Today, you can write and publish your own book. The process is easy enough that anyone can do it. No expensive tools or special skills are required.
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In this guide I'll explain how to use LibreOffice, a free application you can download from the internet, to create your own book. This is a high-level summary of the detailed steps outlined in Publish Your Book by Joel Dare (above).
Download and install the latest version of LibreOffice from www.libreoffice.org. LibreOffice is a free and powerful office suite maintained by a friendly community of hundreds of volunteers. It's available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Open LibreOffice and create a new Writer Document.
If you want it to look more like a book and less like a corporate document, you'll want to change the formatting a little. You'll find these settings in the Format, Page Style menu. Set the width to 5.5” and the Height to 8.5”. If you're outside the US you might want to use the A4 page size instead, which is 148.5mm wide by 210mm high. Also, set your page margins to around half an inch.
As you type you'll want most fonts to be around 12 point, headings to be around 16 point, and titles to be around 24 point.
Get my How to Publish book to learn more about formatting, including how to use LibreOffice's Styles and Formatting options to easily make titles, headings, sub-headings, and other text consistent throughout your book.
Save the document. If you plan to publish as an ebook, select the Microsoft Word 97 format. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other book platforms often support this older document format.
If you plan to sell the book on your own website or store, export it as a PDF and send that to your buyers. PDF files can be viewed by most users without any extra software, including most mobile phones.
You can create an author account on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for Kindle and Print on Demand, on Barnes and Noble Press for the Nook, or iTunes Connect for Apple Books. All three platforms are currently free. On each platform you'll answer questions, provide artwork, and submit your book for review. After a short review period your book will go live in the respective store.
These instructions are written by Joel Dare. They are not affiliated with LibreOffice, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Apple, or any other referenced marks. See the LibreOffice.org, BarnesAndNoble.com, Amazon.com, and Apple.com websites for official information.