Are you interested in self-publishing eBooks? We have been successfully publishing our own eBooks for years, and have researched several options we haven’t tried as well. On this page, we’ll share some of the different options that are currently available. The publishing industry is always changing and as it does, we plan on continuing to update the information we have for you here.
Book Templates and eBook Formatting
Book Templates – While we created our own template and still offer it inside Christian Book Academy I now use these templates. They offer some great templates for formatting print books as well as eBooks and we highly recommend them.
Scrivner – Scrivner is another formatting option that many authors use for eBooks.
Outsourcing – You can also find a list of outsourcers we recommend for formatting inside Christian Book Academy.
eBooks and ISBNs
It’s easy to get confused when it comes to ISBNs and eBooks. eBooks are allowed to have ISBNs, but not all of them require it.
- Kindle eBooks use ASINs – these are provided free by Amazon.com. No ISBN is required.
- Nook eBooks use BN IDs – again, these are provided by Nook. No ISBN is required.
- iBooks use to require an ISBN, but recently removed that requirement. They do still encourage it though, and recommend buying one from Bowker.
- Draft2Digital – will provide an ISBN for you.
Self-Publishing eBooks Directly to Each Platform
Here are a few platforms we recommend publishing your eBook directly:
- Amazon KDP
- Barnes & Noble Nook
- iBookStore
Using eBook Distributors
Instead of publishing your book directly to all of the individual platforms, you can choose to go through an eBook distributor such as Draft2Digital. Many of these options are available with no upfront fees, but they do keep a portion of the book royalties. On the up side, you only have to format your book once, and they will re-format it for the other devices for you. It’s a great time saver, but does cut into your royalties some.
You can get a lesson on using Draft2Digital in our Self-Publish module inside Christian Book Academy.
Selling Your eBook From Your Own Website
Many authors prefer to sell their eBooks from their own website. You can sell the PDF version, or even a .mobi or .epub file.
Conclusion
Self-publishing eBooks is a great opportunity for an author. There are multiple options available and it’s easily customizable to each authors goals.
Interested in publishing in various formats?
We also have posts about self-publishing print books.
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