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The Author's Guide to Self-Publishing for Canadians

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When confronted with the confusing, multifaceted world of publishing, many authors make the assumption they aren’t capable of self-publishing – nothing could be further from the truth!

Sadly, many authors get taken advantage of by unscrupulous “self-publishing” companies because they don’t really understand the process of publishing a book and therefore, what they are purchasing.

Barb Drozdowich has worked with non-technical authors for years & understands how to break complex topics down using non-technical language. She has traditionally published and self-published a total of 27 books and understands all of the various iterations of publishing. She can cut through all the technobabble & teach you what you need to know to successfully self-publish your book.

Here's some of the topics you will learn from this
-You will learn about editing and how to find an editor
-You will learn about ISBNs and where to get free ISBNs
-You will learn about formatting and book structure
-You will learn about where you can sell your book, how to set up the various retailer accounts and how to get paid
-You will learn about book files and book structure
-You will learn what real numbers tell us about book sales
-You will learn what to look for in a self-publishing company if that is the route you choose to go
-You will have access to a huge appendix filled with helpful material, complete with a glossary, articles for further reading, lists of helpful videos, lists of distributors and much more

“ The Author's Guide to Self-Publishing for Canadians ” is perfect for authors who have finished a wonderfully creative story, but are intimidated by the next steps and are looking for specific Canadian information. Is an editor really needed? How to create a book cover. What the heck are “file types?” How to move forward when you are neither a master of Microsoft Word or capable of understanding some of the complicated instructions found on-line.

Self-publishing is much more straight-forward than many experts would lead you to believe and Barb is the perfect person to explain it to you.

Her books have been described “down-to-earth, practical & just thorough-enough explanations,” “excellent primer,” and “well thought out and well organized.”

Don’t let your struggles with technology hold you back from self-publishing. Let Barb help you to learn the language and move forward into the self-publishing world with confidence.

264 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 20, 2018

5 people are currently reading
7 people want to read

About the author

Barb Drozdowich

57 books302 followers
Barb can teach anyone to use WordPress. She is a voracious reader of Regency Romance, taxi driver, gourmet chef in training, and slave to a cute puppy.

Barb has taught in colleges, universities and in the banking industry. More recently, she brings her years of teaching experience and a deep love of books to help authors develop the social media platform needed to succeed in today’s fast evolving publishing world. She owns Bakerview Consulting and manages the popular blog, Sugarbeat’s Books. She is also the creator and curator of The Book Blogger List

She is the author of more than 15 books 38 YouTube videos, a beginner WordPress course, a Goodreads course and lives in the mountains of British Columbia with her family.

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Carolyn McBride.
Author 5 books106 followers
October 18, 2018
I thought this was a very useful, educational and helpful book.

So many 'how to self-publish' books out on the market are U.S based, but there are differences for Canadian authors in self-publishing. Barb shows the way to success and even mastery of various technical aspects of self-publishing, setting up a website, loading our manuscripts to different platforms, discusses the terms we need to know and the advantages of pursuing one path over another.
And so much more.

I was trying to keep notes, as I read the book, but even if you only need a specific section, you'll find your answer here.
This book should be on the shelf/e-reader of EVERY Canadian author, self-published or not. Because even those who have a contract with a publishing house will learn a great deal. If only what questions to ask to fully understand your rights.

GET THIS BOOK!
86 reviews4 followers
June 8, 2021
Very informative and easy to read and understand.
Profile Image for Catherine Girard-Veilleux.
163 reviews49 followers
August 22, 2019
*I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I got no compensation and I write this book review willingly. A big thanks to Barb Drozdowich and NetGalley!*



Introduction:

I'm a huge fan of self-publishing and I've read multiple books on the topic. Plus, I already had a few books by Barb Drozdowich about writing and blogging.

But the real deal with The Author’s Guide to Self-Publishing for Canadians is that it covers an area that no one explored previously: the Canadian self-publishing process! Being a Canadian, I had still many questions after reading other books about this topic from the US and UK. At last someone knowledgeable tackled this topic for my country!

There was no way I wouldn't read it. So, of course, I did.

And its information was all I needed for my self-publishing endeavour.

Here we go with the review!



The Blurb:

From editing and finding free ISBNs to book structure and sales, this self-publishing guide for Canadians shows you the right way to go! For those of you who are uncertain about how to proceed with self-publishing your book, this author's guide contains all relevant information and answers to your questions when it comes publishing in Canada.


The Positive Sides:

Starting right off the bat, there's an easy introduction in the topic of this author's guide. Plus, her chapters are short but loaded with information (I'm sure the pages are bursting!) and are in quite a logical order.

But what about the writing itself? Well, her writing is good, straight-forward and even kind, verging on friendly. She gives us clear and precise, almost step-by-step instructions and information-I can't stress enough how helpful and reassuring that is! And with all the content she put in, there's no wonder she knows what she's talking about! But, I guess, from self-publishing so many well-appreciated how-to books, you have to master the field, right?

As for the content itself, it ranges from editing to book structure interspersed with so much more. The chapters might be short, but I never read one and been disappointed! One of the two major points I take out from this is the eye-opening tip about ISBNs for Canadian and general process (you can get one free, legally, no joke!). So, instead of purchasing one in those US or UK self-publishing help businesses, buy this book and you'll save the price of your ISBN. Amazing! The other major point is the book structure. Please, hear me out. Miss Drozdowich makes us really look at a book, its content, what are the inner pages like both in paper and ebook formats, what it must have, and so on. It was enlightening AND fun because she tells you to the examination yourself. She encourages such a process. There's also a "bonus" (I consider it so): the author explains concepts and the jobs (such as editor, formatter,...) and tells you exactly why you need them to work on your book. That's great and will make you think twice about ditching one to the curb, figuring you don't need them.

Lastly, it's an effing amazing idea to write such an author's self-publishing guide for Canadians! With all those tips and nooks and crannies (such as the free ISBNs!), this book is invaluable for us. It was high-time someone wrote this guide for Canada amidst all those self-publishing guides from the US and UK (don't get me wrong: I'm grateful they exist, but some things in them that are not relevant to us). We needed our own version and didn't even know!

Well-played, Miss Drozdowich!


The Negative Sides:

Err, I considered striking this section since I found NO negative side, but why mess with a good structure, right? ;)


In Conclusion:

If you're considering self-publishing (even just a tad!) and live in Canada, this is the book for you. It's jam-packed with juicy information you won't find elsewhere for our specific country. Plus, she covers the most important areas of self-publishing and gives you the information in a clear-cut but helpful manner. Frankly? I give The Author's Guide to Self-Publishing for Canadians a rating of 5 stars out of 5 for how helpful I've found it because, yes, I'm going to self-publish my first book. Thank the world she wrote this book, or I'd have (uselessly) paid for an ISBN and missed out on great points such as how important other publishing jobs are to the well-being of my book.

Read this book. You can thank me and the author later.
Profile Image for Erik.
Author 16 books12 followers
July 23, 2018
I don't know if I will ever truly finish reading this book. There's so much relevant information and so many references to other helpful sites and resources, that The Author's Guide to Self-Publishing for Canadians will always remain within my Kindle library.
Profile Image for Naomi Lane.
Author 6 books29 followers
May 6, 2020
Barb is the master of simplifying life for getting us writers into the on-line community. I have a bunch of her books. She is also a great speaker and so accessible. Check her out!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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