Over the decades, the publishing industry has grown and has adapted to the demands of changing times seamlessly.
Until a couple of decades ago, there was simply a single route to take if you were a writer who had a book you wanted to publish: you have to find an agent who loved your writing and who would be willing to pitch it to a publisher, or you send a query letter to a publisher or agent. With the increase in innovation, self-publishing is now one of the most sought-after choices of many writers who do not want to go through the gatekeepers, and rightly so.
The digital space has seen promising patterns for both authors and readers as the entire world has come to a standstill in the grip of a pandemic.
Thanks to the simplicity of use and versatility of purchasing, audiobooks and eBooks have seen a large growth in demand. With more people spending time online, this is also a great time for authors to build their audience and engage their community.
The traditional method of publishing was viewed as daunting and intimidating because of the laborious procedure behind each move. Publishing in 2020, in contrast, is a smoother journey because of the introduction of various self-publishing platforms. In this blog, we will talk about our favorite new discovery: Pencil.
Pencil is the world’s first free publishing platform that helps your write, publish, and distribute in eBook and paperback format worldwide on over 400+ retailers.
In this knowledge age, you can take matters into your own hands. With a platform like Pencil, why wouldn’t you? For those of you on your journey from writer to author, we highly recommend you give Pencil a try.
This is truly one-of-a-kind! The great thing about Pencil’s publishing platform is the ease of the process and the time it takes for you to publish your book. Here’s how you can Publish on Pencil in 6 easy steps:
1. Create your account
In order to create your writer’s account, you will need to visit www.thepencilapp.com and log in/sign up on the writing platform. You also have the option of using Facebook or Google to sign up for free. Once you have created your account, you will be directed to your author dashboard. Here, you can either start writing or you can access other important elements later like:
● All your books/shorts that are either drafts or that have already been published
● Tools for checking analytics, revenue statistics
● Writing prompts
● Important Updates
● Profile Page
● Recommended Books
2. Add your manuscript
Pencil offers you two choices:
● Compose your manuscript from scratch on the platform: For this, the Pencil Editor offers a variety of things you can use, for example, you can make notes, you can format on the go, you can access the recommended book outline, you can avail of the editing services, and you can see the overview of your book. The Pencil Editor automatically converts your book into an ePub file.
● If you have a ready manuscript: If you have a manuscript ready, you can also, add your manuscript to the Pencil Editor from your source file to ensure that it automatically gets formatted.
3. Add book information
After you write your book on the platform. Here comes the often-underestimated part, where you need to include essential book details such as title, subtitle, author name, back blurb, genre, sub-genre, and keywords. This step will help you package your book in the right way to the right people.
Your back blurb needs to be very catchy and interesting as that is the first thing that grabs the attention of the readers, it is your book’s sales pitch. Once the title and cover have engaged your prospective reader, the blurb is what makes the difference between the book being tossed away and being bought.
Another important detail you will have to add in this section are the keywords for your book, and that is because your keywords will capture relevant details that will not fit your title and description. Most of your readers will search and come across your book based on the keywords you have used to describe your book.
Here are some tips on selecting the right keywords for your book:
● Combine keywords in the most logical order
● Using up to seven keywords or short sentences is ideal
● Put yourself in the reader’s shoes
4. Design your book cover
Now comes the fun part! There are three ways you can design your book cover on the Pencil Platform:
● Upload your own cover
● Use the ready book cover templates
● Request for Pencil Premium Designing Services
If you are selecting the option of uploading your own book cover, you will have to upload it in 5 x 8 dimension, where the spine and back blurb is auto-generated. In case you are opting to pick the ready templates from the platform, the back blurb and spine are auto-generated as well.
5. Set the price and distribute your book
At this stage, you need to pick the format that you want to allow distribution in – eBook, Paperback, or both. Yes, you read this right. Pencil does offer you the option of having your book printed in paperback format as well!
However, if your page count is less than 50, the book can only be published as an eBook.
Once you have selected your format, your book will be made available on 400+ platforms and in more than 16 countries, on retailers like Amazon, Flipkart, iBooks, Google Play Books, and the Pencil Reader app in eBook and print.
At this stage, keeping in mind your page count, Pencil’s price recommendation tool will suggest the minimum price that you should consider earning better royalty. Based on this calculation, you can set your price. The tool will also show you the royalty you will earn per book sold.
6. You are ready to Publish!
The Pencil writing platform allows you to digitally sign your author agreement. At this stage, all you must do is confirm your bank account details and add a valid ID proof as well. Once done, you can preview all the details again before you confirm and once you do, your book will be live for millions of readers all over the world to read. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? You can now access millions of readers in just one click. While publishing can seem hard, with the right choice and the right tool, you can give your book a chance to be the best it can be. Start today.
