Self-Publish Your Illustrated Art Book, Part 2

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This is the second video in this series. In this one, I show you the software that I’m using to create my illustrated art how-to book. These are not usually recommended by self-publishing “experts,” (they usually prefer the much more expensive Adobe versions), but my total software investment was $100. Compare that to the total cost of Photoshop and InDesign at $1400, and you can see one of the reasons why I went with another brand.

I actually prefer the PhotoPlus X3 over Photoshop, and not just because it’s so much less expensive. I used Photoshop for years. It always made feel a bit incompetent, because there are so many fancy functions that I never learned how to use. I did learn how to do basic stuff, though — but I can do those things in PhotoPlus, too — and I think it’s actually easier to use.

Before you jump into self-publishing in a big way, remember to do some research first. This is especially important if you want to sell your book to the public. Certain types of books, like novels and illustrated childrens’ books, are not usually very easy to sell when they’re self-published. Non-fiction and how-to books are said to do better. However, there are lots of reasons to make a book, and profit is only one of them. It may not even be the most important one. But still, do some research before you start so you don’t run into any major surprises.

The book about creating a manuscript in Microsoft Word that I recommended in the video is Perfect Pages by Aaron Shepard. He also has a book that is geared towards new self-publishers who want to sell their books on Amazon.com.

Do you know of an art book that’s been self-published, or do you have one you’d like us to know about? Tell us about it, so we can take a look. And please tell us about your experiences with the process too, good or bad.

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