Self-publishing is simple.

You need your manuscript formatted for print and ebook.

Then you need a book cover, for print and ebook.

Getting those assets designed professionally can be a headache if you're doing it yourself, but it is possible; or you can hire it out. It may feel daunting to search for book cover designers and book formatters.

And that's not to mention editing - which will probably be the most significant cost.

Which is why, altogether, it can feel easier to just pay for a publishing package, especially if they seem eager and say nice things about your book.

Almost always, even if they seem like a good deal, they'll provide inferior quality and results, and may limit your control and options going forward.

Ideally, you'll hire or resolve your book design and formatting issues, then upload your files directly to KDP (biggest audience) or something like Draft2Digital for distribution (IngramSpark is another option, but it's tedious and I don't believe there are any benefits that make it worth the effort).

Title, subtitle, categories, keywords
You do need to make sure readers can find you, and then once they find you they feel motivated to buy and read your book - so these four things are important.

What is the value of your book; what do audiences want?

A publishing package or even a book marketer probably won't help you figure this stuff out, and if you get it wrong, there's not much they can do (even though they will try to sell you more marketing services for a product that doesn't convert).

There isn't a super easy solution to the entire self-publishing process, unfortunately, and I get why a lot of authors continue to just buy a service; but you should be aware of the drawbacks or false promises, to make sure you're paying for things that matter, so I have some resources on what to look out for.

The video above is a brief overview of the whole publishing process - there are lots of choices to make, but I hope I've pointed out why most options should be avoided.

Here's a link to the Best publishing companies that aren't scams (though it probably isn't what you think).

And here's the article about the $50K publishing package I mentioned (and how to do it for under $5K).

If you're comparing publishing packages, I made this video about one of the biggest vanity presses, commenting on their services and prices, to understand the kinds of things people offer and whether they're truly worth the cost.

The Truth about Xlibris (vanity publishing)

Do what works best for you, but understand what you're gaining or giving up.

PS - I mostly talked about publishing an ebook/paperback on Amazon KDP; for print copies this uses print on demand (POD) and the other big competitor is IngramSpark... but there are many OTHER avenues for publishing that are increasingly popular.

For example, serialized fiction, on something like Royal Road or even Wattpad; or a Patreon or substack for a kind of crowdsourcing model. I know authors who make this work as either a main or supplementary income, so I can create more content around that if you're interested.

Since Amazon is the biggest platform, and enrolling in the 3 month kindle select program usually boosts your visibility, I think it's the easiest/best way to start out and test the waters - by focusing on one place instead of trying to send readers everywhere.

For print books, like selling at events, KDP select doesn't matter (the exclusivity is only for the ebook/kindle version). If you are giving ARC's away to beta readers, that's also OK under the exclusive contract - but you can't sell it on other ebook stores.