Every time I write a post about writing and marketing books, I’ve always had this niggling worry at the back of my mind, asking me if whatever advice I was offering would really help.
After all---
·       When I first started, I had a publisher to do marketing for me.
·       By the time I started self-publishing, I had a small but growing readership.
·       I received additional promotion from the boxed sets I had the fortune and privilege to be a part of, many of which made it to NYT and USAT bestselling lists.
·       I had mentors, whose advice was golden.
Now, a question: what if I wouldn’t be able to have any of this if I hadn’t started out with a publisher?

This has always bothered me…or at least it had until an experiment with another pen name has challenged me to put my money where my mouth is. So I applied my own advice, and I’m happy to tell you that the results have been astoundingly positive.
For a breakdown of the entire process, let’s start with what I did prior to releasing the book---
1.      I picked a trend in romance that I figured would still be hot by the time I finished writing.
2.      I worked on an outline for a trilogy with a possibility for continuing the series if there was a demand for more books.
3.       Each installment was about 10k words or less, and they had the dreaded C word for readers: cliffhangers!
4.       I ordered covers patterned after the latest bestselling romances targeting the same trend.
5.       I decided to price everything at $.99 and enroll all three in KU.

Books 1 to 3 were released in quick succession, the first 2 just days apart and the last one a week or so after. I made sure to do a bit of free marketing such as---
1.      Making use of Amazon’s free days for Book 1
2.     And reaching out to Facebook page owners while Book 1’s free to download, asking them if they could the post the book for me and offering them ARCs for reviews and/or giveaways.
3.     (Indirect marketing of sorts) I asked readers to let me know if they wanted a Book 4.

 Once Book 3 was out, I was earning approximately our daily minimum wage (net total for all three books), and almost all of it is from KU borrows. I was incredibly happy with the earnings, but I felt like I should also give paid marketing a try. So I did, and the results were even more overwhelming.
Let’s just say that for every $1 spent on paid advertising, I earned it back and $3 more. I do have to warn you, though: I was only able to enjoy this level of ROI with a medium-range budget for marketing. 

I’ve thought about this long and hard, and personally, I think it’s okay not to do paid marketing at the start. Just see how things work out first. You have to be patient though; this is definitely the longer and harder road to profitability. I also have to admit that I only invested in paid marketing because I could afford it.
But if I didn’t, I’d have done things a bit differently.
·       Outline, write, and finish a series of novel-length standalones (length requirement  is because of KU's new payout structure).
·       Release in quick succession.
·       Enroll everything in KU, with the first one at $.99 and the rest at $2.99
·       If I don’t earn enough from KU, I’ll ditch it after three months and release wide.
·       I’ll set Book 1 free and reach out to Facebook page owners about it.
·       If and when I could afford it, do occasional paid marketing (low budget).
Rinse and repeat until I’ve grown my own readership.
And that’s it. If you have questions, feel free to post a comment below or email me. I know I’ve simplified things too much, and I haven’t talked about how to write a “good” book that would sell and all, but here’s the thing. I don’t think it’s my place to tell you what’s good or not. What works for me may not work for you, so I’ll just leave that part for you to figure out.
Always keep writing! 

Okay, technically KU didn't change but rather how Amazon pays KU authors did.
Selena Kitt on The New Kindle Unlimited - What It Means for Authors and Readers
Hugh Howey on Why KU Short Fiction Still Makes Sense
The Guardian on Amazon's Pay-Per-Page Plan Could Alter Writing As Well As Royalties
David Daughran on The Great Amazon Hysteria: Part 31
Now, me, my knee jerk reaction was - I hope this doesn't make readers eventually think quantity = quality (in terms of the book's length). But then I got to read other people's reactions - saw how they perceived it in a different way, and yes, I do see their points, too. Some people think, for instance, consider the new payout scheme is a great thing because authors who write real page-turners are rewarded more than those who, well, don't. 
BUT...
Remember when movies couldn't yet be downloaded online illegally? When there weren't pirated movies you could buy easily (or at least it's still so in Third World countries like PH)? Before movie piracy, there were video rental stores. Back then, I was one of their loyal customers. Sometimes, I'd end up paying them a visit more than once a week, and I'd usually borrow several so I can take advantage of their 4 + 1 free promo.
Anyway, there'd be times when I'd borrow Titles A, B, C, D, and E, but because of one thing or another, I'd only end up watching 3 out of 5. Now, do I get a refund for the two ones I didn't get to watch? Nope. And that's okay. It's only fair, IMHO, which is also the same reason why I don't think the new payout scheme is completely fair. 
Of course, I also know it's early times yet. Moreover, we saw how things eventually worked out for brick-and-mortar video rental stores. Could be Amazon doesn't want the same thing to happen to KU. And I totally get that, too.
Secondly, there's that new change over at Scribd, which announced its intention to rotate romance titles in its catalog. Two things I can't help thinking about this---
EITHER 
A) Scribd saw that KU would be earning more with their new payout scheme and thought that they should change their policies, too, to ensure they're still able to compete in the long run.
OR
B) KU foresaw what was coming for Scribd and took the necessary preventive action to avoid having the same thing happen to them.
And just so we're clear - those are only my guesses. (I feel it's too big a coincidence that these two major changes are taking place at about the same time.) 
Since I don't have any books on Scribd (or Oyster either, for that matter), I don't consider myself in the position to speak about how this would affect its authors. I just hope it eventually works out for everyone. As for KU...I know that their new payout structure is also meant to weed out books that were written solely to game the system (e.g. creating 10-page "books" so that merely opening to Page 1, which is equal to 10% of the book, will earn them a dollar).  I'm all for that but, personally, I'd rather Amazon offer KU authors a choice - higher pay-per-page rate vs. a low but fixed rate for the number of times your book's borrowed up to at least 10% (basically the old rule). 
I just feel this would be fairer. Getting paid per page will make KU worth it for authors with, say, longer novels or those who believe they've more to gain from it (i.e. they know their books are read cover to cover).
As for those who opted for a lower fixed rate, these authors may earn less per book but at least they also don't need to worry about whether readers who borrowed their works actually have time to read them, too.

What does this mean to Filipino authors?
I used to advise new or aspiring Filipino authors to give KU a try so they could enjoy added exposure / visibility for their titles. I also encouraged them to write serials - if their story allows it and they're comfortable writing it (like I am. I'm sorry, but I just love the high I get when writing a cliffhanger). 
However, due to these changes, I personally think it's best you hold off from enrolling in KU just yet. Let's wait and see how much the pay per page is after July (we should know mid-August).  You can publish your new book whenever you want, but just keep in mind that KU + new releases tends to work better than KU + old releases. Since with your first 30 days, you have a shot at getting on the Hot New Releases lists, you're likely to get more clicks if you're in KU while your book's ranking. 

P.S. Everything above is only my opinion. You're entitled NOT to believe it's right, and you're entitled to your OWN opinion, too. Also, I only have a few books in KU and they're not my biggest earners. I have little to (directly) gain or lose, regardless of how the new KU payout scheme works.
P.P.S. Today (July 1, 2015) is Day 1 of KU's new payout scheme. Let's see how it goes. Also, remember that you can un-enroll your books from KU anytime between July 1 and Sept. 30.

If you haven't any idea about the lawsuit involving a self-pubbed book titled A Gronking to Remember, then you might want to read this first. 
I feel it's important to tackle since a recent discussion with another writer reminded me that there are still a lot of people - especially here in PH - who aren't aware of the ins and outs of self-publishing. More so when it comes to the legalities.
If you've read the article, then you know that the more pressing issue hasn't anything to do with the book at all. Rather, the big question is the outcome of this lawsuit could change the definition of 'publisher' where companies like Apple and Amazon are concerned.
(For the record: I do not consider Amazon et al as publishers. I'm the publisher of my own books, and they simply provide me with a platform or services to distribute my books to readers)
In any case, if you are self-publishing / have self-published your work, it's best to play it safe and consider yourself SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for everything that has to do with your book. If you don't take care with your choice of cover, use of copyrighted material in your book or marketing materials, you might very well be sued and imprisoned as well as fined for it.
If you are new to self-publishing---

• Always make sure you have the RIGHT to use a photo or illustration that you want to use for your book's cover. You may or may not have to pay for this right. 
• Even if you were the one who took the photo, it's also possible that you're not allowed to use it for your book cover (e.g. a photo of a celebrity). Same goes for your own illustrations (e.g. a drawing or even a caricature of a real-life senator, Mickey Mouse, or Sam Smith).
• You are almost always not allowed to use lyrics - no matter how short - of any song in your book without express permission. You may or may not have to pay for use. Same goes for excerpts for most books, plays, articles, and essays (basically any work created by someone else).
• You are definitely NOT allowed to include any company logo or trademark in your book cover without permission (e.g. Nike's check symbol or BMW's logo).

Last but not the least, when in doubt, ASK, and be sure to ask the right person/s (not me, though).

From time to time I receive questions about legal stuff related to self-publishing, and a recent email from a fellow writer made me realize that I haven't yet dedicated a post to this. As I'm neck-deep with deadlines this month and I'll be writing like a shark for most of June because of it, I thought today would be the best time to write a post about it.

• What's the royalty rate of Amazon for self-publishers based in the Philippines?

It used to be that if you can't provide Amazon with a tax identification number issued by the US, you won't be able to take advantage of the tax treaty between PH and US. That means Amazon will automatically withhold 30% from your royalties. If, however, you were able to provide them with an US-issued TIN, then you'll be able to take advantage of the tax treaty and have Amazon only withhold 15% from your royalties.
Due to certain changes with KDP, however, I think you no longer need to provide Amazon with a U.S. issued TIN. I can't help with this, unfortunately, but if you try signing up for a KDP account, you'll be able to see if they still require one or not.

• Does Amazon send royalties by check?

If you cannot provide them with a US bank account for them to deposit your royalties to, then Amazon will send your royalties by check. With the latter, you will need to open a US dollar deposit account. With the former, you can check requirements of US banks that allow individuals to open accounts with them online.
Please keep in mind that Amazon also has the same requirements for affiliate commissions. If you can't provide them with US bank details, they will also mail you a check for this.

• How do you pay your taxes? 

Unfortunately, this matter isn't as cut and dried as we like. A lot of factors have to be considered, such as whether you set up a sole proprietorship as a self-publisher, etc. For this, I strongly recommend you consult an accountant.

• How do I self-publish with other retailers aside from Amazon?

Most other non-Amazon retailers require you to either be a US citizen or have a US-registered corporation before you can self-publish directly with them. This is obviously a deal breaker for most, but don't worry - there's another way to get around it. Simply upload via websites like Smashwords and Draft2Digital. Just remember to send them a completed W8-BEN form so that they'll only withhold 15% of your royalties instead of 30%. 

I think that's it, but in case you have additional questions just drop me a line by email, posting a comment here, or using my website's contact form. Happy self-publishing!

I've been asked several times about why I have so many FREE books (of course, I've also been asked why I don't have ENOUGH books that are free, but that's another story :D).
Anyway, what I'm about to share is nothing new at all. You can check out other veteran indie authors' blog posts and they'll tell you the same thing (and probably even more). I've also discussed this a few times in the past, I think, but in any case, I just thought I should write my own in-depth post about the power of free to show how free books as a marketing tool can also work for Filipino authors like you and me. 
Please note: 
All screenshots below were taken around around 3 to 4AM EST, May 7.
All screenshots are based on Kindle (Amazon) sales. If I can find some free time again, I'll try to share graphs based on B&N and iBooks sales.

Now, here's what happened to Book 1 Dear Greek Billionaire when the prequel went free. You'll notice that sales started climbing up May 5. 

And then Book 2 Love, Your Greek Billionaire...

Now, Book 3 Forever & Ever, My Greek Billionaire also went out May 6. We can say, for the sake of argument, it may be the fact that the series is complete that drove sales to Books 1 and 2. 
But that's not the case at all. When I look at my graphs, I saw that my first-day-sales for Books 1 to 3 are virtually the same. If Book 3 is the reason that I have new readers snapping up Books 1 and 2, there should also be a significant increase in the sales of Book 3 (I should also note that, because of the length of my books, a reader can finish all three (or four, including the prequel) in one day).
If I have enough time, I'll try to post another set of screenshots to show the effect of free books on sales past May 6. But for now, I hope we can at least agree that free books CAN drive sales.  

Doing paid marketing for free books is optional. When my book went free on May 4, there were already people who downloaded the prequel without me doing any marketing, enough to get the book to Top 500 overall for free books on Amazon. But I still like paying for advertising because - at this point - I feel my time is better spent writing than doing marketing. But I have done my own marketing in the beginning, with good results, so it can be done. 
Now, because I did pay for advertising, some of you may question whether I was able to recoup the money I spent on advertising. (PREPARE YOURSELF. CALCULATIONS ARE COMING)

Step 1: I calculated the average number of copies sold per day between April 27 to May 3 (last 7 days of sales before the prequel went free on May 4) for DEAR GREEK BILLIONAIRE and got THIS NUMBER.

Step 2: I then calculated returns that can be attributed to the prequel going free.
May 6 Royalties - (THIS NUMBER x Royalty Per Book) = Profit #1.

Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 for LOVE, YOUR GREEK BILLIONAIRE.
May 6 Royalties - (THIS NUMBER x Royalty Per Book) = Profit #2.

Step 4: Calculate how much I still need to earn to recoup my advertising expenses.
Advertising Expenses - (Profit #1 + Profit #2) = Balance

Based on my calculations, I already earned back 57.90% of what I spent on advertising on May 6. 
Based on past experience, I think I need about 2 to 4 days more to earn the back the rest. 
Everything is pure profit after that. :D

One thing I should spell out is that, obviously, all these books are under ROMANCE. Not sure how the numbers would differ for other genres but if you check out Russell Blake and J.A. Konrath's blogs, I think it's safe to say that free books helped them a lot, too. 
Also, it definitely took longer for me to recoup paid advertising expenses in the past. I was a newer author, I had fewer books, and I made a couple of rookie mistakes. So...bottom line, YMMV. 
However, I believe you can improve results on setting your book free with the following:

• If you have a series / serial, set Book 1 or the prequel free.
• Cliffhangers can get you lots of love and hate. I personally love writing them, and though you could get a lot of flak of it, there's also nothing like a cliffhanger that gets readers to one-click faster). In my part, I try to give readers a heads up in advance about it. For The Greek Billionaire and His Secretary, I warned readers that there's heartbreak ahead (they rightfully equated this to cliffhangers) and it will be so until the last book.
• Set the book free once you've completed the entire trilogy (especially if all the books revolve around one couple) or you've written at least 80% of your series (say, Part 4 in a 5-part serial). I learned this from Liliana Rhodes, by the way.
• Make sure you have all the links available in your front and back matter before setting the book free.
• Experiment with covers and blurbs for Book 1. 
• Do marketing (paid or free). There are all sorts of things you can do, and you may have to experiment with each (a.k.a. trial by error) until you find out what works for you.
• If you're writing a series of standalones, you can switch it up. Let's say Book 1's free for a year. You can get it back to paid then make Book 2 free. I learned this from Cora Seton, although I forgot if it was from an article or podcast.
• Some authors give readers an added incentive for clicking the sequel by pricing Book 2 at $.99 then the rest at $2.99 or whatever their regular price is. I haven't done this yet, but I heard from other authors that it worked for them so I thought I should share this tip as well.
• Have it available on as many retailers and websites as possible.

And that's it. I hope this helped! :)

So first of all - this is my anniversary post. Almost two months late, I know. I didn't get to write one right away because I couldn't think of any new information to share with you guys then. But now, I do, thanks to the new trilogy I recently started (and which is also about to end).

The Art of Trusting a Greek Billionaire (Book 2 in my six-part serial) was released in December 2013. Average word count for the books was 20k to 25k although Book 5 (the longest) was about twice as long, if I remember correctly. 
When you do serials on Amazon, expect a lot of low-star reviews hating on the length (or lack thereof) of the book. Ranking doesn't have that much staying power either although there are exceptions to the rule. (Case in point, my super fave Whitney Gracia Williams). 
On the other hand, you can also see from the chart that Apple users don't give an eff about the length serials. On Amazon, my biggest selling books for each month are the newest releases. On Apple, my newest release also takes the #1 spot but the second spot ALMOST ALWAYS goes to - yes, you got it - The Art of Trusting a Greek Billionaire, which is one of my oldest self-published books.
My takeaway: If you like writing short (and steamy), Apple is your BEST (but not your only) friend. Just be sure to have a permafree to keep sales steady. I really want to encourage Filipino authors to write serials since we grew up on serials and cliffhangers - I mean, hello, our telenovelas are rife with them and if you do them right, they can make a reader more invested in a book. Personally, as an author, nothing makes ME more invested in my own books than the heartbreak my characters are experiencing. The more painful it is, the more invested I am in their stories.

Now, one of the reasons why Trusting continues to sell well (based on my fairly low standards :D) on Apple is because Book 1 is permafree and drives sales for Book 2. Recently, I started a new trilogy, which is set in the same world as my first Greek billionaire serial. The only difference is that the new trilogy has NO PERMAFREE to boost sales for the second book. My prequel, The Greek Billionaire and His Secretary, was released at $.99c. Dear Greek Billionaire, Book 1 in the trilogy, was released a couple days after it.

This was an eye-opener for me. Huge eye opener, which is why I'm rewriting a part of Book 2 and use it as a permafree to boost sales on Apple. BN sales as shown in the chart are normal for a $2.99 release - although the chart makes my earnings from BN miniscule, you have to remember that BN's market is also a lot smaller compared to Amazon's. 
My Apple sales usually outpace BN sales with a permafree but obviously that's not happening with DGB.

ALL MY SELF-PUBLISHED SERIES start with Book 1 as free. Old ones like The Werewolf Prince and I don't count because they're not self-pubbed. Even my Silver and Lace series will have  either a free prequel or short story of sorts to promote the series. But with my new trilogy (Stavros and Willow), I tried something different. I didn't set the prequel free but instead priced it at $.99 since it was only 44 pages long or about 10k words. I had super low expectations that it would sell since I figured people were used to me making Book 1 free. But THIS happened. 

My ratio for Amazon / BN sales are never like that. NEVER.  But for the first few days, BN sales actually outpaced sales in Amazon and honestly, if I were to base it on market size, I think TGBHS was able to sell at the same pace on both Amazon and BN for more than a week. I've NEVER sold this well on BN before so I'm thinking that it's a combination of a good strategic title and a $.99c price point. Obviously, it's just mostly conjecture at this point, I know I need more hard data, but even so, I have a good feeling it has to do with those two things.
Anyway, because sales of TGBHS were so spectacularly curious, I wondered how effective it was at driving sales to the next book, which is DGB. I compared this to the sales of Burn, which was preceded by Book 1 (Swish) being in a USAT/NYT bestselling boxed set (Wild Rides). 

Obviously, not that huge a difference. But there are a couple things to note. 

• DGB went live only a few days after TGBHS. Burn went out THREE MONTHS after. 
  
• Swish was part of a boxed set that made it to Top 50 on Amazon and even Top 20 on B&N. My $.99c prequel made it as far as Top 500 on Amazon and Top 100 on BN.

Again, I still need more data to make certain conclusions, but for now, I'm thinking $.99c releases for Book 1 is a good way to go and ESPECIALLY IF you release the next book right after. 
I also noticed that Dear Greek Billionaire "seems" to be reaching more new readers compared to Burn as you'll see in the graph below. I'm thinking that Burn's decline on Day 16 was because I had reached virtually all of my old readers in the first fifteen days. Day 16 onwards, mostly new readers were the ones buying (and obviously they're not that many). 
With DGB on the other hand, weekend sales account for the spikes (Day 9, 10, and Day 16, 17) but other than that they're selling more steadily.  Again, I'll need more data to back this up but that's what I feel about it for now at least.

Sales for DGB are parallel with sales for TGBHS by the way (too lazy to create another graph for this, sorry) but when you consider that, then one way to interpret it is that TGBHS is still doing its job at driving sales for the next book.

Same thing's happened with Books 1 to 5 for Damen and Mairi although not in the same scale. I'm thinking new readers were more inclined to one-click The Greek Billionaire and I because it's a standalone.
My takeaway: Amazon and BN readers may be feeling so overwhelmed by the number of permafrees available that they've taken to checking out $.99 releases and using it to decide which series to follow. Obviously, the opposite's the case with Apple. For now, though, I'm thinking I'll stick with $.99 releases for Book 1 of my serials and see how things will continue to work out.
Another thing I want to emphasize on is TIME. If you feel you don't write fast enough then consider writing your entire series in advance before releasing them simultaneously. I know from firsthand experience that readers' interest in your books tends to wane the longer you make them wait. So either work on writing fast enough OR release the entire series in one go. ANOTHER alternative - which I'm still working on - is to have SPECIFIC release dates you can stick to (my greatest weakness alas) and maybe even set preorders up for sequels. That's one way you can be sure to get them hooked until the end.

If you've been following my blog, you'd know that I love, love, love talking about niches - probably as much as I love to talk about outlining. Now, one thing I've noticed is how sales for a particular book seems to be greater on one retailer than the other. 

A few facts about Meant to Be Yours:

• Released in October 2014
• Book 2 in a two-part serial
• Book 1 published in February 2013, was part of USAT bestselling New Adult Romance bundle in January 2014 and was set free when MTBY went live
• Categories / sub-genres: New adult / college age characters, contemporary romance with BDSM theme

First, here's a look at the number of copies it sells on Amazon, BN, and Apple.

At first glance, it may seem like Amazon is once again outpacing sales (slightly) on BN. But remember - BN has a smaller market than Amazon. When you take that into account, you'll know that MTBY has a larger market share on BN compared to how it's doing on Amazon (and Apple). This, by the way, is my ONLY BDSM-themed story (Jason & Keanne does touch upon this issue a little) so I'm thinking it's because of that it's still been selling steadily. 
And just to show you how well MTBY is doing on BN compared to my other books, here's a chart comparing sales of MTBY to Burn (Aug. 2014), This Round I'm Yours (Feb. 2015) and The Art of Trusting a Greek Billionaire (Dec. 2013).

Before my Greek books, I used to be more known for writing werewolf romances. Late last year, I finished a werewolf trilogy - it didn't rank as well as my first werewolf books (owned by my former publisher) and I think one reason was because the latter was initially priced at $.99 while my trilogy were priced at $2.99 for Books 2 and 3 (Book 1 is permafree though).
Another thing I've noticed is that shifter romance doesn't really sell that well outside Amazon (refer to graph). Initially, it did well on BN and Apple but afterwards, sales just kept declining until they reached a certain (low) plateau.
My takeaway: Every retail site seems to have its unique share of popular niches. Up to you to find out what it is and see which one you'd like to write more. Pricing may also have to be adjusted according to which niche you're in and, lastly, it may pay to be exclusive with Amazon, depending - again - on your niche.

Anyway, that's it for now and I hope even just a little bit of what I've shared is able to help you figure out your next step in self-publishing. Nothing I've shared is ground-breaking for most indie writers but for those in the Philippines, I thought it would be a good thing if I summarized everything here, in case some of you guys were wondering about the same things. 
Some of you may also be wondering why I haven't discussed KU. To be honest, I just don't have enough data because KU seems to work better for new SERIES and as of now, I haven't any to speak of. Next month, though, I'm hoping to be done with another shifter romance trilogy so maybe I'll have figures then. It depends.

Note: Everything here is BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. You aren't obliged to follow my advice or even think that I'm right. All I want is to give back and have more Filipino authors earning enough from self-publishing to be able to write full time. Is all.

So...last Friday, Lulu.com shared this infographic.

Indie authors generally agree with it, I think, but there were also those who went, 'not so fast...' Like the piece on Dear Author, for instance.
Both have good points, and I've got no plans to disagree with either of them. What I do care about is making sure that the problems the DA article pointed out are addressed so that Filipino writers like you and me continue to survive (or even thrive) in today's publishing scene. 

First of all, yes, there are a couple of unavoidable expenses - if you want your book to be good then yes, you need to pay for certain services.
Cover Art 
I know a couple of authors who do their own covers and really great ones at those. I can't remember, though, if the fact that they do their own covers is something they acknowledge in public so I won't name names. But the fact is, they do exist and so it IS possible that you don't have to pay for your own covers. But the question is, CAN YOU DO YOUR OWN COVERS?
If you can't trust yourself to be honest then look for someone artistic and someone you trust to be honest with you. Ask his or her opinion about your cover. If they think it sucks then it sucks. 
Remember, though, that you don't have to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on your first cover. A lot of cover artists today offer pre-made covers and these are always cheaper than customized ones but NOT NECESSARILY uglier or cheap-looking. My cover artists are Kellie of Book Cover by Design (from UK) and Clarise of CT Cover Creations (who's Filipino-Chinese like me). Both of them offer affordable ebook cover designs. 
Please take note I specified ebook cover designs. I suggest that you don't focus on looking for a paperback cover just yet. That's an added and unnecessary expense for now.
When getting someone to do you covers, just make sure you decide early on what your branding is. I learned about this a little too late so I had to redo a lot of my covers. By branding, I mean that people take one look at a cover and they immediately know it's YOUR book and even what SERIES it is. If you check my Greek billionaire romance series, you'll notice that I'm using the same font for GREEK. You'll also notice that I always use the same font and style for my author name for all of my books, whether they be contemporary or paranormal.
PROOFREADING AND EDITING
You absolutely must pay for this. I won't even go to explaining why. You must. My editor is Wendy, a.k.a. The Passionate Proofreader. Like Clarise and me, she's Filipino-Chinese and like Clarise, virtually 99% of her clients are from the US.
MARKETING
Some types of ebook marketing are free but still effective.

• Reach out to reviewers. Word of mouth always helps. If they can post their reviews on multiple sites, so much the better. Don't just limit yourself to Filipino readers. You want readers from the US and other countries, too, because with ebooks, the entire WORLD is your market.
• Give away a free ebook or create a free sampler of your work. It's not as effective as before but it will still get you readers.
• Make use of the "free days" promotion and Kindle Unlimited service available from Amazon's Kindle Select program. Just remember that when you do this, your book can't be available OUTSIDE Amazon.
• List your new releases with websites that offer free promotions. I recommend WTRAFSOG (Jamie McGuire herself mentioned it in one of her interviews) and other similar pages on Facebook.
• Use hashtags when posting or tweeting about your book. Every little bit of strategic marketing counts.
• Create a newsletter and get your readers to subscribe FROM DAY ONE. This is important. EXTREMELY important. I cannot emphasize it enough.

Now, what you do have to pay for---

• Blog tours. It's a hit or miss, but when they work, they REALLY work.
• Paid ads (such as Facebook and Bargain Booksy). They won't cost you as much money as you fear as long as you've targeted the right audience for your ad and you have a compelling image for your ad. Make sure you use an affiliate link to track clicks.

Ebook formatting
Most of the authors I know format their own ebooks. They say it's easy to do and I believe them. The only reason I don't format my own books is because it's covered by my publisher. Money saved is still money saved so please take the time to learn this skill. It should serve you well.
Paperback cover design and formatting
As mentioned earlier on, I don't recommend focusing on this if you're new and you mean to focus on selling ebooks. If you have other priorities then sure, it's up to you. But if you want to be smart and practical and you don't have any existing readership base who'd buy your paperbacks, why spend time and money on it? 
Website
The only thing I paid for is my domain name. The rest, I did myself. I use Weebly as my web host (it's very beginner-friendly and considerate of tech-challenged peeps like me) but a lot of people say Blogspot and WordPress are great, too.
Print and offline advertising
Not at this point. 'Nuff said.

Not everyone's suited or able to be a doctor, the same way not everyone's not suited to be an author, much less one who's Filipino and self-published at that. Be that as it may, I'm beyond happy to be one because at the end of the day, the pros that come with the job far outweigh the cons.

On being an author
UP: You get to tell stories for a living. I love telling stories. I could tell stories - well, write them that is - all day long. A lot of people have asked me about where I get all these stories, and I've always said it really just comes from anywhere and everywhere. However, so many people have asked me this that recently, I've been worried about running out of stories. It probably has to do with the fact that I have been writing a lot more in the past few months as well. Thankfully, though, when push comes to shove, my fingers just start moving, and the story gradually unfolds. 
So will I ever run out of stories? No. I won't like every story I conceptualise, but I definitely won't run out of stories to tell and I look forward to telling stories my whole life.
DOWN: You have a responsibility to your readers. For some, this may be an 'up' - like if you're the type to embrace being a leader or a role model. And I agree, this is an 'up' in the sense that authors should be thankful for having the privilege to reach so many people with their work and the power to change the way people think, feel, or even live. 
However, the downside in all of this is just how daunting it is. If your work promotes the wrong kind of message, you could end up influencing your readers to do something wrong or make them think that something wrong is actually right. 
UP: You don't need to leave your home to work. Again, this is one of those things that could go either way but for me, it's a tremendous advantage. Having to go to an office to work doesn't just take time better spent on writing. It also requires more effort and money. Also, being able to work from home means that you don't have to dress for work, too - which (for me) is really convenient.
DOWN: You don't get to talk to a lot of people. Most of my days are spent either cooped up inside the room writing or typing away at a coffee shop. Either way, I don't have the time, inclination, or need to talk to people. Being an introvert, I find the solitary nature of my work an advantage. However, it's also made me feel more unused to being with so many people, to the point that I've become even more socially awkward. 
UP: You're your own boss. This is another up/down factor. It's an advantage because it means what you says goes. You don't need to ask permission from anyone. On the other hand, this also makes you fully accountable for everything. If you're not self-motivating and self-sufficient, then you'll find it hard to stick to your deadlines and meet your writing goals.
DOWN: You are (to an extent) dependent on trends. I know it can be argued that every job is dependent on market trends and demands to a certain extent, but I also think the job of an author is more so than others. While many consider books as valuable commodities, they cannot, however, be strictly defined as a basic or necessary good the way, for instance, water, food, or even fuel is. A lot of people are able to survive - even live happily - without ever reading a book, much less buying one. It's for this reason that authors have to remember how important it is to please their readers if they want to continue selling books and making money from it. Obviously, if you don't care about making money and you're just writing for the art then this factor doesn't apply in your case. :D

On being self-published 
UP: You write what you want. Just do a little digging, and you'll be able to read numerous articles on how traditionally published authors have their most precious manuscripts turned away without any offers simply because it wasn't what the editors considered "sellable". If you want to be traditionally published, you need to go through several gatekeepers: agents, editors, publishers. Granted, self-published authors face the same dilemma, too. They could end up writing something they don't like because they know what sells as well. The difference here, however, was that they chose to write those books. No one forced them to write those books the same way that nobody can stop them from writing or publishing whatever they want.
DOWN: You need to be business-minded. I've talked about this matter to death, so I'm going to keep it short this time: if you can't be business-minded about your work, then self-publishing might not be for you. Luckily for me, I've got Chinese blood and Chinese are very, very business-minded. :D 
UP: More royalties! This is nothing to scoff at, especially when you see the latest surveys about authors not making as much money as most people think they do. 
DOWN: Less opportunities to get your books in bookstores. Like any author, I've also dreamt of seeing my book in bookstores. I had that dream when I was in my mid-twenties (just a local publishing deal, mind you, so that book never made it outside PH). It was a fantastic experience. Would I care to experience it again? Of course. But would I trade my self-publishing career for it? Absolutely not. :D 
UP: You have the flexibility and liberty to experiment. This is even more essential nowadays because with so much diversity being offered by indie authors, just about anything can be a huge hit, which would then immediately create a huge demand for similar books. Traditionally published authors are advised not to chase trends simply because by the time their books are out in the market, it's too late - the trend's no longer a trend. But it's a different situation for self-published authors. Because you're your own boss, you have the ability to cater to those markets right away.
DOWN: You need to live with the stigma that's still associated with self-publishing. I'm not really sure this will ever go away so if the thought of being looked down on by traditionally published authors and publishers greatly bothers you, then self-publishing might not be your best bet.

On being Filipino
UP: You have the potential to be unique. Most internationally and independently published books are written by native English speakers, which are mainly Americans, British, and Australians. As a Filipino, I'm definitely part of the minority but I consider this a good thing. I've always been told that my heroines are not like others and I truly believe one of the reasons for this is the fact that I'm Filipino. Being different is never a drawback - and you just have to believe it's not to turn it into your specialization.
DOWN: Your English may be considered "strange". This, by the way, is more likely to be a problem if you've lived in the PH your whole life or you haven't spent a significant amount of time in any native-English-speaking country. The good news, however, is that you can improve on this. 
DOWN: People might not understand or appreciate what you're writing. This factor actually plays quite the critical role in my life. As many of you know, PH is a conservative country and one that's predominantly Catholic / Christian. Since I write steamy books, I do my best to avoid mentioning about anything regarding the genre or type of my work. I just know that if I mention the heat level of my books, a lot of people would start looking at me differently. I even hesitate to volunteer in churches because I don't care to risk embarrassing myself by being removed once they find out what I write (and decide that they hate it). Also, I don't care to risk putting them in the position of having to defend their decision for allowing "someone like me" to help out.

So there it is, the ups and downs of being a Filipino self-published author. It's just kinda sad that when I had to start thinking about the pros and cons of being a Filipino author, it's mostly disadvantages that occurred to me. Hopefully, one day, that will change.