Tag Archive: How To Self Publish step by step


What is Print On Demand (POD)?

Filed Under: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions by Corinne — Comments Off on What is Print On Demand (POD)?
July 9, 2012
Self Publishing Advice for Blue Hens

Inquiring Hens want to know, what is POD?

POD is a good way to get a book ASAP as long as you have a PDF.

Print On Demand (POD) is the heart of the new publishing revolution. A publisher, or author, or pretty much anyone with a PDF  (Portable Document Format) file (an electronic copy of your book, already formatted, sized, and totally ready to print) can upload the file to a POD (Print-On-Demand) supplier and order up a single copy of the book. The cover of the book is usually a separate PDF file, uploaded at the same time. The important point here is that the PDF file is totally ready to go – no edits or adjustments required. The POD company prints either a single copy of the book, or as many as you have ordered, and ships it out. Fast.

Print On Demand is a tool that self publishers can use. Traditional publishers can use it too.

When someone orders my book through Amazon.com, they are ordering up a POD copy. I do not have a stock of printed books sitting in an Amazon warehouse in one of their strategically placed supply centers… although I could do that if I wanted to. I could have the books printed up ahead of time and shipped to that center, then Amazon would pull one from inventory and ship it out. This is a core difference between me, a self published author, and Simon & Schuster, a massive, big, respected, resourced, old-school, traditional publisher. Or one core difference, among others. Because I don’t have that big book inventory sitting in a warehouse, I don’t have all that money tied up there either.

Print On Demand also makes it possible that no book needs to go Out of Print ever again, as long as there are servers and electronic data in the world. Many books that existed before the publishing revolution are not yet available POD and so are still Out of Print… but this is a main strength of electronic publishing. Ebooks are another, but that’s another post for another day.

AND, this is a new industry. A new science. It has bugs.

I recently added a disclaimer paragraph to my PDF file at Amazon that tells my reader that their book was from a Print On Demand supplier, and if it is not perfectly printed, to please contact me at www.TheWestchesterPress.com. Because I had tested the system, and been in contact with readers, and some people got books that were not perfectly trimmed or perfectly printed. Quality control was running at about 90%, which still left some readers getting weird-looking books – and this was my only way to combat that issue.

But the benefits truly outweigh those problems, and Print On Demand is a wonderful thing… it makes Self Publishing possible.

 

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Willamette Writers Conference 2012 is One Month Away!

Filed Under: Resources for Writing and Self Publishing by Corinne — Comments Off on Willamette Writers Conference 2012 is One Month Away!
July 2, 2012
Self Publishing Advice Tulips

Hundreds of colorful ideas and connections will bloom at the Willamette Writers Conference 2012.

This year the Willamette Writers Conference is August 3 – 5, 2012 at the Portland Airport Sheraton Hotel. In addition to workshops and classes, there are agents, editors, authors, publishers… and authors with book ideas, manuscripts, or screen plays can pitch their ideas.

I’m really pleased that I went to the conference last year because I was able to see how it is to pitch a book idea to an agent. The pitch practice on Thursday night taught me a huge amount about the key elements of a pitch… genre, core idea, three minute overview...

It gave me the opportunity to see how a marketable idea, made into a well written book, presented by a creditable author, pitched to the right agent… can result in an agent/author relationship, which could then lead to a book deal.

It may seen odd that me, determined self published author, would go to a conference designed to get authors in with traditional publishers, but no no, it’s not odd at all. I don’t believe that self publishing and traditional publishing have to be exclusive of each other. I have, and will continue to, present my work to the traditional publishing world (clearly stating what projects I have self published and which I have not) and see if I get anywhere doing everything I can possibly do to keep writing. Since I’m blogging about it, we’ll see how far I get!

And also, the Willamette Writers Conference has classes and workshops galore on writing, editing, social media, self publishing, websites… everything a writer needs. And every year, it has more and more about self publishing… interesting, ay?

 

 

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Self Publishing Steps: Edit It… !

Filed Under: How To Series... Step By Step by Corinne — Comments Off on Self Publishing Steps: Edit It… !
June 29, 2012
Rocks of Self Publishing Advice

The rocky road of getting it edited.

The correct self publishing advice regarding editing is:
Hire A Talented Editor To Review Your Manuscript.
No question, it is worth it. Choose carefully, research the going rates properly… and TAKE  their editorial advice.

Two places where hiring services for a self published book is well worth the expense are: An Editorial Review and a Professionally Designed Cover….

With that said, what about using family and friends?

Some of them may be sitting on Bachelors or Masters degrees and they may be avid readers. What about them?

Many writing professionals I have studied have discouraged the use of family and friends as editors “because they won’t tell you the truth about your writing…”
And a paid professional will.

Those writing professionals must have a different breed of family and friends than I have, because my posse tells it to me straight. They are a tough crowd and it takes guts to pass out my Readers Draft to my Peanut Gallery. They are professionals, engineers, executives, managers, business owners, educators, academics and they love to read. They know what they like and they know what they don’t. Nothing gets past them and it takes both SPF 100 plus a Kevlar vest to open up those reviewed copies when I get them back.

But my writing is SO much better when I listen to their advice. I cherish their work. Their help, plus a page crawl through the Chicago Manual of Style, sets me on the road to a readable draft.

Family and Friends are a significantly valuable resource and should be treated accordingly. Acknowledgment in the book is a minimum, but the biggest respect for their effort is to take their advice. If one of my test readers has a problem with something in my book, I do not argue with them. I go back to the keyboard and fix it, even if I really want to defend my prose. Because I am not just the author of the book anymore. It is no longer just my work of art. I am now the publisher… and I need this book to sell. I need word of mouth recommendations, good reviews, kudos, prizes, accolades. I need readers to want to read it…

So, since I became a publisher… I would argue that the term “a well-written book” is truly more accurately “a well-edited book”….

 

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What is Vanity Press – What is Subsidy Press?

Filed Under: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions by Corinne — Comments Off on What is Vanity Press – What is Subsidy Press?
June 25, 2012

A true self publisher owns the ISBN number in their own name. The author has created a business, with a business license, that has a name – like The Westchester Press, and that name is listed as the publisher of record in all of the book information. That is Self Publishing.

If a service or company offers you the ISBN number for free, then they are the publisher of record. An ISBN number cannot be transferred. They will be the publisher listed for all of the book information. This is the heart of Vanity Press or Subsidy Press. You have paid them for their services in helping you produce some part, or all of, your book… and they are therefore the publisher. It’s called vanity press because any author can pay to have their book published. These services have a place in self publishing… but if they provided the ISBN number, then they are the publisher and it isn’t self publishing.

Horned Lizard of Self Publishing Advice

The Horned LIzard of Self Publishing Advice says….

This doesn’t always mean that they are collecting royalties on your book. Although I used my own ISBN number when I used Createspace, for the print-on-demand and Amazon listing of my book, Just a Couple of Chickens, they do offer the ISBN number in one of their service packages. And then they are listed as the publisher. But you still get a royalty based on each sale.

Subsidy Press is pretty much the same thing as Vanity Press… again it comes down to who provides the ISBN number.

You could provide your own ISBN number and still use the services of these companies – from editing to book design to cover to publishing channel. There is every possibility of hiring out every stage of the process. You should choose where to do it yourself and where to hire out, depending on your time, budget, interest, skill, and computer equipment – connections – software.

 But the bottom line is the ISBN number. Own it yourself and you retain your rights. Accept it from someone else and you’ve got a publisher and a possible rights problem.

More on ISBN soon… but if you are self publishing, go to Bowker.com and get a set of 10.

I choose to make it simple…. Own your own ISBN.

 

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Self Publishing, The Steps by Step

Filed Under: How to Get Started in Self Publishing by Corinne — Comments Off on Self Publishing, The Steps by Step
June 20, 2012
Barrels of Self Publishing Advice

Barrels of Self Publishing Advice Coming Up!

Upcoming posts will cover each of these steps in depths… definitions, tips, overviews, underscores…

Write It:
Before we publish ourselves, we have to have something to publish. Self publishing discussions usually start after this is done, but it’s a journey worth talking about.

Edit It:
The biggest critics of self publishing fault this step the most, and as publishers – we have to be good editors, or find good editors, or pay for good editors.

Re-Write It:
Because only ancient composers wrote complete perfection the first time around… and that’s probably a myth as well.

Re-Edit It:
Seriously. Editing is important.

Design It:
Book Design and Cover…How you do this depends on what you have installed. If you already have Adobe InDesign – great!  If not, don’t despair. There are plenty of tools out there.

Set Up Your Publishing Business For It:
That’s the irony of self publishing. You become a publisher. Business license and all. I’m writing (and self publishing) a book to help, step by step. But in the meantime… watch the posts!

Proof It:
This is another way to say that editing is really important. Let’s put out high quality books and deprive the self publishing critics of things to be critical about.

Publish It:
About the ISBN, the LCCN, Books In Print, Copyright, Distribution… you CAN do all of this yourself.

Market It:
A website to support it, Reviews, Interviews, Release List, Getting it in stores, Pitching it…

Stock it:
Print on Demand, Short Run Printing, Inventory – or not.

Support It:
Blogging, for instance. Keep the readers reading. Speaking, teaching, writing How To.

Do It All Over Again…
Because as Self Publishers we ARE publishers, and if you build a marketing stream you should use it again – efficient!

So please stay tuned… literally if you add my RSS to your feed reader, or by subscribing to the blog via email (three posts a week on average) or by checking back frequently or through the social networking I’m building. So many ways… so little time….. !

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Should I Self Publish My Book?

Filed Under: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions by Corinne — Comments Off on Should I Self Publish My Book?
June 18, 2012

Finishing a book is an enormous accomplishment.

Self Publishing Mountains

Mountains to climb in the process of self publishing.

I was so psyched to have actually finished that it felt like I had achieved the top of Everest.
And like the top of Everest… after a couple of hours of admiring the view, I began to think about what came next.
Because finishing the book was half the journey.

I began to submit my manuscript to traditional publishers and immediately realized that… even if I was one of the very few authors who got a book deal with my first book, it was going to be a long time before my book was on the shelf… and my book was a timely story about economic collapse, family, and chickens. I wanted to get it into stores NOW.

So I began to think about self publishing and immediately realized that… producing my own book was going to require an enormous amount of my own time and a steep learning curve.

So I looked into the services of companies offering to give me an ISBN number for free and manage most of the work for several hundred dollars and not-so-immediately realized that… I had to make smart decisions to protect the rights of my book.

One step at a time, I put in the time and climbed the steep learning curve and self published my book, and it did sell. I consider it a continuing success. Now I’m rolling out my second book… and here is my answer to the question of whether an author should self publish a book.

Do you have basic or intermediate computer skills and equipment – and a willingness to learn new computer skills?
If you do, consider self publishing.
If you do not, consider submitting to traditional publishers or subsidy presses.

Do you intend to write more books and eventually make as much of a living as a writer as you can ?
If you do not, then the effort and time required to produce one book might not be worth it.
If you do, once you’ve set yourself up to self publish one book, doing more books is very efficient.

Do you have a use for the skills you will learn in addition to producing your own books?
If you don’t intend to use these skills for publishing more of your own books, or publishing other people’s books, or hiring yourself out for employment, or using these new skills for current employment, then it might not be worth the investment of time and learning. Your time might be better spent writing writing writing, and paying for the publication services.

If you’ve got only one book in your heart and you just want copies to pass around to family and friends, then go through a vanity press.

If you’ve got the next Harry Potter in your heart and you can wait and you know your time is better spent writing, submit to traditional publishers and never give up.

 

If your readership is a niche market and you know your book will sell and you are up for the climb (including the climb down) then roll up your sleeves and self publish.

 

 

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Choosing a topic I can live with, for a long time

Filed Under: How To Series... Step By Step by Corinne — Comments Off on Choosing a topic I can live with, for a long time
August 1, 2011

Vision It… Write It (part of the series suggested by my publisher www.TheWestchesterPress.com, who is also myself, since I am self published)

When my finger hovered over that final self-publishing button in my production of my book “Just a Couple of Chickens,” I hesitated. Once I released the book – I was going to lose control of the consequences. Since it was a memoir – chicken tale – urban chicken story… everyone would know my story. It had been my original intention, when I dreamed my life as a writer, that I would put out a blockbuster scifi book under a pen name. Instead, my real name would be associated with this book and everything in it, and since I planned to market the heck out of it in every way I could possibly think of… something was going to hatch from it.

And so I came to realize, at that late date, what kind of a commitment it was to produce a book. More than just writing it, I was going to be living with it, living it – up to my elbows, for years.

And that made an impression on me regarding future book projects I had in mind. Knowing that so long as I remained untouched by publishing contracts, monetary advances, and agent relationships, I retained my ability to write anything I pleased – answerable only to my own pocketbook to determine the marketability of my manifestos… I realized that I would also want to consider how it would be to forge a relationship with my subject matter for a very long time, and to take that into consideration when I was planning my next book project.

The June 2011 newsletter of the Portland, Oregon based Willamette Writers has an excellent article by Laura Whitcomb on this subject titled “Invite the Right One In,” and the whole issue is worth some careful thought. Thinking through the long term life of my writing project at the very beginning is pretty important, particularly in self publishing, because I won’t be handing the project off. I’ll be staying engaged with it for years.

The magic of “Just a Couple of Chickens” definitely endures. It captures a time of our life that was joy, as well as struggle. I’m really pleased to see it still selling and still finding a market – but not so pleased that one of the reasons it is still so attractive to readers is because our economic hard times continue to persist. It’s a joy to market the book – and the bright yellow cover is uplifting. It is a joy and a journey to write the sequel, currently in progress.

So this kind of forethought is part of Vision It – the thinking that goes into a book before the writing does… while the writing does. Because throughout all this study of publishing and business, there is nothing if there is no good book, which will not write itself. And so I Write It every day. Which is probably why I can’t seem to post every week.

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