Author, Mother, Dreamer: How to Monday: Quick and Dirty Book Publishing Guide

My way is not the only way to publish an Indie book. These steps are my best advice for creating a print book (paperback) that can be made available on Amazon or purchased wholesale by the author for resale at book buying events.

1. Create a manuscript using a word processor.

Use sections (Page Break, Section Break) for each chapter or section
Use Headers and Footers to create page numbers and to write your book title and author name on each page (I keep another published book in front of me as a guide)
Create the front matter (title, copyright page, dedication). Again, use a previously published book to see the industry standard.
Create the back matter (acknowledgments, author note, about the author, preview of next book)
Front matter and back matter should not have page numbers, headers, or footers. I use section breaks to do this, but my brother recommends applying white text boxes where text should be hidden.
Use Styles to establish one font and font size for chapter headers and a different font and font size for basic text. You can also use it to select indents, spacing between lines and other text features. It’s tricky to learn, but will save any many steps.
In my word processing tool bar, there is a paragraph mark symbol. Select it to see all hidden formatting symbols like spaces and hard/soft returns.
Learn how to use Find and Replace. Especially MORE/FORMAT
Save document (OFTEN!)

2. Create an account for or log into CreateSpace (www.CreateSpace.com)

Under the My Account tab, select Add New Title
Follow the instructions to select book size, paper, and other attributes
Skip the step of adding an interior file
Create a Cover (Create and upload the PDF, or use their template and images – I do a combination)

3. Go back to your word processor document.

Adjust paper size or margins to fit the selected book size.
Add the CreateSpace assigned ISBNs to the copyright page
Export to PDF (sometimes this is “print to PDF” or “save to PDF”)
Open the PDF file to check for correct placement of headers, footers, and page numbers. Select “view two page” with “separate title page” (2 boxes to check)
Without a PDF editor, make changes to the PDF by making the changes in Word and repeating the Export to PDF/Print to PDF/Save as PDF option.

4. Go back to CreateSpace

Go to the Title created in Step 2.
Go to the step of uploading an Interior File.
It is possible to upload files from a word processor without the PDF step. I don’t think the files come across as cleanly --- some formatting is lost (fonts, margins, page breaks). This has been my experience.
Choose sales channels and set book price(s)
Submit files for review

5. The file review check takes 24-48 hours. It will determine whether all the content from the submitted file fits within the margins of the selected layout.

Make changes to the review file until CreateSpace (and you) are satisfied, either by making changes to the CreateSpace review file (when applicable), changing book attributes in CreateSpace, or making changes to the PDF/ word document.
Repeat the file review steps each time changes are made.
When the review comes back without errors, and the book is acceptable to you, select Publish.

Published titles are available immediately on CreateSpace, and within 1-5 days on Amazon (if Amazon was selected) or other channels.

6. My way is not the only way to publish an Indie book. Some people buy their own ISBNs (See LightningSource instead of CreateSpace), hire out cover artists and layout designers, formatters, editors, etc. Some people only publish to Kindle. These steps are my best advice for creating a print book that can be made available on Amazon or purchased wholesale by the author for resale at book buying events.

7. Timeline. On average, creating the manuscript takes me a year. Preparing a cover takes me two weeks (over a month with reader input). Formatting the interior (for me) is a two-week job minimum. I try to format as I go, but best laid plans sometimes go awry, and I have to undo formatting to add pages, delete pages, or fiddle with margins. Can someone else do it faster and better? Undoubtedly. I encourage people with tips or tricks to share their knowledge.