Self-Publishing Checklist – For Paperback and Ebook on Amazon
 Prepare your draft book file. Start with your final draft book in Microsoft Word that
has been copy edited and completely revised—save it as “final draft for publishing
paperback on (date)” or some similar name and make a backup of the file. Later, you
will look through your files and want to find this easily to make excerpts, to submit
changes, or to share free copies of your book.
 Establish an account with CreateSpace. Go to https://www.createspace.com and
establish a log in, then click “Add New Title” and choose “paperback” and “guided” setup
process. You will then be guided through the steps to build your book in CreateSpace.
Click on “what’s this?” anytime you need more information. As you go through
CreateSpace’s publishing process, you can “save” and exit, or you can “save and
continue” and go on to the next step. You can also go back and make changes in most
cases.
 Upload your book’s file. On the “interior” page in CreateSpace, they have a template
available to draft your book. I preferred the template that Kawasaki and Welch provide
and which I formatted a bit more and put at
https://bryanholmesstem.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/book-proposaltemplate1.docx. By using this template, you will have a basic book design with all of the
formatting required in the Chicago Manual of Style, such as pagination, notes, headers,
and layout. Therefore, if you drafted your book using this template, all you have to do is
to upload the Word document to CreateSpace. You may find that saving the document
as a PDF (portable document format) works better. After uploading, you can preview
the book to see which looks better. CreateSpace allows you to keep submitting a new
file and overwriting the old one until you publish. See the “helpful tips and ideas” at the
bottom of the CreateSpace web page for more information.
 Pick an ISBN option for your book. The ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
is a universal code that identifies your book. You can let CreateSpace assign an ISBN for
free, the best option for a high school project.
 Upload your cover. CreateSpace gives you three options. You can use their free “cover
creator” which results a simple, but very good quality cover; you can pay CreateSpace’s
author services to help you; or you can design your own cover, save it as a PDF, and
upload it. Remember that the design should reflect the tastes of the target audience, so
whatever option you choose, make it appealing to them.
 Consider making a “preview” of your book. CreateSpace offers this as a free service.
You can put out an excerpt or complete copy of your book to the public or to a private
group you select. This could be an effective way to show your book to a focus group.
 Select distribution channels for your book. Amazon will distribute the book through
online channels, and you get the widest distribution if you use Amazon exclusively. If
you go to a bookstore, they can look it up and order it, if they participate in the online
distribution system. Smaller bookstores may not.
 Set your book’s price. Pricing is an art that can generate hours of conversation, or
argument. The best way to determine a good price that will help and not hurt sales is to
ask the target audience through your focus groups.
 Review your book before publishing it. CreateSpace allows you to review a virtual
copy, and you can order a proof copy that they mail to you for a small charge. Do both.
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The proof is well worth the money, as it is invaluable as a hands-on teaching tool, giving
the most accurate view of your book in print.
Establish an account with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Your log in
will be the same as an Amazon account log in (unlike CreateSpace), so if you are already
an Amazon customer, you use the same user name and password. Similar to
CreateSpace, you will enter the background information on your book and upload a file.
Make sure the information you enter in KDP is the same as what is in CreateSpace—
don’t have two different book descriptions, author biographies, or any other
discrepancies that could confuse a buyer of your book.
Convert your paperback file to an ebook file, then upload it. Start with the same file
you uploaded into CreateSpace. In the KDP website, you will “add new title” to go into
their step-by-step approach to upload the book. Download the guide, “Building Your
Book for Kindle” that is free and very helpful. Follow this closely to convert your file to
the ebook format. A basic difference from paperbacks is that ebooks do not have page
numbers or different right and left headers or alignments because the page on which
the text appears will change as the reader enlarges or shrinks the text on the screen.
Convert your paperback cover to an ebook cover. Your ebook and paperback should
have the same basic cover. The ebook may or may not have a back cover, but the front
should match. A simple approach is to take the paperback cover image and crop it so
that only the front cover remains.
Preview your ebook. KDP allows you to see what the ebook will look like on a variety
of e-readers, so test all of them. You want your book to look good no matter where
someone reads it. If you have hyperlinks in your book (you should), then test these too.
Publish your book. Whatever formats you choose, publish them at the same time, at
least within a day of one another. Once you click on “submit” the book will appear
within a day or so on Amazon and the other distribution channels. Remember to do this
only when you are ready to release the book.
Order 50 copies of your paperback book. Don’t buy from the online retailers.
Instead, “order copies” from your “member dashboard” in CreateSpace to get copies of
your book at cost. Use these as giveaways and for marketing.
Buy a copy of your ebook. You cannot get this at cost, as there is not really any cost for
an ebook file. Download the Kindle app on your smartphone, tablet, and computer, and
be prepared to show people your ebook to anyone interested in your book.
Continue marketing your book. See my book for details at
http://bryanholmesstem.wordpress.com/books/.