Pressbooks is a solid ebook creation website that allows indie authors to submit their ebook and format it online. You can choose between different templates and export the book to EPUB, MOBI, and a number of other formats. The service is free and many authors found it confusing that they could create books, but not sell them. Selling ebooks can become a tedious process, with users having to create individual accounts on all of the networks they want. To solve this problem, Pressbooks has just signed a distribution service with Bookbaby.
Never heard of Pressbooks? Pressbooks is a unique set of tools that allows indie authors to create their own ebooks using the WordPress CMS. You can add cover art, a table of contents, and then create your book, chapter by chapter. This system for creating books is super intuitive, if you have ever used WordPress before. When your book is completed, you can convert it over to an EPUB, PDF, or MOBI file to have as your own, or just refer people to your personal version of the Pressbooks website.
The new relationship with BookBaby will get your books into 11 different ebook stores around the world, including Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and iBooks. The company will do it for $99 (PressBooks users get a 10% discount!), and you get 100% of royalties earned.. You can monitor your sales through one simple interface, which many authors will love.
Honestly, it is probably better to self-publish yourself and do the legwork that comes with it. Sometimes people like taking the easy way out and paying someone to do all of the distributing and creating. As an author, it is your duty to self-publish yourself and go through all of the trials and tribulations that accompany doing something new. Of course, you will absolutely need an editor, this is the most essential factor.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.