Tips for making your book the best it can be

If you are self-publishing, make sure that your book is the best it can be.  Here are a few tips for creating a great book...invest in a good editor, have an eye catching cover, and include the things that make your book look like it came from a traditional publisher, such as an author bio, a summary of the book, copyright page data, a preprinted price marking and barcode.

A list of self-publishing companies

My decision to self-publish Keiko the Koala was a good one for me.   I can tell you from first hand experience that you need determination and perseverance to self-publish.  You are the writer, the publisher, the marketing department and the shipping department.  For me, I looked at it like a business.  I had a product (my book) to sell and I needed to make sure it was presented and packaged perfectly. Once my book was ready, I started the process by researching self-publishing companies.  


Below is a list of self-publishing companies:

1. AuthorHouse (my choice for self-publishing)
2. BookSurge
3. Dog Ear Publishing
4. Infinity
5. iUniverse
6. Lulu
7. Outskirts Press
8. Publish America
9. Tate Publishing
10. Trafford Publishing
11. Wheatmark Book Publishers
12. Wordclay
13. Xlibris
14. Xulon Press

Bringing Keiko to life

Not long after having decided to write a children's book, my idea for a character came to me.  In fact, I was surprised with how quickly it all came to me..., the idea for a Koala, the name Keiko and the story itself.  It only took me about 2 weeks to write the story... it just kept coming to me.  I didn't know what I was going to do with this story, but here I had a children's story.  Now, I needed illustrations.  I turned to my dad, who is an amazing artist.  I gave him my story and before I knew it, he brought Keiko to life.

You never know where life will take you

When I started writing the story for Keiko the Koala, I didn't know what would come of it.  In fact I started writing Keiko many, many years ago.  My formal education and working experience is in Finance and Accounting.  I have an undergraduate degree in Finance and an MBA in Accounting. I have spent most of my career working in the corporate business world in accounting, finance, budgeting and forecasting.

The Decision to Self-Publish

I chose to self publish my book instead of using a traditional publisher so that I could learn first hand what it was like to go through the publishing process.  Although it takes a lot of time and an financial investment, I don't regret self-publishing.