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Part of being an indie writer means you have to pay for the entire production costs of your ebook. This includes a book cover, editing, and formatting (at a minimum).
Not to mention a marketing budget for a few giveaways or an online ad, and suddenly, you’re looking at spending at least a thousand dollars if not more.
You want to keep overhead costs low while still making your book look professional.
The faster you recover your initial expenses, the faster you start making a profit on your ebook.
One of the ways many indies save on ebook production costs is by learning to format themselves. These days, formatting often starts at $150 and goes up depending on the number of formats you’re requesting.
Instead of using that cash to pay for formatting, consider learning to format yourself and using that money towards an awesome book cover or editor instead. Once you learn the ropes, it can take as little as an hour or two to properly format your own ebook.
There are tons of books and online resources to help you learn, sometimes for free! Here are six ebook formatting links to help you save and start making a profit sooner:
1. How to Format an Ebook: Here are some good pointers to keep in mind when formatting your manuscript.
2. How to Format an Ebook Starting with Microsoft Word: This is a step-by-step tutorial on how to format an ebook using Microsoft Word.
3. Backpacked Week: A New, Improved, Even Easier Way to Format Your E-Book: Another step-by-step tutorial (with screenshots!) from a blog I especially trust and follow.
4. Guido Henkel’s Series on Ebook Formatting: This is the link to the Intro of the long-trusted nine-part series on ebook formatting. Another must-read resource.
5. eBook Conversion: A website full of articles on ebook formatting and conversion as well as other topics, such as typography and HTML & CSS.
6. How to Format an eBook For Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords in Two Hours or Less: A recently published ebook on Smashwords. Not yet reviewed but worth a look at $2.99.
7. How to Format Your Ebook For Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and Everything Else: An ebook with a handful of positive reviews at Amazon. Also $2.99. Here’s more info from the writer.
Got any other good formatting links you can recommend? What are some other good ways to save when self-publishing?
Hello,
Nice list of resources.
I’ve created another free resource for creating an eBook from Word. Plain English, lots of diagrams, plus complimentary videos. Available here http://www.bwmbooks.com/self-publish/
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Ben. I took a look at it, and it looks really useful!
I think this is one area you can definately save on if you know any HTML or are prepared to experiment a bit. I did a post on my blog a couple of days ago about how I formatted my ebook using dreamweaver. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, and glad I saved the cost of getting someone to do it for me.
Oh definitely! I have a friend/client who knows how to format so when the time comes, I’ll be asking her for help! I’m a DIYer
This website was… how do I say it? Relevant!
! Finally I have found something which helped me. Thanks a
lot!