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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29622
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I wont reiterate what others have already said about popularity, but I would suggest looking for your niche audience and marketing to those interested in reading similar books to your own.

When it comes to publishing, there are many options for low-cost/free self-publishing options not just E-Books, but also physical books. While Amazon has various options within its ecosystem to assist, such as a cover designer and CreateSpace for POD (Print On Demand), I've also listed a few options I've used to publish my own pieces.

[https://www.draft2digital.com/](https://www.draft2digital.com/) - Draft2Digital is a distributor that will publish your ebooks to various marketplaces for a small percentage of the royalties. What I like about this site over others is that it will include the back matter of your book (e.g. Teaser, Author Bio, Other Books By page, etc...) and it has universal links to act as a sort of portal for people to find their favorite marketplaces (This is a universal link for a short story of mine if you'd like to see first hand how the page looks [https://books2read.com/RevivalPrologue](https://books2read.com/RevivalPrologue)).

[https://prowritingaid.com/](https://prowritingaid.com/) - Pro Writing Aid is editing software which points out problem areas in your manuscript such as grammar & spelling, sentence length, overused words/adjectives, readability and tons of other things that otherwise you would need a second set of eyes to see. Now, this site **WILL NOT** outright replace a human editor/beta readers, but it is a good starting point and will cut out some of the cost when it comes to copy editing and proofreading.

[https://www.canva.com/](https://www.canva.com/) - This is a great site with stock images (Can be used alongside sites like [https://pixabay.com/](https://pixabay.com/) & [https://unsplash.com/](https://unsplash.com/)) and design layouts to create free or low-cost covers that still look awesome and like some effort went into them.

[https://reedsy.com/](https://reedsy.com/) - **_I haven't used this site outside of its blog as of yet, but I will be using it in when the time comes to look for the editor of my next manuscript._** Reedsy is an awesome website which helps authors and publishers connect with industry professionals who provide quality services such as editing, cover design and marketing for self-publishing authors in one place, with a range of prices to suit their needs. They also have a decent blog with tips for writing and publishing, one of which is about the cost of self-publishing, which you may find helpful - [https://blog.reedsy.com/cost-to-self-publish-a-book/](https://blog.reedsy.com/cost-to-self-publish-a-book/)

All in all I would suggest doing more research into traditional publishing through small presses, the pros & cons self-publishing, and low-cost/free marketing options before jumping into publishing a book. I completely understand wanting to keep the rights to your work, this is the main reason why I've chosen to independently publish, but it's not as simple as it seems at first glance. If you're looking for more resources, there are great communities of authors on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Reddit putting up tons of resources for those who want to self-publish and improve their craft without spending and arm and a leg doing so. All you have to do is [google](https://www.google.ca/) around a bit and if you're ever stuck, [Stack Exchange](https://writers.stackexchange.com) and [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublish/) are great places to ask for help.

Hope this helps and happy writing.

-- Trynda E. Adair

Original score: 3