Self-Publishing

I use CreateSpace. It's Amazon's in-house publishing service.

I used Lulu for the first book (121 pages), but they couldn't get the purchase price down under $20. The book wasn't worth $10. When I purchased my own book, it was over $10. From memory, it also took a lot longer to get the printed copy.

With CreateSpace, my first book, Bitter Paradigm (359 pages) could be listed for $10.95, and still allow me a profit. The second, Crucial Addendum (219 pages) could be listed for $9.95 and still give a profit. 180 Degrees (355 pages), is listed at $10.95, and still gives a profit. When I purchase my own book, it is around $6.

I would recommend purchasing the pro plan. That allows greater profit, and lower self-purchase prices. It is a one-time fee of $39.

They have calculators set up, where you can play with pricing, size options, and whether you want color or black and white.

Book Setup -- On the Sales and Royalties tab, you can see what you could charge for your book, and what profit you could expect on both the standard and pro plans. On the Pricing tab, it shows you how much you would have to pay to purchase your own book.

You can also set up an eStore, and sell your books there. My first book, Bitter Paradigm has an eStore at https://www.createspace.com/3435200 if you want to see what it looks like. That allows you to set up discount codes for friends or family. If your book is purchased from your eStore, you make more profit.

When you set up sales channels, you can choose to only have it listed on your eStore, on your eStore and Amazon.com, or to include Expanded Distribution. Expanded Distribution allows your book to be listed on places like Barnes and Noble and Borders. You get very little profit that way, but it helps get your book to more eyes.

As others have stated, it is a lot of work, since you are doing everything yourself. It is also a lot of fun (to me). My website isn't as professional as some, and neither are my book covers. I hope to learn more about web design and graphics to improve the covers. Until then, I will enjoy at least seeing my work in book form.

God bless, and good luck to you all.

Good luck

Thank you lbstreet!

I admire anyone who can do it all themselves.
I'm too daunted by the workload and get a little frustrated even with the publishing package I've purchased with WestBow Press.

It would be great if I could just hide in my creative fog and let the publishing fairies (sorry, angels) flitter down and magically (sorry, miraculously) transform my manuscript into a glossy, slick best-seller overnight.