SELF-PUBLISHING 101

The Real Costs and Concerns of Going Indie

Self-Publishing 101The real costs and concerns of going indie

I’M LEGIT, YO• This is a big chunk of my day job.• I’ve self-published 3 full length novels, a short story, and a

novella.• I’ve also written a bunch of other things as a freelancer.

WHAT THIS ISN’T ABOUT• Punditry• Bad math• Scare tactics

WHAT THIS IS ABOUT• Starting your career as a self-published author.• Being a hobbyist author is totally fine! And costs a lot less!

• Planning ahead.• Asking questions and calling the guy at the front of the room on anything you think is total crap.

THE BUDGET• Don’t fudge it• Figure out what you can afford, and then

don’t go over it.• Two main options• Lump sum• Buckets

THE TO-DO LIST• Editing• Cover Art• Distribution• Marketing• Taxes

EDITING• Fact: You need an editor.• Editors typically bill in one of two

ways• By the word (based on word count of the

manuscript)• By the hour (based on the number of

hours they spend on the manuscript)

For what it’s worth, I prefer by the word.

EDITINGTwo broad types of editing

Story editing: looks for plot holes, character consistency, pacing, and overall storytelling

Significantly more time consuming and can come in anywhere from the development stage through final revision or anywhere in between. Typically charges by the hour due to more thorough reading of the work and more conceptual thinking. Probably not less than $30/hour.

Copyediting: focuses primarily on grammar, punctuation, sentence layout, syntactic style, sometimes language clarity, maybe tone

Least time consuming and, therefore, usually less expensive. Can range from fractions of a cent per word all the way to $30-$40/hour.

EDITING• So how do you know which kind of editing you need?

• Confidence and Self-Awareness• Don’t make this decision based solely on your budget.

• The 101 Publisher might also be a 101 Novelist. That’s totally ok!• The point is to have an end product that is professional and polished.

Always, always, ALWAYS budget for the copyedit.

COVERS• Mediocre (or worse) covers cost you money in lost sales.• Hire a cover designer.• You still have some decisions, though.• Stock photography• Illustration

COVERS• How do you make that decision?• Genre• Budget• The desire for a unique look• Your gut• Your designer’s recommendation

COVERS• Options!• Craigslist or Fiverr• Bibliocrunch.com: $25/month subscription (with a break to pay

for a year) and will walk you through the whole process (including editing, marketing, etc.)• SelfPubBookCovers.com: Starting at $69 and going up from

there• Extended Imagery• BrettGrimes.com: $325 for a unique, well-branded ebook

cover (a little higher if you include print)

DISTRIBUTION• Amazon is not the only game in town. In fact, their market share may be shrinking.• E-reader ecosystems• Discoverability• Give yourself every opportunity to find an audience.

DISTRIBUTION• What’s it going to cost me?• In this case, the larger cost may be in time rather than

dollars.• Multiply the time it takes to format and publish by the

number of digital stores you want to sell through.• Multiply the time it takes to run every sale, manage every

price promotion, or make a change when you inevitably discover a typo by the same number.

SELF-PUBLISHING SHOULDN’TBE A DAY JOB

• Draft2Digital solves the distribution problem• Formatting• Easily publishing to multiple digital stores• Metadata• End-Matter• We don’t get paid unless you get paid.

MARKETING• Branding • Execution

MARKETING - BRANDING• Branding can freak people out. But there’s good news and bad news!• Bad news: Your personal brand as an author is a HUGE

DEAL!• Good news: It is also doesn’t have to be that complex a

concept.

Branding is big. All encompassing.It requires holistic thinking.

MARKETING - BRANDING• Brand Building Blocks• Logo

• Simple• Iconic• Good in color or black and white

• Signature Colors• Colors say things, so choose wisely. Then use them everywhere.

• Tagline

MARKETING - BRANDING

MARKETING - BRANDING• Next Level Branding• Who are you on social media?• Word choices• Clothing choices• Catchphrases

MARKETING - BRANDING• The Cost of a Brand• You need a strong, well thought out foundation• Seek a professional• Be prepared to pay that professional anywhere from $500-$2,500

MARKETING - EXECUTION• There are three basic ways to execute your new brand.• Your website• Your mailing list• Everything else

WEBSITE• There are lots of things a website can do, but there are only three things a self-published author’s website must do.

About the AuthorThey did come to get more information about you, so a bio of yourself is a must. Make sure it includes links to all your social media.

Your BooksCovers, descriptions, and links to every digital store where your book is sold.

Contact Page Arguably the most important part of your website. Your contact form MUST allow your readers to sign up for an email newsletter!

WEBSITE• What’s it going to cost?• Simplicity will keep the cost down, but only so much.• Expect a range of $500-$2,500 (with a Draft2Digital partner

coming in at just under $800).

NEWSLETTER• Periodic contact with your devoted readers will:• Remind them that you exist.• Make them feel like they’re part of an exclusive

club.• And ensure they know when you’ve got a new

release to purchase.

NEWSLETTER• Free Short Stories & Novellas– For preference, these should be things

that you’re also selling and that tie into your most popular series.

• Contest Announcements – Contests don’t have to be big or elaborate. These are your fans. Give away a video chat or put somebody’s name in a story.

• New Release!!! – These are GOLD! Remember, the people who signed up are already your fans. They’re going to jump on a new release, giving your new work a shot in the arm that could really impact your sales rank.

NEWSLETTER• What’s it going to cost?• $0

• MailChimp (up to 2,000 subscribers)• Draft2Digital

EVERYTHING ELSE• Social Media• Paid ads• Blog tours• Book signings• Podcasts or personal appearances• Skywriting

EVERYTHING ELSE• What’s it going to cost?• Between $0-$∞

TAXES• Disclaimers!• All this advice is based on US tax law.• It’s also advice given by a professional marketer

and author. • Your situation may vary, so consult a

professional!

So, who wants to get incorporated?

TAXESBig thing to keep in mind!• Without choosing one of the three company options we talked about,

the author is a self-employed/sole proprietorship.• Unprotected personal assets!• They can be seized/forfeited to cover any debts of a failed company.• If the self-published author plans on taking on debt to fund the business or

acquire assets, then she should definitely choose one of the Big Three.

TAXES• Corporations• At the small business level, the main reason to incorporate is to

protect your assets from liens, debts, and company bankruptcy.

• Three typical options for the small business• Limited Liability Corporations (LLC)• S-Corporations• C-Corporations

TAXES• S and C Bureaucracy • Require regular shareholder meetings, detailed minutes of those meetings, and

just generally more meetings all over the place.

• Yes, even if you are the sole shareholder, you have to have these meetings…all by yourself.

• S-Corps also have ownership rules such as requiring citizenship and limiting the number of owners.

Based on simplicity alone, LLCs are looking pretty sweet.

TAXES• In the words of the Wu Tang Clan, cash rules everything around me!• We’d all put up with un-fun S and C stuff if it saved us money on taxes, right?

• The C does not stand for Cash, people.• They face the dreaded “double taxation” problem.• All net income is taxed at the 34% corporate tax rate and then all

distributions and/or payroll are taxed at the owners'/employees’ income tax rates.• That’s a lot of taxes!

TAXES• LLCs and S-Corps are “pass thru” entities.• profit and loss are not taxed at the corporate level.• Instead, owners are taxed at their own tax rates based upon the

ownership percentage.

LLCs are the best option for small business.

TAXES• Size matters!

• Growth is unlikely to be a major decision point unless the owner stops consuming all the profit as income and can afford to start taking a salary.

• A small company, one operating at less than $250,000 net income (after expenses) can operate as an LLC for a very long time.

• Once the profit begins to exceed that of what the IRS defines as a “middle class income” (roughly that magical $250,000 mentioned above), then a C-Corp could become the better option.

• It’s much more attractive to look at $1 million net income and paying yourself a salary of $100K with attributable taxes compared to $1 million in personal income tax. May we all be so lucky.

TAXES• Let’s talk about something stupid.• There’s some common wisdom going around the

internet that you should incorporate outside of your home state to reap the benefits of business-friendly states.• This could be true, but it adds layers of complexity

best avoided if possible.• However, you may live in a state that is just

heinously unfair to your situation. If so, the added difficulty may be worth the financial incentive.

TAXES• So what’s it going to cost me?• In most states, the fees for filing paperwork and getting business

licenses are only a few hundred bucks.• Depending on a variety of factors and preferences, you probably need

to budget at least $1,000 to set up your new incorporation.

I mean, if I told you to get a professional to make your book cover, what did you think I was going to say about

taxes?

Joshua Unruh, Director of Marketing@draft2digital

www.draft2digital.comwww.facebook.com/draft2digital

Download our presentation at http://www.slideshare.net/JoshuaUnruh/se

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