Self-publishing made easy with SELF-e
NIAGARA FALLS PUBLIC LIBRARY
As a librarian at Niagara Falls Public Library, I recognize that it isn’t easy to be an indie author. Not only do you have to navigate the murky waters of self-publishing, but you also have to build an audience from scratch all by yourself. After you’ve finally managed to scrape together enough time and money to finish your book and get it online, it can be difficult to find an audience or get much attention outside of your immediate circle of friends and family. Fortunately for indie authors living in Niagara, the Niagara Falls Public Library now subscribes to SELF-e and Biblioboard.
SELF-e and Biblioboard are two databases that work together to connect indie authors with readers and libraries. SELF-e is designed for authors. It takes the guesswork out of self-publishing and makes it easy to turn a manuscript into a legitimate and easily discoverable eBook. Plus it’s free and the rights you give to SELF-e for your eBook are nonexclusive. All you have to do is go to selfe.librariescreate.com/ self-e/org/niagara-falls-ca and follow six easy steps to submit your manuscript.
If you want to have a guaranteed impact on the Ontario literary scene, you also have the option of adding your eBook to the Indie Ontario collection. I highly recommend this option since it will garner more exposure for your eBook (and I’m sure that all your potential readers will appreciate it as well). Exposure and accessibility are important factors in achieving success as an indie author; they can often make or break a selfpublished book.
What’s more, when you upload your eBook to SELF-e, it automatically has a shot at being selected for SELF-e Select, a special online collection curated by Library Journal. This collection is made available to audiences across North America, and selected eBooks are highlighted within the Indie Ontario collection to attract new readers. Talk about attention grabbing!
Alternatively, Biblioboard is a database for readers. It’s where any eBooks you publish through SELF-e end up. The eBooks in Biblioboard are all by indie authors and are made up of every subject and genre imaginable. When an eBook is uploaded through SELF-e, it gets categorized into one or a number of different “curations” (one of which is Indie Ontario) depending on factors like genre, location, and audience. Biblioboard is free to use. You can log in as a guest or create an account to unlock some neat options within the database, like the ability to download content.
The publishing industry has evolved quite a bit in the past 10 years and, as a librarian, I’ve noticed a lot of changes. Nowadays authors no longer have to rely solely on agents or publishers to get their books into the hands of readers and selfpublished material is taken seriously by industry professionals. Many self-published authors go on to have extremely successful writing careers and build up legions of devoted fans (like E. L. James, author of the Fifty Shades trilogy). As a result, SELF-e and Biblioboard are two databases that all indie authors and readers in the area should consider using.