The process of publishing your own book can be both very simple and very complex. The actual mechanics of publishing an ebook, or even a print book, have become relatively easy, especially if you give yourself to the Amazon ecosystem.
What are the reasonable costs of self-publishing?
Don’t get scammed. Don’t spend more than you have to on self-publishing (and you don’t have to spend a lot) and never give away your intellectual property rights.
Getting a unique illustration for your book cover
Joanna Penn used the 99designs community of designers to have multiple artists provide competing designs for her next book cover. She describes the process and illustrates some of the finalists’ designs, as well as that of the eventual winner, in this interesting post.
Cover design secrets from Creativindie
Derek Murphy with a lot of useful pointers, including the perhaps surprising revelation that “a lot of indie authors say that you shouldn’t use small text on ebook covers. This isn’t true. Designing for print and ebooks is the same. Thumbnails don’t matter. Small text like reviews and blurbs makes your cover look traditionally published, and actually gives viewers a reason to click on the cover and see the full view (so they can read the small text, which may clinch the sale.) People don’t read the cover; they read the description right next to the cover, and if they want to find out more, they click and see the big view”
Cover design primer
Excellent cover design primer by J.M. Ney-Grimm, covering font types, colors, alignment and the things that attract and delight the eye.
eBook covers 101
Useful tips and resources from Guy Kawasaki on creating a distinctive cover for your eBook
Should I get external help to self-publish my book?
In a word, ‘yes’. Whether paid or unpaid, getting external help, plus an extra set of eyes or twelve, will pick up on things that an author immersed in their work does not, or, more to the point cannot.
What authors need to know about images and image copyrights
A good primer about eBook covers and image copyright for self-published authors.