing a book one day and thought, no way, i dont know the first thing about it. Just clicked on you , WOW! DID I LUCK OUT !! I dont know if/ when ill write it but you took all the fear out of it. Thank you !!!! XOXOXO.
Thank you for this video. Some of my subscribers have been wanting me to publish a cookbook and I'm pretty lost as what to do. This video gives me a little bit of an idea where to start. Thank you again
Thanks Janet! So glad it was helpful! :D
D2D does make the print available on the other platforms (if they provide print copies). So, my paperbacks on amazon are distributed through D2D. Actually, I owe your videos for getting me curious about D2D because this made things so much easier than I think they might have been ^_^;; Having everything in 1 place
That's awesome!
How wonderful to find all this information - thank you so much for this !!
Glad it was helpful! :)
I always put my book up for pre order before it’s done.
Thank you for taking the time and energy to share this! I've begun writing my book and am currently in the research stage of the best way to self-publish and came across this video; SO helpful!
Yay that's so exciting! So glad this was helpful!
I have just recently finished the editting and writing of my first book, I will probably be binging a lot of your videos as I move onto the publishing process. I think you provide a lot of good insight and I need as much of it as I can get
Yay so glad to hear that, hope the videos are helpful!
That was an in depth video and one that will save time
Glad it was helpful!
I am getting ready to start writing my book. Your information is so helpful. I really appreciate the information so much.
I came across your video, and it really resonated with me. Thank you for sharing such valuable insights-it made a positive difference in my day.
Glad it was helpful!
I love this video. Very informative for those who are brand new to this like me. Thank you for sharing.
Glad it was helpful!
I've had a nightmare with KDP, nothing has been easy and my problems still continue... i don't even show up if i put my name in the search under books 😠
Yes pls do a video on your experience with B&N also anything you wish you knew when releasing a new book TY great video 🙏🏼
This is a great lesson on self publishing, thanks for being honest whith questions that you weren’t sure about.
I've been writing for years but too scared to publish cuz idk what I'm doing. Thank you for the breakdown. I appreciate the details and explanations 😊🙏
That was me too, but this year, I am doing it. I'm tired of letting fear keep me from my greatness. I am very lost on a few things, like how to find free illustrations that go with my book, how to make my cover and back cover, and how to upload my finished product to one of the sites she is describing in this video. You can do it, too! have faith and go for it! Sending you prayers for strength and for removing fear! :)
@@MamaNitra thanks, best of luck on your work. This year will be my year
@@Usagi_10_4 thank you! And yes it will! We’ve got to speak our success into existence as of it has and will happen for sure! ❤️❤️
I was terrified three years ago on KDP. I was not internet savvy and thought all my information would be digested! Be assured: it’s all step by step and you can change your mind each step along the way to Draft or Final. Even with Final, you can always Unpublished your item. Don’t worry that people will know about your book (I wish! Lol) there are millions of people on KDP. It’s a great learning tool and the support is helpful. Main caveat: don’t open more than one account or let others use your ISP address. Happy publishing.
Same.
Very useful information thanks (a question: does each platform requires different ISBN for the same book?)
Thank you for breaking this down for me. I use KDP and draft2digial right now only ebook pre order and just paperbacks on release day but it's nice to hear about other options
Those two are honestly the best two in my opinion for getting wide distribution without the stress!
You're amazing!
Thank you! 🙏
Very informative video. Thank you so much!
Thank you for explaining the differences, your experience, and your self publishing strategies ❤
My book was going to be published with an American publisher, but we could not agree on a contract, so I'll be taking the self-publishing route. Thank you for doing this video. It has given me plenty of ideas and options to consider.
Glad it was helpful!
Are you from America? If not, he did you get in touch with them?
You are so great at explaining all of this! Thank you so much!
Amazing Video and it may be a nice startup for me
thank you
Thankyou so, so much for all of your amazing videos. You are incredibly helpful and most importantly, you make it sound so exciting. Looking to self publish within the next 12 months, just trying to do my research. Again, thankyou.❤
If I had a story, wanted to add hand painted watercolors and then combine them for a children's book...what software do you recommend?
Did you purchase ISBN numbers separately before publishing to multiple platforms? Still struggling with figuring out how to publish on multiple platforms without having to purchase an ISBN number form Bowker.
This is a very insightful video! Thank you for sharing and being so transparent with your experiences. I am very close to having my first book ready for publishing. I have looked into KDP, but did decide to go with my own ISBNs so that I could publish through multiple platforms. I am still learning, but your content has been very helpful. Thanks again!
Yay! So happy to hear it's helpful!
Hi, in your opinion is it better to publiyon one place or more and why ? Isn't it hard to keep track of all your royalties abd bank statements?
As a reader I like Google play...generous samples to read both for the ebook and audiobook. Easy to purchase and then to download!👍👍👍
This was super helpful. Thank you!!!!!
since you self published how did you format the publishing page?
Very insightful. Thanks for sharing. God bless you.
My book on Amazon KDP. In native language. Uploaded on August 13. 'In Review' till August 15. Then came 'Publishing' status. August 18 morning now, still 'Publishing'..
Impatiently waiting for my book to be visible to others.
Hi Bethany! Thank you very much for your video. Do you happen to know about the aggregator called publishdrive?
Have you ever heard of Book Vault located in the UK? (Soon to print here in the US) they offer a large selection of bespoke options, embossing on Hardcovers and they also offer foil blocking. I'm excited about them
Sounds awesome! I've never heard of them
Hello. Do you know any company that would publish short books like 11- or 12-page Children books. I am with KDP, but Amazon says there are not enough page to print. Thank you.
Oh my goodness. Thank you SO much for all of these videos. I'm trying to learn the whole self-publishing thing right now and just glean as much information as I can, and your videos are so clear and so informative!!
Yay! So happy to hear it's helpful!
Thank you so much, Bethany. This was super helpful! I have just finished my first book called Oddity Manor, and I had no idea where to go to start selling (I was going to go with Etsy!) Thanks again, you're the best 🤙
Glad it was helpful!
in the middle of writing my first book. This is an excellent video. I had to sub. thank you!
if you wanna publish your book contact me
Hi, In KDP does the paperback look and feel like the standard novel or is more like a non fiction paperback?
Thank you so much for this video. Very informative. I am in the process of removing my ebook from iUniverse and deciding which aggregator/platform to send it to.
Thank you so much for sharing! You are too kind to share all of these infos that are usually gate-keeping stuff.
Thank you for your video, I’m almost done writing my first book and looking for the all tips I can find at publishing.
I’m still working on the manuscript on my book. I’m still confused on the publishing method.
Thanks...way better than other author videos.
This is refreshing. I'm happy to have found this video as part of my research.
So glad it was helpful!
Thank you for the wealth of information. You are providing valuable insight and guidance.
I appreciate you sharing about this! ❤❤
Glad it was helpful!
Definitely would want a wrap up. This video was so helpful.
Yay! So happy to hear it's helpful!
This video was very informative. I was looking for a replacement for Ingram Spark. I published my book in 2018 and have not been marketing it. Out of the blue Ingram Spark sent me a bill and was told that the charges were found by their Finance Dept. These fees were over several years. I'm not sure what to do about this but feel they should have sent these at the time and I'm not even sure how these fees came about in the first place. I can not stand not being able to pick up the phone (free of charge) to resolve an issue. I will not use them for future books.
Wow. That is a lot of very clear and helpful information. Thank you for taking out the time to create these videos! Very impressive!
Yay! So happy to hear it's helpful!
Hi Bethany-Thank you so much for this valuable information. You have helped put my dream on a more concrete direction and made me less over whelmed in this whole process. My question is about Adult Coloring Books and worried about censorship. Being that I’m worried about censorship-it is filled with “mature audience content”. In your opinion, which platform is the most lenient when it comes to censoring? Also, I am illustrating all pages myself. Every illustrated page has been designed completely by me and the idea for the design has also been thought up by me. There’s no pages in my coloring book that have been generated or came from the internet. The illustrations are completely my designs, all hand drawn. What publishing company in your opinion or have you heard good feedback about is which platforms are the better ones for me to look into when producing a self illustrated adult content type coloring book? I have subscribed to your channel and excited to watch your other videos because while the book I’m wanting to publish is a different style than yours, I still believe your videos have a lot of valuable information I can learn from. I’m glad I found your channel. Thanks again.
I have been writing a book of a Peter Pan retail story and this video helped me with to publish my book
hey i can publish your book just let me know
Great video Thank you for breaking down each company In detail. I'm saving this as a valuable resource to come back to.
Absolutely! So glad it was helpful!
SUCH a helpful video, thank you so much!
Glad it was helpful!
❤ thank you ❤ I just published my 2nd book ❤
Congratulations!
Yes! Please update!
Thanks so much for this video. Can I up,of my ebook to Amazon and D2D and google play and Apple Books
I’m working on a children’s book but I’m using Writer’s Republic. They do all the work (I’m waiting to get all my pictures illustrated) but I’ll get 80% of earnings. It’s been pretty good so far
Ahhh never heard of them, interesting!
@@BethanyAtazadeh they’re an LTD, but so far, so good. It’s not that expensive either, and my illustrator is through Reedsy
@@katieakin1091 Are they a publishing company or do they assign agents?
@@Bambiiboo367 I think a publishing company
@@katieakin1091 How good are they? Are they worth the price? I'm wanting to get my second book published.
I have a question, I hope you'd see my question... If I want to publish my book on all these websites, will I have to struggle with the copyright thing? Because some websites or publishers would limit you to only publish on their website and when you do publish on other website, it can be an issue. I'd like to know about this matter. And THANK YOU so SO MUCH!
I can’t thank you enough for these extremely helpful videos you’ve put together. I’m almost finished with my first book and was wondering if you’d be willing to read a chapter and let me know what you think?
I have stopped using IngramSpark as well. It's the revision fees that made them a bad investment for me, and though I never paid one, the thought of those book files being outdated compared to my other sales channels was a no go. I recently told them to cancel all my titles, and I feel really good about it. If you are on their email list (still am), they still send out free upload codes frequently despite a lot of people believing they had quit doing that. And yeah, customer service isn't that great, and I agree their fees do take advantage of authors who are not yet at the point of easily making back their publishing costs. (In fact, I think they offer the free upload codes because they know you'll pay a lot more eventually when the need comes to update book files, which can happen quite a bit in the life of any book).
Absolutely agree. The revision fees are my biggest reason for leaving, especially since you can't even review the files digitally until you've already paid. That's interesting to hear they send out free upload codes to their email list though, I didn't actually know that, I always got them off random internet sites lol... And I think you're right about them offering a free initial code because they know you'll have to pay later... All in all, they already take a big cut of the book profits, so they shouldn't be charging up front when no other companies do. :(
I'm new at this and what I'm wondering is how long did it take you to see any sort of success? My husband and I self-published on PDK without success. Did you do press releases and where did you start advertising? If you did press releases, where did you start? You are brilliant and I can use all the help that I can get!
Thanks!
Absolutely! So glad you enjoyed! 🥰
What format does your books see most sales, hardcover, paperback, or e-book? Also, which publishers do give you jackets for hardcovers? Thanks you in advance...
If you pre-order your book before you finish it, how will you know that you're going to finish your deadline? What happens if you don't beat your deadline, wouldn't you just have to keep changing the pre-order date? Can you also do a video on Lulu if you have heard about it? I originally wanted to self-publish on them, but recent bad reviews came, and I change to Kobo and Amazon. Kobo seemed to be fine since I'm familiar with them, but I wish they would do more promoting. I know the majority it's on you, but I wish they would help out a bit more.
Do you mean if you put the book on preorder? If so, then you will make your deadline by *making* it happen lol! I have a video all about deadlines if you search it and how I calculate mine to include plenty of buffer time. If you didn't make it however, that would be an issue, so don't do preorders if you don't feel comfortable with strict deadlines.
My problems are 1) 40+ titles. Going wide isn't gonna be easy 2) getting into the Chinese and Singapore markets. I know amazon is good in Japan but idk about Taiwan and am sure its no good for China.
Hmmm that's tough... personally I'd use an aggregator like either Ingramspark or Draft2Digital and only upload to that one company because they will push it out to all the other companies, allowing you to publish wide while saving time and stress! Good luck!
Book vault is an option I'm looking into for print on demand books.
I've never heard of them before, interesting!
@@BethanyAtazadeh I think I heard about them from Joanna Penn. I listen to a lot of podcasts so I might be mixing this up with someone else but I believe she uses them to fulfill direct print sales from her website specifically.
I’ve looked into them too! I think they look like a pretty good option. I believe you’re right about Joanna Penn talking about them. I think what she said she does is uses Book Vault for her UK customers and Lulu for elsewhere since the shipping is better that way. But rumor has it Book Vault will be eventually adding printing locations in the US as well. Either way, though, I think even with higher shipping Book Vault ends up being a bit cheaper than Lulu so I’m leaning more towards them for print on demand. 🙂
This is soo informative, thank you! Im curious if you have an updated list of platforms for 2024.
It hasn’t really changed for me in the last year, but if it does I’ll do an update!
Thanks a lot for being so honest and open.
Whats your experience with print inconsistency on kdp?
Working on getting a poetry book, first time in my life, it will be in Turkish and would like Turkish speaking people to have easy access... Any recommendations?
If I publish my book in Amazon, thats mean I cant publish in other companies? 😮
So, IngramStark is a better option once the book is out??