The third ebook I read on how to publish an ebook was How to Publish an Ebook on a Budget – An Author's Guide to the Free Yet Professional Way to Get Your Writing Up For Sale on Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble NOOK, Smashwords and More by Stephanie Zia. This one was $2.99.
This book was disappointing to me, perhaps because I thought the first one I read (by Winters) was so professional and easy-to-read. This book had lots of information, and much of it is for writers in the U.K., though Stephanie includes information as she knows it from the U.S. But I didn't find the reading to be as smooth as I needed it to be on a non-fiction how-to subject.
Also, sadly, there were enough typos to make me irritable while reading. At one point later in the book, Stephanie explains a problem she is/was having with the formatting of the book, so it was easy to forgive the mistakes…though it was still irritating to read.
I preferred the Winters book because she gave reasons for and against options you can take in various areas on the road to self-publication (for instance, to buy your own ISBN numbers or not). Stephanie's book seems to be her account of her journey to self-publication rather than a complete manual of what to do, step by step.
However, if you are a bit of a techno-phobe, you might like the way Stephanie describes in detail the routes she takes to get things done in a way that seems easier or more understandable to her. I lean more toward the techno-geek side, so I skipped over those sections and was disappointed not to find the tech-y answers I was seeking.
On the plus side, she has “UPDATE” sections throughout the book where she tells you what has changed since she wrote that section. Very helpful – and interesting to see how quickly things can change. Stephanie, like the other authors, includes lots of little pieces of information not included in the competitors' books. Also very helpful.
Overall, while I didn't like the book as much as the other two, I thought it was worth three dollars and the time to read/skim. I highlighted on my Kindle things she mentioned that the other two didn't, and that's worth three dollars to me.
Was this book worth my time to read? Yes, but only just, skimmed quite a bit
Was this book worth the money I spent? Yes, there was enough to be worth $3 to me
Was this book long enough to make me feel I had good value for the money? Yes, a bit shorter than the others I think, but long enough to be worth $3
Was this book potentially all I'd need if I could only buy one? No, not with the other choices available, not to begin in a “I'm starting a small business” fashion. To just get a book up on the Internet, yes, it's potentially all you'd need.
