I am writing an e-book and getting close to the next steps,editing, proofreading, adding illustrations and publishing.

I do not know the steps for publishing, but was looking at pushing to Amazon and or the app stores, or other mediums of delivery.

Is this something that I self publish? Do I need to sell it to the company to sell it to the public? I have no experience with this, as this is my first book I have ever written.

Welcome to the world of publishing. If you are going to self publish your work. You can do it through both Amazon Kindle (KDP) and CreateSpace. CreateSpace is Amazon's print on demand. I would do both eBook and print.

When you do publish your work to Amazon there are some places to look on how to format your work and what is needed. I think, if you save it as a PDF file and upload it to Kindle you are good to go. Print you will want to download their templates. There is a bit more work for print but not enough to sway you from doing it. I actually have a template that I use for my work. You will want to also review your copies before going live with them. It is really a cool process.

Do you have a cover? If not do you know how to make one? I use GIMP (open source software kind of like Photoshop) and Microsoft Word to make covers. A lot of great videos on YouTube for this too.

Shoot me a pm or email me if you need any help. I will try and help you the best way that I can. Also if you are Facebook there are a lot of good groups to join. If you have a fan base make sure you have Twitter. I would also release one or two chapters on some sites to gain some fans.

What kind of book are writing? I should have asked that to start with.

It's basically a concealed carry 101,102,103 type book, just something to get my feet wet into the writing and eBook world. I know there is a lot out there, from some big names in the industry, but I am looking at it as a start. And knock something off the ole bucket list.

I do not have a cover just yet. I don't have much more writing to do, I'm trying to keep it shorter and not so wordy, but still pack some good info there. While it's in the proofreading and editing stage I was going to work on a cover.I have some ideas for it but will definitely need to play with it more and more. I was going to proofread, edit, proofread, edit, then convert to their software and edit again. I know that that is a job in itself.

I didn't even think about Facebook, its such a personal time waster but they do have some really good pages and groups.

What are your cover ideas? I'm starting to dive more into doing cover artwork for myself and would like to start a small business of doing graphics someday. The indie world of publishing is awesome. A lot of good people out there to help.

Keep us posted. If you need help with the cover I would be willing to try and do a few things. Just let me know.

This idea (not this picture, as this is straight from Google) or the one wjere thrre is an attacker visible, with a catchy title. I have rough ideas for it, but nothing set just yet. Right now it's titled CCEbook on the computer, I know that will not fly lol.

I have done some searching on the fb and liked a few pages, trying to get more information. I think once I start playing with it on screen I will be able to answer that better. I am going to either use me in the picture or actually me take the picture, so it's not any issue for copyright or fair use.

If you can find stock photos there wont be any issue. You can buy them cheap too. But if you take them that is the best route to go. I like the cover idea. Keep us posted on it.

That's exactly what I was thinking, no issues. I don't think there are many stock photos out there for concealed weapons, but I can take exactly what i want and make it exactly what I feel is perfect for the cover. That is a guns and ammo magazine photo, so that is definitely off limits.

Yeah, it might be best in this case to just take a picture. You can get the shot you want. I look forward to seeing what you do.

I didn't think about it, as I have never done this before. Do I need to copyright it all? I don't have many eBook but they are hit or miss on actually being copyrighted.

If so, any leads on where to start? Internet search (I'll admit I haven't done much yet) has been all over the place from what I've seen.

You can send it in for copyright or do what is called a poor man's copyright. Print it off and put it in a USPS sealed envelope and mail it to yourself. Get proof of mailing and mail it certified. When you get it don't open it. Just tuck away in a safe place and you have what is called poor mans copyright. It will stand up in the court of law. I talked with a lawyer and was told to do that.

I also google a copyright notice and put it in my books.

Been working on getting all the last bits done, it's proofread and edited and proofread again.

Writing is set, started to take the pictures to put them in, and get the cover started tonight. I am going to try Word,  and see how it comes out.

I have really enjoyed the process of this, and wanting to do more. If nothing else for some fun and relaxation.

You can do it online, here:
http://copyright.gov/eco/faq.html

Fees vary, but $35 was what I recall last I looked.
You own the copyright from the moment you created the work, but registering it helps sets the clock for determination of damages, should it be stolen or plagarized.

U der review now! I have a poor ma s copyright on it a d it's in my safe.

The cover was hard as I am working off a tablet, but was able to make something work on their cover creator. Hoping it will be up soon!

Woo hoo!! It published and I sold a copy!

I know  it will not be a huge publication or anything, and its nothing groundbreaking, but it is a cool process.

I want to do more, and it will get better as I learn more and get better with the cover. I'm not exactly thrilled with it, but limited because of the tablet and software I was able to use.

Do you have links to it? I will send out some tweets, promote on my author page on Facebook and anywhere else that I can.

Done. I didn't want to have any advertising issues, otherwise I would have linked it sooner.