Opportunity Knocks
I don’t think I would have ever attempted to publish my own books at any other time in our history.
The thing is, the Kindle revolution has made it so easy that if you aspire to be a published author, now IS the time.  Today, you don’t have to send out hundreds of letters to publishers or agents.  You don’t have to receive hundreds of rejection letters back.  Even if you do get a literary agent interested in your work, there are so many people involved in the decision to publish your book that there’s no guarantee you’ll get it in print.  That’s not even mentioning how your profits will be eaten away by the various people involved in the process.  Each will take their cut.
Today, you can write a book and self-publish it on Amazon for FREE as both an electronic Kindle version and as a paperback.  ANYONE can do it, and this book will show you how.  Not only that, but you can earn up to 70% royalties on your book sales! 
We are at a special time in history where opportunity really is knocking.   The tides are turning against traditional print books in favor of “eBooks,” and this is giving independent (indie) authors the upper hand. 
Let’s have a look at some of the facts.
The growth of eBooks and eReaders
The phenomenon of eBooks and eReaders has brought about revolutionary changes in the book publishing industry. Ebooks and eReaders suit the needs of the modern man who requires permanent access to his library no matter where he is in the world.
In the technology era, where electronic devices have become indispensable in both professional and private life, reading habits have changed accordingly. At the same time, people have become more mobile; they commute longer distances, change their workplace more frequently, and travel more often to far away destinations. As a consequence, private libraries have become mobile with the introduction of eBooks and eReaders. In order to create a digital library, a reader needs either an eReader (such as Kindle) or a tablet (iPad, Kindle Fire, Android tablet, or even a Samsung Galaxy Note “Phablet”).
You can even use your Smartphone as an eReader, although the text may be a little small for long periods of reading and any graphics difficult to make out.  The greatest feature of many eReaders is their excellent readability, thanks to electronic paper technology. Tablets, on the other hand, are popular due to the fact that they can be used for a multitude of purposes. Tablet users browse the internet, watch videos, read books, and shop online with their electronic devices.
There are a number of different reasons why the sale of eBooks, eReaders, and tablets is booming. For a start, eBooks are greener, cheaper, and more convenient.  Electronic publishing reduces the consumption of natural resources and the level of pollution too because it does not incur the costs that traditional printing does. As a result, the price of eBooks is considerably lower than that of traditional paper books.
Instead of piling up physical books at home, readers build up a virtual library that is light, transportable, and easily manageable. An eBook comes with additional features, such as text search, highlights, bookmarks, and notes. What’s more, an eBook is instantly available and is just a click away, thanks to online shopping.
Browsing the online bookstores and finding the right book has proven to be a much more efficient way to shop for an average reader.  And the ever-growing number of available digital books provides a broad range of titles. Books in certain niches and specialty books are so much easier to find on the internet than in the high street, and the buyer can purchase worldwide.
The flourishing market for eBooks and eReaders has opened up a whole new world for authors. Most of all, writers have welcomed the possibility of self-publishing their work in the form of electronic books. Self-publishing represents a challenging alternative to traditional publishing in the sense that it gives the writer more freedom, flexibility, and visibility. Higher revenues, sole copyrights, freedom of choice (regarding format and design), quick access to the marketplace, and direct contact with the readers, are just some of the appealing aspects of self-publishing as opposed to traditional publishing. So, how does the growing trend of eBooks and eReaders help all those who would like to venture into digital self-publishing?
First of all, authors have the option to bridge the gap between themselves and the readers by publishing their books online without the use of publishers as intermediaries. Instead, authors can reach the global marketplace fairly quickly and effectively by using one of the publishing platforms, such as Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes and Noble’s Nook Press, Apple’s iBookstore, or Google Book. All of these platforms are free to use. Authors just sign up, upload their eBook, and receive royalties from the platform, varying between 40% and 80%. Some of these platforms will even auto-convert uploaded eBooks into their own format and paperback.  
Following this self-publishing route, authors no longer need to find a publisher to accept their book.  Now, they simply upload their work to the different platforms, and within hours, their book is available for sale.  If they are very successful, they still have the option to publish a hardback or a paperback edition with a publishing company (this is the route taken by E. L. James with her 50 Shades trilogy). Furthermore, editors, proofreaders, and graphic designers, necessary for a traditional book, are not essential when self-publishing. Depending on the budget and the topic, authors can search the internet for available services or do most of the formatting and design work themselves. In contrast to traditional publishing, self-published authors retain their copyrights and thereby considerably increase their own revenues once their eBooks are sold.
A huge success story in the self-publishing world is Smashwords.  Founded in 2008, Smashwords is the “world’s largest distributor of indie eBooks,” and .”.make it fast and free for anyone, anywhere in the world, to publish and distribute eBooks to major retailers and thousands of libraries.”
At Smashwords, authors can get 80% of the net revenues from the sale of their books, and they still retain all the rights. Contrary to the earlier prejudices against self-publishers, the latest developments with platforms such as Smashwords prove that self-published books are gaining more and more visibility. Library Direct is the project launched by Smashwords for big libraries and databases to gain access to books published on Smashwords.
Authors who turn to self-publishing will need to carefully structure their marketing plan. Since there’s no big publishing company in charge of publicity, the writers themselves must use all of the available channels of communication to promote the sale of their books. This can include social media like Facebook and Twitter (though in truth, this often becomes more important as you “grow” as an author). Many “indie” writers set up a website or blog which can be used to promote their books and communicate with their audience.
The boom in e-publishing not only represents a great advantage for those in need of a mobile and easily accessible library but also a massive opportunity for those who want to publish their own work.
While digital eBooks will continue to offer self-published authors a great opportunity, I recommend you publish in both digital and paperback versions because there isn’t a lot of extra work to do this.   This book has you covered.  In it, I will show you how to publish both digital and paperback versions, so your books are available in both formats on the biggest online bookstore in the world - Amazon .
Before we look at the mechanics of self-publishing, I want to talk a little about some success stories.