If you are going to self-publish a book you will be running a small business. Depending on where in the world you are, the legal options might be different but you will most likely need to choose a name for your publishing business. Choose one that is not already used and that includes a clue as to what you do. In the case of a self-publisher this could include words such as “publishing”, “books” or “press”.
You will also need to design a logo to represent your self-publishing business. This logo will most likely be designed by a professional graphic designer or illustrator and will need to be printed both on the cover, spine and copyright page of your book. It is a good idea to get business cards designed and printed as well as other basics such as a letterhead, PO box, dedicated business bank account etc.
The next step is the market study...
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Self-publishing - More basic facts
Self-publishing used to be considered as bad as vanity publishing, but with so many recent self-publishing successes it is now possible to be a respected self-publisher. Indeed, many large publishers now follow with interest self-published and POD books and may in some cases buy the reprint rights of such books that might fit their publishing program.
Self-publishing a book does not mean in any way that your printed book will be of inferior quality than a traditionally published one. Or that it will not sell. However producing a high-quality, marketable book on your own does require some skills and effort, as well as a certain amount of money that will vary depending on many factors, for example how many sub-contractors you need, how costly the printing cost per copy is (and how big the print run is), and how much you invest in marketing.
Another thing to bear in mind is that self-publishing your first book may be just what you need to acquire a reasonable level of fame on your local market and therefore attract the interest of a traditional publisher. If you are keen to continue on writing and manage to first pull it off by publishing a successful, highly-sellable, good-quality book on your own that catches on really well chances are that you will soon be offered a publishing deal for your next project.
Landing a good deal with a larger publisher who can push your sales to the next level is something that has happened to many successful self-publishing authors over the years. I know this first-hand!
Self-publishing a book does not mean in any way that your printed book will be of inferior quality than a traditionally published one. Or that it will not sell. However producing a high-quality, marketable book on your own does require some skills and effort, as well as a certain amount of money that will vary depending on many factors, for example how many sub-contractors you need, how costly the printing cost per copy is (and how big the print run is), and how much you invest in marketing.
Another thing to bear in mind is that self-publishing your first book may be just what you need to acquire a reasonable level of fame on your local market and therefore attract the interest of a traditional publisher. If you are keen to continue on writing and manage to first pull it off by publishing a successful, highly-sellable, good-quality book on your own that catches on really well chances are that you will soon be offered a publishing deal for your next project.
Landing a good deal with a larger publisher who can push your sales to the next level is something that has happened to many successful self-publishing authors over the years. I know this first-hand!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Self-publishing - the basics
This blog, like my book, is aimed at people who would like to see their ideas in print through self-publishing. As the self-publishing author of several award-winning books, some of which have been translated into several languages, I felt like it'd worth spending some time sharing my experience. I have received a lot of requests from various prospective authors in the last few years and I hope this blog will be useful to them and other similar-minded people.
One of the first questions that come up when someone wants to see their work in print is to consider whether self-publishing is the right option for them. So to start with I'll look at what the options are to get a book on the market. There are three main ones.
The first and obvious way to get published is to do so through what I call a traditional publishing house. This is an established, often well-known, third-party publisher. Now, even if this is what you want to do, it is not so easy to achieve. And I guess if you are reading this self-publishing blog you will have found this out by yourself so I won't go into details here although there is plenty more info about getting published the traditional way in my self-publishing guide.
Another option that you might like to explore further is the use of a Print-On-Demand company (also referred to as POD company). POD companies offer publishing services and will publish your book, any book, for a fee. They may be a convenient way to publish your work if it is mostly intended for your friends and relatives. Indeed, POD companies often do not use offset printing and instead - as indicated by their name - print your book one at a time whenever an order is made. There are many reasons why in many cases this will not be suitable. Again, they are discussed in more details in my self-publishing guide.
Now, the third option is that of self-publishing your own work. This is the object of this blog. Definition first: true self-publishing is when the author of a book takes on and pays for all aspects of its publication, including but not limited to its production, distribution, marketing. In other words, you will take care of all the things that a traditional publishing house would normally do for you, if you were only the author.
This does not mean that you literally do everything yourself, but that you will be managing the whole publishing venture, bringing in outside help when required from specific contractors along the way (eg printer, illustrator). You will be running and financing a small business whose goal is to produce and sell a single product: your printed book. In most cases, the business’s goal is to make a profit over time even if it is usually not (and should not be) the main reason for self-publishing.
There are many aspects to producing, distributing, marketing and selling a book and this is the reason why this blog is dedicated to discussing the time-consuming but rewarding process of publishing your own work.
One of the first questions that come up when someone wants to see their work in print is to consider whether self-publishing is the right option for them. So to start with I'll look at what the options are to get a book on the market. There are three main ones.
The first and obvious way to get published is to do so through what I call a traditional publishing house. This is an established, often well-known, third-party publisher. Now, even if this is what you want to do, it is not so easy to achieve. And I guess if you are reading this self-publishing blog you will have found this out by yourself so I won't go into details here although there is plenty more info about getting published the traditional way in my self-publishing guide.
Another option that you might like to explore further is the use of a Print-On-Demand company (also referred to as POD company). POD companies offer publishing services and will publish your book, any book, for a fee. They may be a convenient way to publish your work if it is mostly intended for your friends and relatives. Indeed, POD companies often do not use offset printing and instead - as indicated by their name - print your book one at a time whenever an order is made. There are many reasons why in many cases this will not be suitable. Again, they are discussed in more details in my self-publishing guide.
Now, the third option is that of self-publishing your own work. This is the object of this blog. Definition first: true self-publishing is when the author of a book takes on and pays for all aspects of its publication, including but not limited to its production, distribution, marketing. In other words, you will take care of all the things that a traditional publishing house would normally do for you, if you were only the author.
This does not mean that you literally do everything yourself, but that you will be managing the whole publishing venture, bringing in outside help when required from specific contractors along the way (eg printer, illustrator). You will be running and financing a small business whose goal is to produce and sell a single product: your printed book. In most cases, the business’s goal is to make a profit over time even if it is usually not (and should not be) the main reason for self-publishing.
There are many aspects to producing, distributing, marketing and selling a book and this is the reason why this blog is dedicated to discussing the time-consuming but rewarding process of publishing your own work.
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