A little over a year ago I was a writer looking to become an author. The distinction for me is that a writer is someone who likes to write, whereas an author is someone who has published work. I decided it was time to publish my work. I was 34 years old and I woke up one day and realized I had promised myself I'd have a book published by the time I turned 30; that time had obviously come and gone. So I made a new goal: I would write and publish my first book by the time I turned 35. I did it and my first book was published in October of 2012.
One of the first things I did was sit down and make a plan. When I sat down, I realized I didn't know very much about self-publishing. I found my way to one of the best sites I could have: Self-Publishing Boot Camp, the self-publishing education hub of Carla King.
Carla is a motorcycle travel author who has been self-publishing for many years. She teaches great workshops that I recommend if you live in the Bay Area. If not, her book, also called Self-Publishing Boot Camp, goes a long way toward teaching any beginner self-publishing author what you need to know.
The book covers how to publish in both eBook and print using a variety of services based on your goals. It also goes into how to use social media to help you market and sell your books.
But most of all, it gives you the power to understand things like ISBN, DRM, ePub and a myriad of other publishing terms that most people don't know how to recognize, let alone handle, when starting out along the self-publishing journey.
If you're considering self-publishing, I highly recommend it as an easy-to-read primer that will help you choose the right services and stay focused along the long, hard and rewarding path that is self-publishing.
Image courtesy of SelfPubBootCamp.com
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