You've written a book. Congratulations! Now what? Time to publish it, right?

An ebook may be the way to go, especially if you're looking for an inexpensive way to get your work out there. Unlike with traditional paper-and-ink publishing, ebooks cost nothing to distribute, and there are only a few costs involved with creating one and having it listed for sale in popular ebook marketplaces. The Amazon Kindle marketplace is the one we'll focus on, but if you can do it there, you can do it anywhere.

Let's take a look at the steps to publishing your ebook:

1. Make sure your book is as good as it can possibly be

If you and your mom are the only ones who have read your book, it would be wise to have some outside eyes look it over. Ideally, these eyes belong to writers/editors (people who are going to be critical and not just pat you on the back).

For some people, hiring a professional editor makes the most sense. This can be an expensive proposition, however, especially if you've written an epic fantasy novel to rival the likes of Robert Jordan and JRR Tolkien. The more pages you've got, the more it's going to cost to have them edited.

A less expensive (read: free) option is to join a writing critique group. You critique/proofread other people's work, and they do the same for you. It's more time consuming, but you'll be amazed at how much you'll learn by critiquing others.

Once you have a professional manuscript, you're ready for the next stage.

2. Have an e-book cover designed

Professional cover art is an absolute must if you're hoping to sell any copies of your ebook. No matter how scintillating your writing is, people aren't going to give it a chance if they see an amateurish cover. Alas, we do judge books by their covers!

Unless you're an artist yourself or know someone who is, you'll probably need to hire someone to create a cover for you. The Amazon Kindle Boards are one place you can look (there are lots of ebook authors who hang out there, and they're happy to recommend designers).

3. Format your ebook correctly

Formatting an ebook isn't rocket science, but is something you can screw up pretty easily. And a poorly formatted ebook is going to get poor reviews.

An easy way to have it done right is to hire someone who does it regularly, but you can easily read up on how to do it yourself. If you're publishing your ebook for the Kindle, Amazon suggests you upload your book as an html file. They have lots of forums and help files you can browse on the publishing portion of their site.

4. Publish!

Yes, the part you've been waiting for. Head over to https://dtp.amazon.com and make an account. All you need to do is upload your ebook (there's a preview place so you can peep at what it will look like on the Kindle), upload your cover art, write a book blurb to entice readers to buy, and pick a price.

As of the writing of this article, the price can be as low as 99 cents, but you'll only earn a 35% royalty if your ebook is less than $2.99. If you price your ebook at $2.99 or above, you can quality for a 70% royalty. Not too shabby!

Less expensive books tend to sell more (especially from an author who isn't established), but the smaller royalty may be a turn off. You can always change the price and play around a bit later to see what works best for you.

Good luck!