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 tfortune@cloverpark.k12.wa.us

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