1. Tools to Help You Join the
Self-Publishing Revolution
Trevor Hunsaker

2. #1 Weird Secret to
Self-Publishing Your
Book...
(Traditional Publishers Hate It!)

3. Write the
?&*% Book

4. Authoring
Plain text – NOT a Word Processor
Typesetting ≠ Writing
Text Editor:
• Notepad++
• Adobe Brackets, etc

5. Markup Format
Prose: Markdown
Technical: LaTeX

6. Why Markdown?
.md ?
.html
.epub
.mobi
.docx

7. Markdown Tutorial
http://markdowntutorial.com/
# Heading (h1)
## Smaller Heading (h2)
_italic_
**bold**
[Link Text](URL)

8. Markdown Tutorial (cont.)
!(/path/to/img.jpg)
* List item 1
* List item 2

9. Docverter.com
HTTP API for converting from markup to document
• http://c.docverter.com
Run on own computer (Source on Github)
• Wraps Jruby, Pandoc, Calibre
Hosted solution coming

10. Docverter Usage
Script via bash or your choice of language
HTTP POST request, multipart / form-data
Documentation:
http://www.docverter.com/api.html
Docverter’s Sample:
http://www.docverter.com/examples/markdown_to_epub.zip

11. curl
--form from=markdown
--form to=epub
--form input_files[]=@chapter1.md
--form input_files[]=@chapter2.md
--form other_files[]=@metadata.xml
--form other_files[]=@document-open.png
--form other_files[]=@stylesheet.css
--form epub_metadata=metadata.xml
--form epub_cover_image=document-open.png
--form epub_stylesheet=stylesheet.css
'https://c.docverter.com/convert' > markdown_to_epub.epub

12. curl
--form from=markdown
--form to=epub
--form input_files[]=@chapter1.md
--form input_files[]=@chapter2.md
--form other_files[]=@metadata.xml
--form other_files[]=@document-open.png
--form other_files[]=@stylesheet.css
--form epub_metadata=metadata.xml
--form epub_cover_image=document-open.png
--form epub_stylesheet=stylesheet.css
'https://c.docverter.com/convert' > markdown_to_epub.epub

13. curl
--form from=markdown
--form to=epub
--form input_files[]=@chapter1.md
--form input_files[]=@chapter2.md
--form other_files[]=@metadata.xml
--form other_files[]=@document-open.png
--form other_files[]=@stylesheet.css
--form epub_metadata=metadata.xml
--form epub_cover_image=document-open.png
--form epub_stylesheet=stylesheet.css
'https://c.docverter.com/convert' > markdown_to_epub.epub

14. curl
--form from=markdown
--form to=epub
--form input_files[]=@chapter1.md
--form input_files[]=@chapter2.md
--form other_files[]=@metadata.xml
--form other_files[]=@document-open.png
--form other_files[]=@stylesheet.css
--form epub_metadata=metadata.xml
--form epub_cover_image=document-open.png
--form epub_stylesheet=stylesheet.css
'https://c.docverter.com/convert' > markdown_to_epub.epub

15. curl
--form from=markdown
--form to=epub
--form input_files[]=@chapter1.md
--form input_files[]=@chapter2.md
--form other_files[]=@metadata.xml
--form other_files[]=@document-open.png
--form other_files[]=@stylesheet.css
--form epub_metadata=metadata.xml
--form epub_cover_image=document-open.png
--form epub_stylesheet=stylesheet.css
'https://c.docverter.com/convert' > markdown_to_epub.epub

16. Via Python & Requests*
*Forked version of Requests
https://github.com/saturdayplace/requests
Via Requests
http://bit.ly/1nkcDRz

17. You (Really) Need Help
Fiverr.com
● Copyediting
● Cover
● Illustration

18. Marketplaces
Amazon
Apple iBooks
Google Play
SoftCover.io
LeanPub.com
Own Website / Gumroad

19. AmazonKindleDirectPublishing
https://kdp.amazon.com
Supported Formats: DOC, DOCX, HTML, MOBI,
ePub, RTF, TXT, PDF
Complex formatting in Word and PDFs may not
convert well

20. AmazonKindleDirectPublishing
Amazon Pays You:
Royalty File Size Book List Price
35%
<= 3 MB $0.99 - $200
3 MB < SIZE < 10 MB $1.99 - $200
>= 10 MB $2.99 - $200
70% Any $2.99 - $9.99

21. Apple iBooks
https://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesC
onnect.woa/wa/bookSignup
Accepts ePub format
Takes 30%, pays you 70%
iBooks Author (Free on Mac store) for creating
multitouch books
iBooks Producer for publishing to the store

22. Google Play Books
https://support.google.com/books/partner/checklist/4
489282
Don’t publish their royalty rates
Accept ePub, PDF
“On the Internet” people claiming ~ 50%
Full text available in Google searches
Customer Service (?)

23. SoftCover.io
Ruby gem (OS X and
Linux)
Generate: HTML, PDF,
ePub, Mobi
Command-line interface
> softcover deploy
Takes 10%, pays you 90%
Create a marketing site
for your book
Create multi-media
packages

24. LeanPub.com
Dropbox + Markdown
Web interface for previewing or publishing
Generates: PDF, ePub, Mobi
Takes 10% + 50¢ per sale
• Sell before complete, buyers get free updates as
you progress
Sell generated files on other marketplaces

25. Gumroad.com
Sales and Fulfillment only (Add to your own website)
Takes 5% + 25¢
Super simple customer checkout process
Easy to integrate into your website
Sell whatever file you have

26. Marketing Conversion Rates
YouTube 2.2%
Twitter 5.4%
Facebook 6.3%
Email 9.4%

27. MailChimp.com
First 2,000 subscribers free
< 12,000 emails / month

28. Trevor Hunsaker
trevor@saturdayplace.com
http://saturdayplace.com
Thanks!

29. Physical Books
Amazon Create Space
Lulu.com
Blurb