10 Self-Publishing Resources to Help You Get Your Novel Published

Gone are the days when self-publishing a novel was taboo. Some of the most well-known and bestselling novelists today started out by self-publishing their novels. Authors like Colleen Hoover and Hugh Howey, E.L. James and Amanda Hocking, Christopher Paolini and Rachel Abbott. These authors faced rejection by agents and publishing houses, but they believed in their stories and never gave up their dream of being published. Throughout history, there are countless instances of editors and publishers missing out on the proverbial boat when it comes to debut authors. If you’re a contemporary writer and don’t have an agent, you know how difficult it is and how many queries you have to send out, many of which never get even a rejection much less any critical recommendations, just to land an agent. When you hear that Stephen King’s Carrie got rejected 30 times, or Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 got rejected, yes, 22 times, Kathryn Stockett’s The Help was passed on by 60 literary agents, and you’ve been doing this a while, you aren’t really all that sympathetic. If you’re like me, I get that many rejections on a Tuesday. My experience is more like Alex Haley’s: he received 200 rejections before Roots was published. But not everyone is an Alex Haley, or even a J.K. Rowling, who got rejected a mere 13 times before Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was picked up.

These days, plenty of authors don’t even bother seeking out traditional publishers. With the success of so many self-published authors, it’s easy to see why they’ve decided to go it on their own. So I figured 10 Self-Publishing Resources to Help You Get Your Novel Published would be a great place for you self-starters to, well, start.

Today I want to provide a list of resources for you brave authors, you rebels heading out on the publishing journey all on your own. You’ll likely have heard of some of the resources I’m going to mention (KDP, IngramSpark, Scrivener, and more), but there’ll be some in here that you may not know about. I’ll try to provide as much of a descriptive blurb as possible so you know before clicking through to the site what to expect. But irrespective of what you read here, you may want to check out each resource just to see what they have to offer, as I won’t be able to cover everything in this one post. I hope what I do provide you with is a good starting point so that you don’t have to do as much searching as I did when I went through the process of self-publishing a book just to get the experience of having done it. (It’s a book that I never published or made public—I was just curious what the process of publishing a book with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, and how long it would take to go from initial idea to published book).

Before we dive into the self-publishing resources, I thought I’d get the ball rolling with a YouTube video that has over a million views, because the content in it is that good. It’s author and creative writing professor John Dufresne giving a TEDx talk on how to write a story. It’s worth the time to listen to him—he’s a great writer and teacher of writing and writing books, and the delivery is perfect.

Anyway, without further ado, here are some self-publishing resources for you to check out. Some of the sites are platforms for editing, copywriting, cover design, doing the actual writing, listing your books on sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and so forth. Good luck!

Having trouble with readability and clarity? Check out Hemingway Editor. Hemingway App makes your writing concise and correct. The app highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors; if you see a yellow sentence, shorten or split it. If you see a red highlight, your sentence is so dense and complicated that your readers will get lost trying to follow its meandering, convoluted logic—try editing this sentence to remove the red highlight.

Adverbs, passive voice, and other weakening phrases are marked in blue. There’s also AI tools if you purchase Hemingway Editor Plus which will fix the highlighted text for you.  

The Cost: Free for the online version. The Desktop app is $19.99 (one-time).

You can check out Hemingway Editor by clicking the guy below (you may recognize him).

Vellum specializes in the creation of Ebooks. They’re only available for Mac, but if you’re an Apple author, Vellum may be right up your alley. Per Vellum:

Create ebooks for every platform: Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and more. Each specialized file can guide readers to buy your next book in their favorite store.

Completed a series? Combine everything into a box set in just a few steps.

Painless Print

Choose your trim size, and Vellum does the rest, with automatic setup of margins, page numbers, and headers and footers.

Vellum even handles complex tasks like widow-handling and spread-balancing, giving you a professional result every time you generate.

Sound like something that may work for you? I use a PC these days (once I started working for myself I gave up the Mac), but I know plenty authors who love their MacBooks. So if Apple’s your thing, and you want to jump into a great tool, check Vellum out.

The Cost: Vellum Press: $249.99 ; Vellum ebooks: $199.99

Scrivener is probably one of the more well-known apps out there. Scrivener combines all of the tools you’ll need to write your first draft. Scrivener is the go-to app for writers of all kinds, used every day by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, students, academics, lawyers, journalists, translators and more. Scrivener won’t tell you how to write—it simply provides everything you need to start writing and keep writing. Scrivener unites everything you need to write, research and arrange long documents in a single, powerful app. At its heart is a simple ring-binder metaphor that allows you to gather your material and flick between different parts of your manuscript, notes and references with ease. Break your text into manageable sections of any size and leave Scrivener to stitch them together. Integrated outlining tools let you plan everything first or restructure later. And as your project grows, you’ll find that Scrivener grows with it.

The Cost: There are various options and plans that Scrivener offers, so check out the site and see which features will serve you best. You can always add one of the options later.

So, writerswork isn’t a tool for writing—it’s a tool for using your writing skills to make cold hard cash.

Writerswork connects anyone interested in writing, with the companies that need them desperately. They have thousands of writing jobs available and all of the training, tools, and support you need to land the best writing jobs. You can start a career as a freelance writer, and what’s cool about it is that you can set your own hours...and work from home.

Types of jobs available:

• General Content: websites need content and a lot of it! Write for some of the biggest brands and fill their help sections, landing pages and provide proofreading /editing services.

• Blogging: Write interesting blogs for brands all over the country. Blog about the topics that interest you most.

• Copywriting: in order for companies to compete, they need to have top-notch sales copy. We train!

• Social media posts: Help brands fill their social media accounts and connect directly with their customers with interesting social media posts.

Requirements:

• You must be 18 years or older.

• You need a reliable internet connection.

• Excellent customer service.

Pay: Freelance writers can earn anywhere from $20-$65 / hr. Pay varies depending on skill level.

Plan, write, and edit the smarter way, with professional tools to aid you at every step of your writing journey. Autocrit has a number of features to help you get started and stay writing, including the:

The Writer’s Desk is where the magic happens. Plan, write, and edit your next masterpiece from start to finish in a fully-featured writing platform packed with in-depth, interactive editing tools that build your confidence and let your stories shine.

Give writer’s block the boot with additional AI-powered tools inside AutoCrit’s Inspiration Studio. Create, develop and plan new story ideas from start to finish, and find new directions for your work-in-progress with helpful suggestions to keep you moving.

The beta reader in your pocket, your Story Analyzer offers fast developmental feedback on your story’s conflict, character arcs, world-building, contradictory events, timeline, foreshadowing, plot threads, and genre fit.

Your integrated member community adds social connection to what can be lonely work. Make new friends, build writing and critique groups, and enjoy exclusive live workshops, presentations, and events with the AutoCrit team and industry guests.

Whether you’re in early planning, late drafting, editing, or getting ready for publication, enjoy a wealth of educational guides throughout your journey. Take on optional genre or in-depth writing courses and access them at any time right in your dashboard.

Enjoy members-only discounts on personalized services including our Story Inspection, Pitch Appraisal, and First Chapter Critique packages. Need hands-on help right now?

Autocrit is the only online writing and editing platform that guides your hand based on data from real, bestselling books, AutoCrit is built to match the genuine demands of publishing professionals and discerning readers.

Organizational Tools for Planners and Pantsers

Plan as much or as little as you like, with Digital Note Cards and Noteboards displayed alongside your writing. Also find pre-built Digital Planning, Plotting, and Character Note Templates to help you quickly get organized.

The Cost:

fiverr operates all over the world with freelancers and businesses spanning an estimated 160 countries. The company was founded in 2010, is headquartered in Tel Aviv, and has satellite offices in New York, London, Kyiv, Berlin, and Orlando. Need a book design? A cover? A children’s book illustrator? An author website? fiverr is the place for you.

CLASSIC RETRO MANUAL TYPEWRITER

Royal Consumer Information Products Classic Retro Manual Typewriter (Black), Model Number: 79104P

So, this is more of a fun tool than a “resource” per se. Amazon sells it for $249. In 1904, in a small machine shop, two men produced their first Royal typewriter. Their guiding principles of innovation and quality are the foundation of their company and products. And now today, Royal resurrects the Classic! It's ideal for those who prefer a nostalgic décor, a retro look or an escape from digital technology. They also have multiple colors, so you can choose one that fits your personality and style.

This is a portable manual typewriter for on-the-go authors! The Black Royal Classic Manual Typewriter features metal construction, a wide 11 in. carriage, 88 characters, and a black and red nylon ribbon. It's ideal for those who prefer a retro look or easy typing without electronics.

Cost: $249

From editing and design to printing, distribution, and marketing, BookBaby’s experts help you through every step of the self-publishing process.

BookBaby does it all. Just a few of their services:

• Design services

• Editing services

• Print on Demand distribution

• Ebooks

• Marketing services

• Hardcover, paperbacks, and even audiobooks

• Query letter and book synopsis help

And tons more areas of expertise that the BookBaby experts will walk you through and/or do for you so you can just write.

novelcrafter's got your back, arming you with the tools you need to dream, draft, and deliver your story. They have free lessons and courses like the “Ultimate Beginner’s Guide,” and the “Twelve Acts Structure,” and more. In terms of features, there’s too many to list, but here’s just a few of them:

• Rich text editor

• Customizable interface

• Planning grid, matrix and scene labels so you can keep track of drafts or already finished scenes with custom labels

• Tags so you can organize your entries

• AI tools

• Novel templates

• Novel covers

• And it’s all mobile compatible

Cost:

I hope the resources I’ve provided help you on your journey to self-publishing your novel. I know times are tough out there for writers, in particular if you’re trying to get an agent and go the traditional route. It’s not the easiest nor the quickest way of getting published, and these days not only is it affordable to publish your own book, but you’ll make more of the profits doing it on your own. Yes, it’ll require work. Yes, you’ll have to learn a great deal, depending on the platform(s) you choose to use, the publishing tool(s) you decide are right for what you’re trying to accomplish, and how much time you’re able to devote to something you’d probably rather not being doing because it’s taking time away from what you really love, which is the actual writing.

I want you to succeed. I want you to be confident in your decisions when it comes to writing, when it comes to the path you’ll ultimately decide to take—self-publishing, vanity publishing, traditional publishing, etc., and learn all of the tools and tricks to make your process as efficient and enjoyable as possible.

Happy writing, and good luck!

Cully Perlman is author of The Losses, a novel, as well as a substantive editor, blogger, and a lover of all things literature and the outdoors. He can be reached at Cully@novelmasterclass.com 

*In order to support the running of this blog, I may receive a small commission from any links I post on this site.