Thank you for attending an Introduction to eBook Publishing, here are all the suggested resources we covered in class so you can easily take your next step in becoming a published author.

Introduction to eBook Publishing Workshop (PDF) Class slides updated April 2020

Check out the online version of this workshop. This contains even more than the live workshop, with demos, marketing strategies and much more.

Building Your Book for Kindle – Free ebook on formatting guidance direct from Amazon.
Building Your Book for Kindle for Mac – Free ebook on formatting for Mac users.
From Word to Kindle: Self Publishing Your Kindle Book with Microsoft Word – Great .99 guide if you want to write and publish using Word.
Kindle Checklist (DOC) Simple checklist of the steps to follow to publish a Kindle book.
Sample Ebook Template (DOC) Word doc formatted for Kindle publishing. Make a copy of this file and start writing.

Event Tracking Spreadsheet (XLS) Use this to track daily sales and your promotional activities to discover which strategies pay off most and keep doing them.

Some great tips on How to Hit #1 on Amazon Best Seller List

Amazon Affiliate Program – This is the link so you can sign up to be an Amazon Affiliate. Then anytime you blog, write an eBook, post to social media, or make a video about ANYTHING that is sold on Amazon – you can link to the product/ebook with your affiliate link and you’ll make a bit of extra money.

ACX.com – Ready to create an audiobook? This is the place.

RESOURCES

Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)
https://kdp.amazon.com – You can now upload and publish ebooks AND paperbacks here.

KDP Tools:

Kindle Create – this is a new writing/previewing tool available for PC or Mac.
Kindle Create Tutorial –
Kindle Previewer – see what your eBook looks like on any Kindle device
Free Kindle Apps – free downloads to let you read Kindle books on PC, Mac, smartphones, and tablets
Kindle Comic Creator – free tool for authors and publishers to turn their comics, graphic novels and manga into Kindle books
Kindle Kids Book Creator – free tool to create illustrated children’s books
Kindle Plugin for Adobe InDesign– easily output InDesign books and documents to Kindle formats

KDP Select FAQ
https://kdp.amazon.com/help

Free Book Promotion FAQ
https://kdp.amazon.com/help

Kindle Community Forum
https://kdp.amazon.com/community – help, and support from Amazon and other humans.

Supported HTML in Book Descriptions
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201189630

Amazon Author Central
https://authorcentral.amazon.com – this is where you create and edit your Author Page; your free piece of promotional real estate on Amazon.com

Details on Kindle Countdown Deals
Explained by Amazon
http://www.bookcovercafe.com/amazon-kindle-countdown-deals/

Behind the Scenes of a Book Launch
http://www.stevescottsite.com/book-launch – a great, detailed post about a very successful book launch.

Kindle Book Submission Tool
Author Marketing Club – consolidated submissions tool to promote your eBook’s free days.
If you subscribe to Author Marketing Club’s list you’ll get a daily email with free Kindle books allowing you to see more covers, descriptions, and reviews. Grab books in your niche, see what other authors are doing.

Massive List of Sites, Groups, & Social Media contacts to promote your Free Book at
http://www.tckpublishing.com/list-of-sites-to-promote-your-free-amazon-kindle-books/

Book Editor: Lisa Leahy
This is my editor, so be nice!
lisajleahy@gmail.com

Illustrator: Wendy Isaac
Isaac’s Imaginations – https://www.facebook.com/isaacsimaginations
isaacsimaginations@gmail.com
Again, this is someone I use personally – so be nice!

RECOMMENDED SOFTWARE

Jutoh Software – great low-cost software to create all eBook formats; ePub, Mobi and more. This is what I use.
Demo Video of Jutoh – I like this video because it is by a regular user of the software.

VideoMakerFX – if you liked the moving text video promos I made for the course, check out this super easy software to make your own. You can promote your business, events, books… I made this video in under 15 minutes.

EasySketchPro – lets you make those “magic hand” drawing videos that are very popular. Includes lots of ready-made images.

Grammarly – editing and proofreading software. Start with the free version and see if you like it.

More Free Online Tools

Canva.com – Amazingly simple and free (unless you use their for sale images) graphic design for book covers, blogs, presentations, Facebook covers, flyers and so much more.

Evernote – I LOVE Evernote. It is an online writing app that syncs all your computers and other devices so you can update notes, articles, books where ever you are. You can create notebooks within notebooks, create tags, search and much more. Fantastic and FREE for basic level.

Dropbox – Another app I live by. Storage in the cloud gives you access to all your files no matter where you are and lets you share content with others if you choose.

Smore.com – Another cool online design tool for making promotional flyers.

Authorgraph.com – fun, free way to offer autographs for ebooks.

Images (stock photos and public domain content)

Unsplash.com – my goto place for photos. All free, just credit the photographer, please.

BigStockPhoto.com – stock photos and vector art with a free trial.

Death to the Stock Photo – a site offering a few free stock photos each month.

Dreamstime – free stock photos. This is a large site with stock photos for free and for purchase.

Pixabay.com – Over 380,000 free photos, vectors and art illustrations.

OpenClipArt.org – a collection of public domain clip art.

clker.com – more free clip art.

NASA Images – public domain images from NASA

Hubble Images – public domain images from Hubble Telescope

CreativeCommons.com – CreativeCommons search tool.

ImageBase.net – still more free images.

Coffee Table Book Makers

Blurb.com – Allows you to make gorgeous hardcover photo books for yourself and/or to sell online. They even have an option to sell your books on Amazon.com

MyPublisher– Another great service I’ve used multiple times that lets you create amazing hardcover photo books. This is who I used for the two samples I brought to class. Both services have great deals for first-time book creators and free software to design your book. These guys have been bought by Shutterfly.com

What NOT to do
LousyBookCovers.com

OUTSOURCE HELP

Fiverr
http://www.fiverr.com/ – outsource options such as writers, editors, illustrators, format conversion… Offerings start at $5 but rise based on job, speed, etc.

EXAMPLES

Andy’s Amazon Author Page – If you ever do me the honor of purchasing one of my books, please post a review.
http://amazon.com/author/andygrant
You can have more for pen names:
amazon.com/author/larrythelizard
amazon.com/author/andilee

Andy’s Good Reads Page
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6216137.Andy_Grant

HELPFUL BOOKS

On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft – Great memoir and lessons on writing from Stephen King. A master’s lesson in writing.

The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition – Another small, powerful classic for any writer.

Hiring the Heavens – This is the only item on the page I don’t have personal experience with. This book was recently recommended to me. If you want help in calling on Spirit to assist or guide your writing, you might want to consider this book.

Enlightened Bestseller: 7 Keys to Creating a Successful Self-Help Book – a great example a short but very helpful, high-quality eBook.

APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book – I own this but have yet to read it. Has over 600 excellent reviews.

EBOOKS BY ALUMNI OF THIS WORKSHOP

Shamanic Depossession: And Other True Healing Miracles – Brad Hudson published this, his first eBook, a mere twelve days after he took the live course! He quickly went on to publish two more.

Where the Flowers are Purple: How Aiden Found The Secret to Positive Thinking. (Motivational Stories for Children Collection Book 1) – Sarah Lawrence, a graduate of the online Intro to eBook Publishing course.

Break These Chains of Love: A New Paradigm for Relationship – Corinne Casazza, a graduate of the live class. “My first ebook became a best seller thanks to Andy and this course!”

In The Light of A New Day: Enlightenment For Everyday Living – Anya Sophia Mann, a graduate of the online class.

Competitive Intelligence the Internet Way: CI101: There’s More to Finding Information than Google – Charlene Burke, a graduate of the online class.

Note: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links; meaning if you buy something from a specific company they may share a percentage with me. I am only an affiliate for products and services I have used and think highly of. Affiliate links to not increase the cost to you and they do not affect my comments/reviews.