Self-Publish Your Book

Saved me hours of painstakingly boring work. If only it had been available a few years ago! Glynis Smy, author of Maggie's Child A very thorough step-by-step guide to the preparation of a self-published book. If you are a writer who wishes to do-it-yourself but without spending ages researching how to, this book is ideal. Terry Freedman, writersknowhow.org The most effective how-to books are also the shortest - because these are the ones that will be read cover-to-cover, easily digested, and kept to hand for future reference. This little book does what it says on the cover very well, and makes what can be a complex task very simple, because it operates on a need-to-know basis. For those who want more information, Bell provides useful links to more detailed resources. This is a book to read and re-read, learning a little more each time. I read it as an experienced self-publisher and still found useful tips, and this book will be living on my bookshelf reserved for essential writing references, alongside the others in Bell's invaluable Nutshell series, Catherine Ryan Howard's Self-Printed , and Scrivener for Dummies . Sorted! Debbie Young, author of the Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries If Jessica Bell's Writing in a Nutshell series has not yet become the standard craft reference for all aspiring writers, then it should have. The books in the series cover everything about writing creative fiction and non-fiction from showing--not telling --to polishing a finished manuscript. They have now been joined by the sixth, and perhaps ultimately the most useful, book in the series: Self-Publish Your Book. This amazing volume tells you step-by-step how to take the manuscript you have been lovingly incubating under Bell's expert gaze, and turn it into a volume as professionally produced as Bell's books themselves. The book is divided into sixteen chapters that cover everything from formatting the manuscript properly, through cover design, choice of format (eBook or paperback, or both?) to getting your book into the hands of the distributers, from where people can actually buy your baby. It's quite technical, but it needs to be, and everything is explained in Bell's extremely user-friendly prose that could make brain surgery seem like, ... well ... something a lot easier than brain surgery. In recent years, self-published authors have taken a lot of flak from the traditional publishing industry--most of whom are running scared--for a lack of professional quality, particularly in terms of production values for books. With this book, Jessica Bell gives you the tools to break through that reputation, sharing the secrets of her own success as an author and self-publisher, backed by her years of experience as an editor and writer. If self-publishing is a revolution, then Bell has placed herself firmly at the head of it, holding the flag. With this book and the rest in the series, you too can become part of the movement and take the publishing power into your own hands. Luca Marchiori, ELT writer, food blogger, and editor