3 Ways To Self Publish Your Book
3 Ways To Self Publish Your Book
08-30-2012 | 06:00 PM | Book Publishing News, ePublishing News
Through a local printer
1. Be prepared. Self publishing takes a lot of initiative and drive. Remember that it is your passion for getting the book out to the public that will carry you through the frustrations you will most certainly acquire along the way. That being said, self-publishing can be a exciting and profitable venture.
2. List the reasons why you want to be self publish your book, and get an estimate on how much it will cost. Determine whether the reason you’re publishing is strong enough to outweigh the cost, and providing that it does, keep going.
3. Proof your book. Make sure that it is complete, well-edited, and thoroughly proofread. You might give a manuscript out to a few trusted friends who will give you valuable feedback, and talk with you about facts, or motivations for the characters, or other minutiae about your book. Make changes you deem appropriate, and then call it done!
4. Create a good title. If you haven’t done so already, create a title that will pull people in. The title of your book can sway people to buy your book—or not. For example, “The Guided Consumption of Bacterium-injected Milk Byproducts and Apidaen Excretions” does not sound nearly as appealing as “The Delight of Gorgonzola Cheese and Honey.”
5. Get a designer to do a professional cover design. Unless you are an artist and can do it yourself, hire a professional. They will be quick, and will help your book have eye appeal—very important if it’s on a shelf at the book store! If you are going through all this, it makes sense to have the very best presentation you can have.
6. Get your work copyrighted. This will help should somebody steal your work and claim it as their own. Though submitting your work to the copyright office is the safest and best way, you can claim copyright by stating it explicitly, in a prominent location. For example, in the credits page, or back cover, adding ©2012, Ima Nauther, all rights reserved, you protect your work from plagiarists. Follow up by visiting Copyright.gov and fill out the requisite forms.
7. Get an ISBN number. You will need this so that your books can be listed in the Bowker database where bookstores pick up latest books for retailing. You can buy an ISBN direct from ISBN but beware, the sell only in blocks of at least 10, not per unit (www.isbn.org). There are secondary resellers here's a list of them http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/Pubresellers.asp. ISBN sells to them for about $100 per ISBN.
8. Find a printer. Shop around and get quotes. Prices will vary depending on the quality of the paper, the binding, and colors. Your price per book will be lower, the more copies you print. Consider about 500-2000 copies.
Through a Website
1. Publish on line. Online publishers such as Lulu.com will let you publish your book for free in both print and ebook format. Printing is “on demand,” and you only pay when you sell a copy.
2. Set up an account with the program. You will need this to upload your book and manage all the details involved.
3. Digitize your book. If you have written your book longhand, now is the time to move it into digital format. Using a word processing program such as Microsoft Word or Pages, take your time and carefully transcribe your writings. When you’re done, it will make editing and revision a much easier job for you. Some self publish websites also provide a service like an online book builder, so you can make a book online by using the book templates and clip-arts of the site.
4. Create a good title. No matter how you publish, the title is all-important. It is will pull in your prospective readers, or turn them away. What if ‘‘Harry Potter’’ were named, instead, ‘‘Hogwarts’’ (before you knew what Hogwart was)?
5. Edit your book. Make sure that it is complete, well-edited, and thoroughly proofread. You might give a manuscript out to a few trusted friends who will give you valuable comments, and talk with you about facts, or motivations for the characters, or other minutiae about your book. Make changes you deem appropriate, and then call it done!
6. Upload your finished book. After this, you will have to design your cover (unless you prefer a pre-made cover from the company) and choose the price for customers and the type of book (such as bound, hard copy, or paperback). Once you finish the categories listed by the website, choose to finish publishing and your book is printed. You are now a published author!
Self Publishing Overview
Self publishing is a broad topic. There are many ways to self publish, though: vanity presses, subsidy publishers, micro publishing, POD (print on demand) printing, also known as short run printing, and true self publishing.
Vanity presses should typically be avoided; they market themselves as traditional or subsidy publishers, but charge high fees and do very little or no marketing/distribution for you. They don't make selections for the most part, and take whatever comes their way.
Subsidy publishers are not as selective as traditional publishers, but work in a similar manner in that they reject manuscripts often. However, they charge the author for binding and publishing; the upside is that they contribute to marketing and distribution, and publish under their name. Authors tend to have limited control over design and such, and receive royalties.
Micro publishing publishers in micro or niche markets, and tend—due to the risk of lack of appeal and low economic scale—to be published electronically.
POD, or print on demand printing companies such as Lulu and Blurb, are good for short run books. These are useful for small quantities of books, and for samples or one-off books. The price is normally somewhat high and is not ideal for large runs. Many are based online. Some offer ISBN numbers for an extra price, and some can also be linked to sites like Amazon. Often times, POD printers create side operations that run as subsidy or vanity publishers.
Then there is true self publishing, in which the writer meets and deals personally with the marketing, distribution, design and storage, and covers the entire cost. A writer might hire a designer for the cover, or simply do it themselves; as a result of all this, all profits made go straight to the writer. Steps for true self publishing are described in the first two methods.
1. Be prepared. Self publishing takes a lot of initiative and drive. Remember that it is your passion for getting the book out to the public that will carry you through the frustrations you will most certainly acquire along the way. That being said, self-publishing can be a exciting and profitable venture.
2. List the reasons why you want to be self publish your book, and get an estimate on how much it will cost. Determine whether the reason you’re publishing is strong enough to outweigh the cost, and providing that it does, keep going.
3. Proof your book. Make sure that it is complete, well-edited, and thoroughly proofread. You might give a manuscript out to a few trusted friends who will give you valuable feedback, and talk with you about facts, or motivations for the characters, or other minutiae about your book. Make changes you deem appropriate, and then call it done!
4. Create a good title. If you haven’t done so already, create a title that will pull people in. The title of your book can sway people to buy your book—or not. For example, “The Guided Consumption of Bacterium-injected Milk Byproducts and Apidaen Excretions” does not sound nearly as appealing as “The Delight of Gorgonzola Cheese and Honey.”
5. Get a designer to do a professional cover design. Unless you are an artist and can do it yourself, hire a professional. They will be quick, and will help your book have eye appeal—very important if it’s on a shelf at the book store! If you are going through all this, it makes sense to have the very best presentation you can have.
6. Get your work copyrighted. This will help should somebody steal your work and claim it as their own. Though submitting your work to the copyright office is the safest and best way, you can claim copyright by stating it explicitly, in a prominent location. For example, in the credits page, or back cover, adding ©2012, Ima Nauther, all rights reserved, you protect your work from plagiarists. Follow up by visiting Copyright.gov and fill out the requisite forms.
7. Get an ISBN number. You will need this so that your books can be listed in the Bowker database where bookstores pick up latest books for retailing. You can buy an ISBN direct from ISBN but beware, the sell only in blocks of at least 10, not per unit (www.isbn.org). There are secondary resellers here's a list of them http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/Pubresellers.asp. ISBN sells to them for about $100 per ISBN.
8. Find a printer. Shop around and get quotes. Prices will vary depending on the quality of the paper, the binding, and colors. Your price per book will be lower, the more copies you print. Consider about 500-2000 copies.
Through a Website
1. Publish on line. Online publishers such as Lulu.com will let you publish your book for free in both print and ebook format. Printing is “on demand,” and you only pay when you sell a copy.
2. Set up an account with the program. You will need this to upload your book and manage all the details involved.
3. Digitize your book. If you have written your book longhand, now is the time to move it into digital format. Using a word processing program such as Microsoft Word or Pages, take your time and carefully transcribe your writings. When you’re done, it will make editing and revision a much easier job for you. Some self publish websites also provide a service like an online book builder, so you can make a book online by using the book templates and clip-arts of the site.
4. Create a good title. No matter how you publish, the title is all-important. It is will pull in your prospective readers, or turn them away. What if ‘‘Harry Potter’’ were named, instead, ‘‘Hogwarts’’ (before you knew what Hogwart was)?
5. Edit your book. Make sure that it is complete, well-edited, and thoroughly proofread. You might give a manuscript out to a few trusted friends who will give you valuable comments, and talk with you about facts, or motivations for the characters, or other minutiae about your book. Make changes you deem appropriate, and then call it done!
6. Upload your finished book. After this, you will have to design your cover (unless you prefer a pre-made cover from the company) and choose the price for customers and the type of book (such as bound, hard copy, or paperback). Once you finish the categories listed by the website, choose to finish publishing and your book is printed. You are now a published author!
Self Publishing Overview
Self publishing is a broad topic. There are many ways to self publish, though: vanity presses, subsidy publishers, micro publishing, POD (print on demand) printing, also known as short run printing, and true self publishing.
Vanity presses should typically be avoided; they market themselves as traditional or subsidy publishers, but charge high fees and do very little or no marketing/distribution for you. They don't make selections for the most part, and take whatever comes their way.
Subsidy publishers are not as selective as traditional publishers, but work in a similar manner in that they reject manuscripts often. However, they charge the author for binding and publishing; the upside is that they contribute to marketing and distribution, and publish under their name. Authors tend to have limited control over design and such, and receive royalties.
Micro publishing publishers in micro or niche markets, and tend—due to the risk of lack of appeal and low economic scale—to be published electronically.
POD, or print on demand printing companies such as Lulu and Blurb, are good for short run books. These are useful for small quantities of books, and for samples or one-off books. The price is normally somewhat high and is not ideal for large runs. Many are based online. Some offer ISBN numbers for an extra price, and some can also be linked to sites like Amazon. Often times, POD printers create side operations that run as subsidy or vanity publishers.
Then there is true self publishing, in which the writer meets and deals personally with the marketing, distribution, design and storage, and covers the entire cost. A writer might hire a designer for the cover, or simply do it themselves; as a result of all this, all profits made go straight to the writer. Steps for true self publishing are described in the first two methods.
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