Everybody has a story to tell. And November is National Novel Writing month. So, you may be working hard to pen your novel. Next up: landing a publisher.

Interesting a traditional publisher is no small feat. In the bad old days, years of work often resulted in nothing. Not any longer.

More and more writers are choosing to self-publish. Using online services, books can be published inexpensively and easily. And you can make money along the way, too.

Here are some options available.

AMAZON.COM

Amazon's CreateSpace prints books as they're ordered. Authors upload books for free. ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) also are free.

You should order a proof copy of your book. Check for errors and see how your book will look. Proof copies start around $4.

You set your book's price. But you need to figure in CreateSpace's charges. You'll pay for the printing; this starts around $4. Amazon also takes a percentage of the list price.

For books listed on CreateSpace, the commission is 20 percent. For books on Amazon, commission is 40 percent.

LULU.COM

Lulu offers a variety of sizes and bindings for your book. You pay for the binding and then a per-page fee. Bindings start at $2.50; per-page fees start at less than 2 cents.

Your book will be listed in the Lulu Marketplace. Or, you can manufacture books to distribute yourself. Prices for these books are different. Bindings start at $1.50, and per-page fees start at 2 cents.

An ISBN is available for $100. Lulu also offers a variety of paid services for editing and layout.

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

You should also make your book available digitally. E-book readers are gaining rapidly in popularity. You'll want people to be able to read it on computers, the Kindle and other e-book readers, and the iPhone.

Amazon's Digital Text Platform helps you publish your book for the Kindle. It is free to upload your book. It will appear in the Kindle store.

You set the list price for the book. You'll get 35 percent of list price. Amazon may discount your book; this won't affect your earnings.

The Kindle uses a proprietary format. You should make your book available in other digital formats also. This means you'll need to visit other sites.

Scribd.com is one of the most popular destinations for document sharing. It has become popular for sharing and selling book-length works.

There's no charge to get up and going on Scribd. You can upload your book in a variety of formats.

Another option is the PDF format. Many e-readers accept PDF files. PDFs can also be read on the iPhone. However, this isn't ideal.

You set the book's price. Scribd keeps 20 percent.

Lulu also distributes e-books in its Marketplace. You set your price.

Reach Kim Komando at gnstech@gns.gannett.com.