You’ve finished writing your book. Congratulations! Writing a complete book is quite an accomplishment. I’ve seen estimates that as few as three percent of writers finish a book they started. Of course, no one can know for sure; we’d have to survey every writer to find out. But no matter; there’s no doubt that by finishing a book you’re part of a small minority, and kudos to you.

Now you need to get your book published somewhere, and perhaps make some money. So, where can get published and make sales? We’ll start with self-publishing, and here are four good places to self-publish your book, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction. Full disclosure: I’ve used all four of these publishers and have been happy with the service from each one. I don’t have an affiliate relationship with any of them, meaning I’m not making any money by recommending them. I just know, by experience, that they’re all good.

Publishing on these four sites is free unless you need to pay someone to design your cover (see more on cover design below.) The sites make their money by taking a cut from each book you sell.

Amazon

Let’s start with the big one. When most people think of self-publishing a book, they think of Amazon, and with good reason. Amazon sells many times more books than its nearest competitor. One reason for this is that it’s simple to publish a book on their site, which says “KDP’s [Kindle Direct Publishing] book setup makes it easy for you to upload, enter, and modify your book before publishing.” Truer words were never written. This page explains how to self-publish your book on Amazon, and much more: kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202172740.

Lulu

This is where I self-published my first couple of books, and I’m forever grateful to them. They’ve been in business for more than 20 years and offer a wide range of services and book formats. For more information, go to lulu.com/products.

Draft to Digital

Draft to Digital distributes to a wide variety of retailers, including Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Plus, OverDrive, which reaches more than 20,000 public libraries, and many more. For more about their services, go to draft2digital.com.

Smashwords

Smashwords also touts its global retail distribution network. They distribute to, among other places, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and OverDrive. To learn more, go to smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords.

In 2022, Draft to Digital acquired Smashwords. Now each company offers a wider range of services for authors. Note that unlike Amazon, Lulu, and Draft to Digital, which publish e-books and traditional paper books, Smashwords publishes only e-books.

Check out each of these publishers and decide which one works best for you.

Audiobooks

Once you publish your hard copy and/or e-book, be sure to go to acx.com to get an audio version created. As with all of the above publishers, you can get your book produced for free. It’s an excellent way to reach a larger audience. Visit this site for more information: acx.com/help/authors/200484540.

A tip about your book cover

If you utilize any of the above services you’ll need a book cover. I’ve heard authors say they’ve spent as much as $1,000 for their covers. Yikes. Here’s a better idea: go to fiverr.com and search for “book cover designers.” You won’t get a book cover designed for $5, but you can certainly get it done, without sacrificing quality, for the cost of lunch for two at a casual dining restaurant.

There are two more types of publishers to mention.

Traditional publishers

The good news: there are thousands of traditional book publishers who want high-quality books. The bad news: it’s difficult to get a traditional publisher to even look at your book, much less publish it. The majority of publishers require writers to submit through agents, and that’s its own challenge and is beyond the scope of this article. If you can get an agent and get traditionally published it’s a terrific way to go. But it’s tough.

Vanity publishers

Vanity publishers will publish your book, almost for sure . . . but for a fee, sometimes a large fee. Self-publishing is by far a better way to go. This site explains much more about vanity publishing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_press.

Check out the above self-publishing websites, get your book published, and join the ranks of money-earning authors. You’ll be part of a select group.