Beechmont/Canungra Bookgroup

The next meeting will be on 24.10.2026. – PM for details.

1. Write a book, finish one, or plan one. – We will discuss writing tips at the next meeting.
2. Revise your book draft about three times. – For first-time writers, aim for 80,000 to 100,000 words. – I usually have about 90,000 words, which works well once the book is published and results in about 300 pages in a 6×9-inch format. It still depends on the font and margins. – A book of about 300 pages costs roughly $10 for an author copy, with a suggested retail price of $29.95. A more expensive book is harder to sell.
3. Self-edit a couple of times to make it easier and therefore cheaper for your chosen editor.
   I also edit more by looking for specifics, such as whether the character and scenes are well described. Check for overuse of adverbs (the ‘-ly’ words), passive voice, and telling instead of showing.
   In self-publishing, you usually outsource editing. It can be expensive. A 90,000-word book could easily cost $3000, depending on the kind of editing you ask for, for example: developmental, line, copyediting, or proofreading.
   When you receive your edited copy back, you need to agree or disagree with the changes and make appropriate changes yourself. You follow this with proofreading. – This could happen twice or even more often. It all depends on how many changes your original copy needed.
4. Now, you have a perfect copy, a perfect manuscript, which needs to be formatted into the book shape you want. – I usually select 6×9 inches.
   I use a formatting program called Atticus – https://www.atticus.io/ – you can buy it outright, no subscription. That’s why I bought it. – This is a program where you actually need to read the instructions. – It is important to upload your manuscript the right way. The instructions will tell you how.
   Once you have worked it all out and the book looks the way you want, download the appropriate files to your computer.
5. Download a PDF for the paperback or hardcopy to upload to Amazon or any other book printing and distribution platform.
   For the e-book, download an EPUB file to upload to Amazon. If you use Kindle Select – Kindle Unlimited, you are not allowed to publish your e-copy on other platforms.
6. To upload to Amazon and IngramSpark (a distribution service libraries and bookshops use to buy books), you need an ISBN (International Standard Book Number). Each format (hardcover, paperback, and e-book) needs its own unique ISBN. The e-book ISBN is optional. Only one company sells those ISBNs: Thorpe-Bowker. The website is https://www.myidentifiers.com.au/.
7. An ISBN makes the holder the publisher. – It means you now have a publishing service. – It needs a name as well. – I publish my books under LU Books Publishing – www.dieterluske.com/LU-Books.html
   Those are extra details Amazon or Ingram wants to know about you.
   Be careful: they offer you a free ISBN, but that makes them the publisher, which you don’t want.
8. Amazon has a bit of a learning curve. – First, you need to set up your account. Once that is done, uploading the remaining information, the book, and the cover seems easy, provided you have the right formats and cover, which can be tricky if you have never done it.
9. The book cover – yes, you need a cover design. That can be tricky as well. Most people use a designer, which can be costly. You can do it yourself. Amazon provides a program, but it still isn’t easy to make the cover look professional. You’ll need an illustration program or a cheap service like Canva – https://www.canva.com/.
   I use something reasonably cheap called Pixelmator Pro. It is not as powerful as Adobe Photoshop, but it’s much cheaper and does the trick. – https://www.apple.com/au/pixelmator-pro/ – It is an Apple product; Pixelmator Pro for Mac is available as a one-time purchase for A$79.99.
10. OK, that’s pretty much it. You upload everything and set your publishing date. You can order a demo copy or author copies before the book is officially published.

Next comes Marketing, which may well be the hardest task of all.

Start well before publishing day. People say: start marketing a year before publishing. It’s all about social media, special apps, and websites, such as: a website, a blog, and a newsletter.
My website is www.dieterluske.com, and for the blog and newsletter, I use dieterluske.substack.com – please subscribe to my blog.

Marketing is a whole chapter, or actually several chapters, in itself.

In the next Book Group meetings, we will most likely discuss all the individual steps of self-publishing in more detail, as well as discuss or recommend books to read in general.

One week before the Book Group meeting on 17^th of October, I will have a book launch at Canungra Books and Art from 10:30.

I’ll be introducing my new book, “The Breakfast Murder”.

Hope to see you all for that.

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