SELF PUBLISHING: IS IT FOR YOU?
10 Tips to Get You Started in the World of Publishing
By Tracy Fortune
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Tracy Fortune’s Books:
Out of The Ordinary, Extra Ordinary Friends
Kaila’s Garden
I Wish I Were A Princess
Exploring Careers In Art
Other writing credits include articles for School Arts Magazine and Arts & Activities
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SO YOU’VE GOT AN IDEA FOR A BOOK…
Now
what?
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WHAT IS INVOLVED IN PUBLISHING A BOOK?
• ACQUISITION of Rights • PLANNING • EDITING • DESIGNING • ART DIRECTING • COPY EDITING • MANAGING • DISTRIBUTING • SELLING • MARKETING/
PROMOTING
Did you know there are
many steps to publishing a
book?
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YOU MAY BE WONDERING …SHOULD I PURSUE
TRADITIONAL OR
SELF-PUBLISHING?
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When a publisher buys a manuscript and various rights from an author (with or without a book agent) and agrees to
publish it in exchange for a compensation package (advance, royalties, etc.)
WHAT IS
TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING?
1. Manuscript/Book Proposal Submissions by Author Some want Query Letters first
2. Manuscript/Book Proposal Submissions by a Literary Agent
3. A Publisher’s Own In-House Writers
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How do TRADITIONAL PUBLISHERS select their books?
WHAT IS
SELF PUBLISHING?
Self-publishing is when an author handles the entire book publication process. All details
including printing, distribution, and marketing.
Most self published books are done using Print-On-Demand publishing.
POD publishers don’t screen submissions, and
primarily offer printing with some design services available
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www.lulu.com www.createspace.com (Amazon) www.iuniverse.com www.authorhouse.com www.blurb.com www.xlibris.com www1.lightningsource.com
www.go-publish-yourself.com
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WHO ARE SOME OF THE PRINT-ON-DEMAND PUBLISHERS?
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PROS & CONS OF
SELF-PUBLISHING
VS
TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING
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• Most aspir ing authors who self publish don’t have the expert ise in each of the many dif ferent aspects of publ ishing a book. I t can be chal lenging to gain the knowledge you need to do this on your own or f ind quality people to help you with each step. You may need to hire people to work with you.
PROS OF SELF
PUBLISHING
• The writer controls al l aspects of the publishing process , including contents , design, and appearance, as wel l as pric ing, where the book is marketed and distr ibuted. With a tradit ional publ ishing company they can change your book or ask you to change it to suit their needs and vis ion
• All r ights remain with the writer , who has ful l ownership of his/her books, including the ISBN number.
CONTROL
CONS
OF SELF PUBLISHING
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PROS OF SELF
PUBLISHING
TIME • You don’t need to submit a proposal or manuscript for
acceptance. Editors of bigger publishing houses editors can take up to six months to get back to you about your manuscript or query
• With self-publishing, an author can have a finished book in their hands within weeks or even days. If a traditional publishing house decides to publish your book, the actual book producing process typically takes at least a year after it has been accepted for publication.
• It takes countless hours to get a book completely ready to be send to the Print-On-Demand Publisher. Editing and design work take a lot of time.
• You will likely need to invest time in learning how to do each step
• Once the book is printed the marketing and distribution are also incredibly time consuming, often with limited results
CONS
OF SELF PUBLISHING
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PROS OF SELF
PUBLISHING
MONEY
CONS
OF SELF PUBLISHING
• You make all the profits and don’t have to share this money with anyone.
• When you self-publish, you pay for everything—design, editing,
printing, advertising, and distribution. In traditional publishing, the publishing house pays for everything including the promotion of your book.
• When you self publish you don’t get an advance or any money up front. Profits only come once you sell books (and enough to cover your expenses). With traditional publishing you (may) get an advanced and have a greater likelihood of making money from royalties. Depending on the book this advance from a traditional publisher could be quite large.
• Most self-published books only selling 100-200 books
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10 TIPS FOR
SELF- PUBLISHING
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RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH
Visit book stores, libraries as well as surf the internet on sites like Amazon to find books that are
similar to yours. This will help you understand
your competition and can also help you find a publisher or
agent.
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TITLE CREATE A UNIQUE TITLE .
YOUR BOOK SHOULD BE EASY TO FIND IN A
SEARCH ON AMAZON AND GOOGLE. IT SHOULD COME UP IN THE FIRST COUPLE OF
SEARCH RESULTS.
MANY AUTHORS MAKE THE MISTAKE OF USING A TITLE THAT HAS TOO MANY OTHER
PRODUCTS IT WITH IT -- AND IT GETS BURIED IN SEARCH RESULTS.
MAIN TITLE SHOULD BE 5 WORDS OR LESS
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BOOK SIZE -CHOOSE A SIZE THAT GIVES THE BEST/GOOD PRICE PER BOOK (ESPECIALLY AS YOU WILL
BE DOING A SMALL RUN OF 1000 OR LESS)
-CHOOSE A SIZE THAT WORKS FOR THE CONTENT OF YOUR BOOK
- CHECK TO SEE IF THE SIZE YOU WANT IS
ONE THAT IS ELIGIBLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON
Size 4.25" x 6.75" 5.5" x 8.5" 6.0" x 9.0" 7.0" x 10.0" 8.5" x 11.0"
Name Mass
Market Trade
Paperback Trade
Paperback Textbook
Large Format
• Amazon has become a dominant bookseller, which means your book should stand out as a thumbnail image online because that's how most people are going to come across it .
• Cover should be a eye-catching, professional-looking cover
• Study other cover designs for ideas and current trends
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COVER DESIGN DESIGN YOUR BOOK COVER
TO LOOK GOOD SMALL
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BINDING PICK A BINDING TYPE THAT
LOOKS PROFESSIONAL
PUBLISHERS USE PERFECT BINDING (A KIND OF HOT-MELT GLUE) TO HOLD THE
BOOK TOGETHER. CHOOSE THIS METHOD IF YOU WANT YOUR BOOK TO LOOK
PROFESSIONAL.
ALTERNATIVES THAT ARE LESS PROFESSIONAL LOOKING INCLUDE SADDLE
STITCH, SPIRAL BINDING, DIY COMB BINDING. THESE ARE OKAY FOR MANUALS
AND CASUAL PUBLISHED WRITING.
• Get help with your editing.
• Consider hiring a professional editor
• Order a ‘proof copy’ so you can really see what it will look like. Often you see mistakes in this copy you missed when it was in digital form.
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PROOF READING EDIT, EDIT, EDIT
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ISBN CONSIDER BUYING YOUR OWN ISBN -- AND
CREATE YOUR OWN PUBLISHING HOUSE.
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PRICING
PRICING YOUR BOOK IS HARD
ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MUCH OF A PROFIT ON
EACH BOOK. PRICING YOUR BOOK HIGH WILL HINDER SALES .
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CREATING PRINT READY PDF
FILES
• Use a program like Adobe In-Design to create the layout of your book.
• You can upload images and text.
• Make sure the size of your document
matches the requirements of the publisher
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ORDER PROOF COPIES
WHEN YOU THINK YOUR BOOK IS
COMPLETELY READY…
- ORDER A PROOF COPY TO SEE HOW IT REALLY LOOKS
- REPEAT AS NECESSARY BEFORE
YOUR ORDER A BUNCH OF BOOKS
Self-Publishing a professional quality book is difficult. Most self-published books sell 100-200 copies.
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SELF-PUBLISHING A MEDIOCRE
BOOK IS RELATIVELY EASY
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1. Booksellers don’t like dealing with POD/SP services.
2. Your book likely will receive limited distribution/ marketing/publicizing. (besides what YOU do)
3. POD/SP books are far less likely to be professionally reviewed.
Self-publishing works best for people who are good at self-marketing..
Additional Insights Related to
Marketing a Self Published Book
Who does self-
publishing work best
for?
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NICHE BOOKS TEND TO DO BEST.
• Non-Fiction with well defined audience (ie seminar presenter or specialized art book)
• A book primarily for family and friends
• Re-printing your own out of print book
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LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
E-BOOKS • Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon) • Booktango.com • Lulu.com • PubIt (Barnes & Noble's) • Bookbaby.com • ibooks (Apple) • Smashwords.coom
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BOOKS TO HELP YOU WRITE A GREAT BOOK PROPOSAL
Earlier Edition was called “Putting Your Passion Into Print”
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BOOKS TO HELP YOU WRITE A GREAT BOOK PROPOSAL
Contains REAL sample book proposals that are
analyze for their strengths and weaknesses
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CONTACT INFO
Tracy Fortune Hudtloff Middle School
Lakewood, WA [email protected]
Good Luck on Your Journey…
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REFERENCES
Websites http://www.spacejock.com.au/SelfPublishing.html
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/pod/ http://www.booksandtales.com/pod/
http://www.underdown.org/self-publish.htm