6 ms·
Ask HN: Has anyone here self published a book before?
I'm looking to self publish a cookbook, and was wondering if anyone here had any advice about platforms and methods? I want to publish the book in a hardcover and also via ebook.
- thoughtcriminal 14y agoLulu. I've self-published twice with Lulu and it was a painless enough experience. Actually, no. Let me correct myself. It was a lot of work, and quite painful, but Lulu's tools made it a lot easier. I highly recommend them. EDIT: I used Word (actually, I think it was Open Office) to write and layout the book and not any page design software.
- thoughtcriminal 14y agoOne more thought. Cookbooks - the popular ones anyways - are plastered with glossy pics. The typsetting and design are immaculate. You may want a professional designer to design the book for you. Okay, I'm done.
- JohnHaugeland 14y agoDepending on your budget, I'm a big fan of a commercial tool called PrinceXML, which consumes [html|xml]+css and produces PDF. All of the big self publishers accept PDF as one of their printing targets. Of course, this means you're writing a book in HTML, which is either a huge win or an enormous loss, depending on who you are. But, given that it's HN, I figure there's a half decent chance this is right for you. There's a free version you can try it out with; the commercial version is around five hundred bucks. In my opinion, totally worth it. YMMV.
- palidanx 14y agoIs there a reason you don't use Word's print to pdf function? Or does it generate kooky layout?