How do you take your book from a manuscript to Amazon? Or do you go down the traditional publishing route instead? The second question is one for another article. But really once you have typed or written your story what next? Will you self-edit? Do you have a proof-reader? – You don’t want any mistakes in there. And how on earth do you do a book cover and feed the whole thing into Amazon KDP?

Ask Me To Help You Publish To Amazon

The good news is, you don’t have to. I can help you.

Typing The Manuscript

Have you handwritten the manuscript? Are you prepared to sit and type those words?

There is no need. As much as it grieves me to say it, AI can do a remarkable job of reading the worst handwriting and providing you with a typed document. Remember though, if you do this AI will use your manuscript to learn from and may reuse your writing style to write other books. So the choice is yours. Also, you should know AI has thrown some surprisingly confidential information onto the worldwide web for all to see.

An alternative is to ask me to physically type up the document for you. Or feed it into AI for you if you just can’t be bothered!

Caution About Using AI

I will do a more indepth post about this, but you do need to be cautious about using AI. It is not always reliable, can actually hallucinate (I know!), and you MUST declare if you have used it in any way. Some people are extremely snobby about it and will not touch a book that has used it, however, that is your choice.

Proofreading Your Book

If you have typed your manuscript yourself, does it need to be proofread?
I only proofread what I have typed myself. If you want a final once over before you publish I recommend Claire Shaw – Proof Reader.

Format The Manuscript Ready For Amazon

So, now you have your typed, edited, and proofread document. How does it look? Do you have chapters? Should the first line of each paragraph have an indent? How do you get the font you found on Google Fonts into your print copy?

Ask Me To Format Your Book For You

I am a dab hand at Microsoft Word and can format your book ready to be fed into both ebook and hard copy editions. It is important you know they both have different formatting requirements and you cannot use the same pdf for both.

You Can Even Include Pictures

If you have ever tried to insert pictures into a Word document you may have felt like throwing your laptop outside of the window in frustration. The solution is in the settings. If you have pictures you wish to add to your book I can add them so that they appear in the right place.

What About The Cover?

Amazon very kindly provide a template for your hard copy cover for use with Canva and other programs. I can use this to help create a cover for you. If you have an image you have already an image created that is really helpful. If you want something outside of my graphic design skills I will let you know.

What Else I Do To Put Your Manuscript On Amazon

I remind you. I remind you to have an author page with your picture on it. And I remind you of the need for a copyright, and a legal disclaimer regarding the contents.

Here Is A Book I Have Already Placed On Amazon

Together with Claire Shaw Proofreader, and english.welsh.va the dissertation of a client’s uncle was typed up and placed onto Amazon in hardcover format.

This is what our client said:

So Contact Me Today

Contact me, Liz The Whiz on 07974 701526 or email me at liz@lizthewhiz.co.uk. I am happy to talk you through the process. Let’s get your story out there. (And maybe make you some money on the way).