Self-Publishing for the First-Time Author: https://1mkwilliams.com/self-publishing-for-the-first-time-author/
100Covers http://100covers.com/?ref=49
Atticus https://app.atticus.io/

As an indie author, you can DIY this. There are free programs you can use and format all by yourself. There are paid softwares you can use to format your book. Or you can hire a professional. Those are the main options.

DIY – FREE
-For this, you can go full DIY and do everything in MS Word. I don’t recommend this. While a formatted MS Word file can be uploaded to KDP for your eBook, most other platforms require a finished ePub file. So getting that is ideal. Also, even if you only plan to have your eBook on KDP, sometimes the MS Word formatting is wonky. As for print, you can print to PDF. But you can only submit that to KDP; IngramSpark requires that you don’t print to PDF from MS Word.
-So that moves us to a formatting software. Scribus and Calibre and open source – or FREE – softwares you can use format your book. I have a Scribus tutorial and you can find up-to-date tutorials for these softwares on YouTube. If you have a knack for software then this could be a fun learning opportunity for you to add this skillset and save money on book formatting.

But what you save in money, you will spend in time. For a true bootstrapping author, this is ideal. But if it is stressing you out, or if you are seconds away from pitching your laptop out the window, then maybe let’s avoid this option.

DIY – Paid Software
-While the real pros will use Adobe InDesign to format a book, we indie authors are lucky to have softwares made for us. Vellum, Scrivener, and now Atticus all offer out-of-the-box formatting solutions for authors.
-I’ve tried Atticus and I liked it. It was much easier than the full open-source softwares, it was built by an indie author so they know how it needs to function, and I could export both ePub and print files. They were accepted the first time around.
-This can be a nice medium between totally free formatting or paying for a pro. With Atticus I paid one fee ($147) and now I can use this software as many times as I need to. So my cost per book goes down.

The nice this about both of these DIY options, is that I own the files. I can access them anytime I need.

Professional Formatting
-The third option is hiring a pro. This can save you all the headache of doing it yourself. But you have to pay. There are freelance designers out there who can do both the cover and the interior formatting for you. Before you hire them, find out their experience. Even if they have experience in traditional publishing, give them the templates from KDP and IngramSpark or any other platform you plan to use. Also, make sure they can also provide the ePub file. Some designers can only do print. Moral of the story: ask questions.
-Some designers charge more based on their experience. But there are also companies like 100Covers that offer all-in-one design packages for cover and interior design at self-publishing prices. Easy button.

Depending on your budget, your tolerance for technology, and your curiosity to learn a new skill, you’ll find one of these options resonates more. I’ve enjoyed the ease of sending my files off to a pro team. I’ve also liked having direct control of using Atticus.

I go over this decision and many more in Self-Publishing for the First-Time Author.

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