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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011
Thinking about self-publishing your book? This no-nonsense guide walks you through the entire process of going it alone If you have a great idea for a book or informative content to share with an audience or have written a book and want to bypass traditional publishing, you're in the right place. Aspiring and experienced writers alike will benefit from this user-friendly and detailed guide with coverage on the self-publishing process from preparing your manuscript and creating the perfect title to selling the final product. Self-Publishing For Dummies lays out the pros and cons of self-publishing, helps you avoid the most common mistakes made by authors and self-publishers, and makes you aware of legal issues associated with book publishing. You'll learn the basics of researching to include the right details, what the parts of a book are (from the copyright page to the index and bibliography), and when to edit your own work and when to hire a professional editor. When it comes to the business aspects of self-publishing your book and building your own publishing company, you're in charge of each exciting step from naming your business, to writing the business plan, managing the finances and expenses, and who to call on for expert advice. It's up to you to decide on a title for your book, as well as the layout and design. Once your book is complete, you'll have it printed -- through traditional, non-traditional, or on-demand means. You'll discover how to * Apply for and obtain an ISBN * Copyright your work to protect it * Negotiate with and manage vendors, including printers, designers, and copyeditors * Secure a warehouse to store your book * Work with distributors to get your book to your audience * Set prices and monitor inventory * Write a press release and other marketing materials to promote your book * Collaborate with the media and publicists to build awareness for your book * Build an online presence with a website, newsletters, blog, or podcast * Create and sell additional products related to your book Additionally, you can read about ten common self-publishing mistakes -- and how to avoid them -- and the best resources for self-publishers. Get your copy of Self-Publishing For Dummies today.
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Self-Publishing For Dummies
by Jason R. Rich
Self-Publishing For Dummies®
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2006926374
ISBN-13: 978-0-471-79952-8
ISBN-10: 0-471-79952-1
Manufactured in the United States of America
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About the Author
Jason R. Rich is the bestselling author of more than 32 books, including a few self-published titles. He has also ghostwritten several additional books for business leaders and well-known experts in their field. As a journalist, Jason continues to contribute articles to numerous national magazines and major daily newspapers, and he works as a freelance public relations and marketing consultant for companies in a variety of industries.
Some of Jason’s recently published books include The Unofficial Guide to Starting a Business Online, 2nd Edition(Wiley); Pampering Your Pooch: Discover What Your Dog Needs, Wants, and Loves (Howell Book House); The Everything Family Travel Guide to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and Greater Orlando, 4th Edition (Adams Media); and American Idol Season 4: Official Behind-the-Scenes Fan Book (Prima/Random House). Jason is also writing a series of personal finance guides for Entrepreneur Press, the publishers of Entrepreneur magazine. His most recent self-published book is The Bachelor’s Guide to Life (iUniverse).
Jason lives just outside of Boston with his Yorkshire Terrier, named Rusty (www.MyPalRusty.com). Yes, Rusty has his own Web site. Please check it out! You can also visit Jason’s Web site at www.JasonRich.com or e-mail him at [email protected].
Dedication
This one is for Ferras, Mark, Ellen, Sandy, Emily, Ryan, and my family.
Author’s Acknowledgments
Over the years, I have read a handful of For Dummies books. I am very proud to now have the opportunity to contribute a book to the popular series. I hope you, the reader, find this book helpful on your quest to become a published author.
Thanks to Mike Lewis at Wiley for inviting me to work on this project. Thanks also to Georgette Beatty, this book’s project editor, for her hard work and guidance. The work of Carrie Burchfield (copy editor) and D. Patrick Miller (technical editor) are also very much appreciated. Many people work extremely hard to make the For Dummies series so successful. I’d like to offer my sincere gratitude to everyone involved, including the editors, illustrators, designers, proofreaders, reviewers, editorial supervisors, and the sales team. This book truly is a team effort.
On a personal note, my never ending love and gratitude goes out to my close friends — Ferras, Mark, and Ellen (as well as Ellen’s family), who are all extremely important people in my life. I’d also like to thank my family for all their support. (Congratulations to Ferras on signing a major record deal and having the opportunity to pursue his dreams! I am so proud of you, Ferras!)
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Georgette Beatty
Acquisitions Editor: Michael Lewis
Copy Editor: Carrie A. Burchfield
Editorial Program Coordinator: Hanna K. Scott
Technical Editor: D. Patrick Miller
Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker
Editorial Assistants: Erin Calligan, Nadine Bell
Cover Photo: © Alamy
Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)
Composition Services
Project Coordinator: Tera Knapp
Layout and Graphics: Andrea Dahl, Denny Hager, Clint Lahnen, Barbara Moore, Barry Offringa, Melanee Prendergast, Jill Proll, Heather Ryan, Alicia B. South
Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Jessica Kramer, Christy Pingleton, Aptara
Indexer: Aptara
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies
Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel
Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel
Publishing for Technology Dummies
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Contents
Title
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
What You’re Not to Read
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I : Do It Yourself: Getting Started with Self-Publishing
Chapter 1: Welcome to Self-Publishing!
Figuring Out Whether Self-Publishing Is the Best Option for You
Gathering the Right Publishing Tools
Putting Together a Winning Manuscript
Editing Your Work Effectively
Dealing with Administration and Design
Checking Out Your Printing Options
Delving into Distribution
Getting the Word Out with Publicity and Marketing
Surveying a Brief Self-Publishing Timeline
Chapter 2: Understanding the Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing
Why Should You Even Consider Self-Publishing?
What Are the Benefits of Self-Publishing?
What Are Self-Publishing’s Drawbacks?
Do You Have the Skills that All Self-Published Authors Need?
Can Self-Publishing Be a Full-Time Gig?
Chapter 3: Equipping Yourself with the Write Stuff
Fix It Up: Creating Your Ideal Writing Environment
Throw Away the Hammer: Assembling the Writer’s Toolbox
Chapter 4: Creating a Winning Manuscript
It’s Not Always About You! Considering Your Audience Upfront
Don’t Be Sketchy: Creating an Outline
Dig for Facts: Doing Research
What Meets the Eye: Adding Visual Interest to Your Manuscript
Put the Pieces Together: Examining Other Book Elements
Keep It Legal: Obtaining Permission to Use Other People’s Materials
You’re Not a Copier: Avoiding Plagiarism
Chapter 5: Fine-Tuning Your Work with Careful Editing
A Bird’s-Eye View of the Editing Process
The Nitty-Gritty of Hiring an Editor
Part II : Pulling Together the Details: Administration and Design
Chapter 6: Setting Up Your Self-Publishing Business
Understanding the Benefits of Establishing a Publishing Company
Taking Official Steps to Create a Company
Keeping Costs Tracked and Under Control
Finding Additional Expert Advice on Your Business Adventure
Chapter 7: Tackling Book-Specific Tasks
Obtaining an ISBN for Your Book
Ordering a Barcode for Your Book
Filling Out the Advance Book Information Form
Securing a Library of Congress Control Number
It’s Mine, All Mine! Copyrighting Your Work
Increasing Profits by Setting the Right Cover Price
The Right Time: Selecting Your Book’s Publication Date
Chapter 8: Coming Up with Creative Page Design and Layout
Delving into Do-It-Yourself Page Design
Laying Out Your Book with Popular Desktop Publishing Software
Converting Laid-Out Pages into Printer-Friendly Files
Hiring a Professional Graphic Designer
Chapter 9: Judging a Book by Its Cover
Constructing a Catchy Title
Keeping a Close Eye on the Front Cover
Turning to Your Book’s Back Cover
Remembering Your Book’s Spine
Working with a Design Expert to Create Your Cover
Part III : Start the Presses! Examining Printing Choices
Chapter 10: Trying Out Traditional Offset Printing
The Basics of Working with a Traditional Offset Printer
Choosing the Features of Your Traditionally Printed Book
Hiring the Right Offset Printer for Your Needs
Chapter 11: Print-On-Demand for Demanding Self-Publishers
Taking a Quick Tour of Print-On-Demand Technology
Looking at the Pros and Cons of Print-On-Demand
Surveying the Print-On-Demand Process
Picking a Great Print-On-Demand Company for Your Book
Checking Out a Few Prominent POD Companies
Chapter 12: Checking Out Some Non-Traditional Printing Options
The Basics of eBook Publishing
The Details of Putting Out eBooks
Heading to a Local Print Shop
Chapter 13: Working Successfully with Any Printer
Walking through the General Printing Process
Getting on the Same Page with Your Printer
Surviving the Proofing Stage
Wrapping Up Your Work with a Printer
Part IV : Making Your Book a Bestseller: Distribution Methods
Chapter 14: Selling Your Book through Popular Online Booksellers
Creating an Effective Listing
Submitting Your Listing to Popular Online Booksellers
Generating Excellent Online Reviews
Taking Advantage of Other Resources from Online Booksellers
Chapter 15: Distributing Your Book through Traditional Channels
The Challenges of Securing Major Retail Distribution for a Self-Published Book
Working with Wholesalers and Distributors
Approaching Independent Booksellers
Scoping Out Specialty Retail Stores
Distributing Your Book via Direct Mail
Hooking Up with Trade Associations, Special Interest Groups, and Conferences
Grabbing the Attention of Mass-Market Retailers and Bookstore Chains
Chapter 16: Getting a Grip on Warehousing, Order Fulfillment, and Shipping
Warehousing Your Books and Managing Inventory
Handling Order Taking and Fulfillment
Shipping Your Books to Customers
Chapter 17: Selling Your Book to the Big Boys for Better Distribution
Sending Your Book to a Major Publisher
Tapping the International Market
Selling the Subsidiary or Serial Rights to Your Book
Part V : Creating a Buzz: Publicity and Marketing
Chapter 18: Crafting Publicity Materials for Your Book
Going Over the Basics of Press Materials
Making a Great Impression with the Press Kit Folder
Writing an Attention-Getting Press Release
Using Successful Strategies for Writing Your Author Bio
Putting Your Best Face Forward with a Publicity Photo
Writing a Knockout Pitch Letter
Creating an Electronic Press Kit
Distributing Your Press Materials to the Media
Chapter 19: Publicizing Your Book for Free with the Media’s Help
Talk It Up: Saying the Right Thing to the Media
Dress It Up: Looking Good When You Promote Your Book
Book It: Generating Reviews
Show It Off: Coordinating Author Appearances and Book Signings
Leave It to the Pros: Working with a Publicist
Chapter 20: Marketing Your Book with Paid Advertising and Promotional Tools
Checking Out the Pros and Cons of Paid Advertising
Deciding Where to Advertise to Reach Your Target Audience
Planning a Successful Ad Campaign
Effectively Using Promotional Materials
Chapter 21: Maximizing Your Marketing Power in Cyberspace
Caught in the Web: Building a Promotional Site for Your Book
If You Build It, Will They Come? Generating Traffic to Your Web Site
Adding Extra Bells and Whistles
Chapter 22: Expanding Your Income with Spin-Off Products and Services
Considering a Few Important Points Before You Start Down the Spin-Off Road
Developing Creative Ways to Repackage Your Content
Generating Revenue with a Wide Range of Services
Part VI : The Part of Tens
Chapter 23: Ten Self-Publishing Mistakes to Avoid
Not Targeting Your Audience Appropriately
Inaccurate Information, a Lack of Organization, and Poor Writing
A Lack of Attention to Detail and Editing
Inefficiently Using Money and Resources
Implementing Poor Cover Design and Copy
Choosing the Wrong Printing Method
A Lack of Comprehensive Distribution
Wasting the Potential of Online Distribution
Improperly Planning the Publicity and Marketing Campaign
Bad Timing throughout the Self-Publishing Process
Chapter 24: Ten Useful Resources for Self-Publishers
Books for Writers Worth Reading
Helpful Print Publications
Powerful Online Resources
Trustworthy Professional Associations
Introduction
You may have personal and/or professional reasons why you want to get published. Perhaps it’s to supplement your income or generate an entire income as a writer. Maybe it’s because you have important information to convey or a compelling story to tell.
For someone with good writing skills and a flair for putting words together in a way that’s readily accessible to intended readers, becoming a freelance writer for newspapers, magazines, Web sites, and other media outlets is certainly a viable option. Becoming an author with a published book and working with a major publishing house, however, continues to be much more of a challenge due to the highly competitive nature of the book-publishing business.
In recent years, would-be authors have been given an entirely new way to have their work professionally published in book form and then have it distributed to the general public. The process is called self-publishing.Self- publishing is a fast-growing opportunity made available when new forms of printing technologies, called digital printing and desktop publishing, were perfected. Now, instead of having to print thousands of copies of a book at one time, as few as one copy of a book can be printed at any given time.
The price to self-publish a book has also dropped dramatically in the past few years. Now, publishing a book is extremely affordable for virtually anyone. Never before has the opportunity to publish a professional quality book been within reach of any aspiring author.
Self-Publishing For Dummies helps you take your idea for a book, develop the idea into content to fill a full-length manuscript, and have it published. This book describes the incredible opportunity self-publishing offers to aspiring writers and authors, business leaders, entrepreneurs, consultants, and anyone else with a great idea for a book.
About This Book
Self-publishing puts you in total charge of your publishing project. A successful publishing venture means properly dealing with each step in the publishing process. Without the proper knowledge and experience, costly mistakes can easily be made. The information in this book helps you avoid the most common mistakes made by authors and self-publishers and helps you properly cater your book to your intended readers. This book also lends a hand when you gather a highly skilled publishing team for your venture. By hiring freelance experts to help you with editing, design, layout, and marketing, your book more effectively competes with the tens of thousands of other books currently on the market.
Most importantly, this book shows you how to obtain distribution for your book and properly market it in order to generate sales. Using marketing, public relations, and advertising strategies, along with the power and capabilities of the Internet, you can transform your book into a successful publishing venture.
I’ve put the chapters in an order that makes sense if you’re looking to transform your manuscript into a self-published book. However, each chapter focuses on one important aspect of the self-publishing process, so you can jump around to quickly obtain the specific information that you’re looking for. For instance: Check out Chapter 11 for the scoop on Print-On-Demand (POD) and finding a reputable POD publisher. If you’re looking to put together press materials for your book, skip ahead to Chapter 18. Want to know more about what an ISBN is and how to obtain one for your book? Check out Chapter 7.
Keep in mind that this book isn’t a “how to write a book” book or an “improve your writing skills” book. Developing the writing skills and the necessary expertise on the topic you plan to write about is your responsibility. If you need to brush up on your writing skills, I recommend that you sign up for writing classes or workshops. This book helps you take the manuscript you’ve written or are about to write and transform it into the best book possible.
Conventions Used in This Book
I use a few conventions to help guide you through this book:
Italic words point out defined terms or emphasize words.
Boldface text indicates keywords in bulleted lists and the action part of numbered steps.
Monofont text highlights Web addresses.
Each chapter of Self-Publishing For Dummies focuses on one important aspect of the self-publishing process. Within each chapter, you find many useful resources and companies that provide products or services for self-published authors. Keep in mind that the companies listed within this book are only a sampling of what’s available. Feel free to shop around and research other companies or services before deciding whom to work with. Also, expect the prices associated with self-publishing to change as digital printing options become cheaper, more competition enters into the business, and a greater number of options become available to perspective authors.
What You’re Not to Read
In many chapters, sidebars (formatted in gray boxes) are used to further explain certain topics or to provide interviews with various experts in their field. These interviews are designed to provide additional insight into specific steps in the publishing process, but reading them isn’t essential to getting your book published. Therefore, if you’re in an incredible hurry (and self- publishers can be extremely busy people!), the sidebars are informative but can be skipped over.
Foolish Assumptions
In writing this book, I’ve made a few assumptions. I know, making assumptions isn’t always the best idea, but in developing the content for this book, I had to start somewhere. Here are my assumptions:
You have basic writing skills and a great idea for a book. Self-Publishing For Dummies helps you evaluate your idea in terms of its suitability and marketability.
You already have information to convey to your readers, whether it’s a good story or valuable and informative content. Sure, this book helps you fine-tune your approach when it comes to communicating your content to your readers, but it’s up to you to decide what information to include in your book, based on your book’s target audience.
You may even have already written a book, and you want to bypass the traditional publishing process and do it yourself. Or perhaps you’ve already approached major publishers to sell your book without success, and now you want to give self-publishing a whirl. If you already have written your manuscript, this book shows you how to publish it, market it, and make it available to its intended audience.
How This Book Is Organized
You need to complete many steps to ensure that your publishing venture is successful. This book is organized to help you find specific information easily. Each of the book’s six parts is devoted to a particular topic and contains several chapters covering information that directly relates to that topic.
Part I: Do It Yourself: Getting Started with Self-Publishing
The first part of this book introduces you to self-publishing, explains what it is, and clarifies how self-publishing can be used to publish your book. You read about the pros and cons of self-publishing and discover if it’s the right publishing option for you. This part also helps you gather all the tools you need to write and publish your book, while providing you with basic information about developing and fine-tuning your manuscript.
Part II: Pulling Together the Details: Administration and Design
After you’ve finished writing your full-length manuscript, a lot of work is still necessary before it’s ready to be printed and sold. This part focuses on setting up your own self-publishing business and handling the book-specific tasks necessary before your book goes to press. Part II also focuses on taking your book’s manuscript and creating a professional layout and design for its interior and delving into what it takes to create the best possible front and back cover.
Part III: Start the Presses! Examining Printing Choices
As a self-published author, you have a handful of options when printing your books. Which option you choose is best determined by a number of factors: your budget, your ultimate goals for the book, your distribution plan, and your audience. Each chapter in this part focuses on a different printing option, such as offset printing, Print-On-Demand (POD), and eBook publishing. I also show you how to work successfully with any printer.
Part IV: Making Your Book a Bestseller: Distribution Methods
Simply writing and publishing a book isn’t enough to make it successful. One of your biggest challenges is getting your book into the hands of potential readers. You have a few options to distribute your book: selling your book online, distributing through booksellers, and marketing to other retail stores. This part focuses on different book distribution methods and how to best utilize each. I also discuss how to handle your own warehousing, order fulfillment, and shipping, and I explain how to gain even wider distribution for your book by choosing to sell it to a major publisher.
Part V: Creating a Buzz: Publicity and Marketing
Being able to inform readers that your book exists means the difference between selling thousands or tens of thousands of copies (or not selling any copies at all). Developing a comprehensive advertising, marketing, and public relations campaign and then properly implementing it requires a financial and time investment, plus a tremendous amount of creativity, planning, and initiative.
Whether you have a few hundred dollars or an unlimited budget to properly market your book, this part shows you how to utilize the media to generate positive reviews and editorial coverage and how to create effective advertisements. You also discover how to use the Internet to reach your book’s target audience and how to develop spinoff products from your book.
Part VI: The Part of Tens
In this part, you discover how to avoid ten common mistakes self-published authors make and find a variety of resources where you can obtain additional information and guidance as you embark on your book publishing venture.
Icons Used in This Book
The icons used throughout this book help you quickly pinpoint important information, focus your attention on information that’s worth remembering, and draw attention to things you should watch out for and avoid as you start your publishing project.
This icon appears when I convey information worth remembering. Sounds simple enough, right?
This icon appears whenever advice or tips are provided. The information listed with this icon can help save time and money or help you improve your overall productivity and chances of success.
Watch out for this icon. It accompanies information like common mistakes people make, misconceptions that need clarification, or potential pitfalls you in your publishing process.
Where to Go from Here
For an overview of what self-publishing is all about and to determine the best way to get started, Chapter 1 is definitely the best place to begin reading.
Never before has the opportunity to publish a professional-looking book been available to so many people at such an affordable price. After you’ve written your manuscript, by following the advice offered in this book, you can become a published author in a matter of weeks and begin selling your book. If you have something important, relevant, or entertaining to say, self-publishing is a viable option for distributing your message to the public.
Part I
Do It Yourself: Getting Started with Self-Publishing
In this part . . .
You’ve heard the phrase self-publishing, but what does it really mean? This part offers an introduction to self-publishing and helps you get your publishing project off the ground. I tell you about the pros and cons of self-publishing and explain how to equip yourself to start the writing process. I also give you the lowdown on assembling a winning manuscript and editing it carefully.
Chapter 1
Welcome to Self-Publishing!
In This Chapter
Determining whether self-publishing is right for you
Creating and editing your manuscript
Diving into administration and design tasks
Choosing the right printing option
Distributing and promoting your new book
Checking out a brief self-publishing timeline
Do you have expertise that other people can benefit from? Do you want to share an amazing story? Do you have basic writing skills and a good command of the English language? Do you have the discipline to write a full-length manuscript? If you answered yes to at least two of these questions, you may have the “write stuff” to become a published author. But there’s one problem: Many major book publishing companies aren’t willing to work with first-time authors with little or no writing experience. In the past, this fact could’ve kept you from achieving your dream of becoming a published author but not anymore!
Thanks to new digital printing technologies anyone with good writing skills and a great idea for content can have a book professionally published and made available to the general public. The process is called self-publishing. Self-publishing offers many awesome benefits and allows ordinary people, business leaders, celebrities, entrepreneurs, educators, students, retired people, stay-at-home moms, and just about anyone else to become a published author for a relatively low financial investment. What’s required, however, is a tremendous amount of time, creativity, and discipline to write, edit, design, publish, promote, distribute, and sell your book (that is, if you want it to be successful, and who doesn’t want to be successful?).
This chapter provides an overview of what becoming a self-published author involves. The rest of this book takes you step-by-step through the entire self-publishing process. By the time you’re done reading Self-Publishing For Dummies, you can put your knowledge and ideas into writing and have them published in book form.
Figuring Out Whether Self-Publishing Is the Best Option for You
When you get hired as an author by a major publishing house, your job is to write the book’s manuscript and perhaps gather some or all the artwork that’s included within that book. For this work, you’re typically paid an advance and a royalty on book sales. Various experts working for the publisher handle all the other steps (and there are many of them) in the publishing process.
Self-publishing is different. As the author, you’re still responsible for writing your book’s manuscript, but you’re also responsible for every other aspect of the book publishing process. (Don’t worry; as you delve into the self-publishing process, you’re able to hire a wide range of freelancers and companies to handle some of the major steps in the publishing process, but you ultimately are the decision maker and person in charge of the project.)
In Chapter 2, you find out specifically why you should consider self-publishing, and you discover the benefits of the process. Chapter 2 also reveals how just about any type of content, fiction or nonfiction, can be self-published and transformed into a paperback or hardcover book. You also find out the specific skills you need to become a self-published author.
Don’t get too excited just yet! Self-publishing does offer an amazing opportunity for just about anyone to have their book professionally published. However, compared to having your book published by a major publishing company, self-publishing has some drawbacks as well (covered in Chapter 2).
Gathering the Right Publishing Tools
Before you sit down to write your potential bestseller, gather the proper writing and publishing tools. Chapter 3 focuses on what you need to write a book with success. Some prewriting tasks you need to accomplish include
Creating a comfortable writing environment
Identifying and minimizing distractions when you’re writing
Putting together the perfect writer’s toolbox
As an author, you need certain tools to make the writing process easier and to be able to maximize your productivity. A desktop or laptop computer that’s equipped with a powerful word processor (such as Microsoft Word) and that has access to the Internet and a printer can be your most important tools, unless you plan to write the first draft of your book freehand, using a pad and pen. (If you do this, expect to wind up with a very tired hand!)
Putting Together a Winning Manuscript
The beauty of self-publishing is that almost any type of content can be transformed into a professionally published book. Depending on the type of book you’re writing, a full-length manuscript may be anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 words (or longer). There are plenty of exceptions, however. A children’s book may contain 500 or fewer words, but a compilation of poems or short stories or a photo book or a cookbook containing recipes may all follow different formats altogether.
The trick to writing a successful book is carefully defining your book’s audience and then making sure that the content of your book (and later all the marketing for it) targets that same specific audience. I explain how to determine your target audience in Chapter 4.
Coming up with the perfect book idea — something that’s unique or that offers a new twist on something that’s been written about before — is an important step in the book writing and publishing process. Equally important is researching your information and making sure that you have enough interesting and informative content to fill a book. The information then needs to be properly organized so it makes sense and is useful to the reader.
Most authors begin the writing process by creating a detailed outline for their book before they actually start researching, writing, and adding visual elements like photos and illustrations. Chapter 4 focuses on how to prepare an outline, research the content for your book, and decide what elements you want to incorporate into your manuscript.
Editing Your Work Effectively
After writing the book, it’s time to edit. This process includes correcting spelling and grammatical mistakes, ensuring that the content is well organized and comprehensive, and doing some fine-tuning to ensure that the book properly targets its audience. At this stage in the publishing process, you may want to hire a freelance editor to review your manuscript. Even bestselling authors use professional editors to fine-tune their work before it’s published.
The editing process requires several steps. It’s an excellent strategy to begin by editing your own work and then hiring a professional editor to fine-tune the manuscript. In Chapter 5, find out what a professional editor does and how to hire someone who’s highly skilled. Editing requires a very different skill set than writing, and people train for years to learn how to edit well.
Dealing with Administration and Design
Depending on what your goals are for your book, some self-published authors establish their own small publishing company (a formal business entity), especially if they plan to directly sell and distribute their book. Discover in Chapter 6 why forming a company can be beneficial.
Even without establishing your own publishing company, as a self-published author, some administrative tasks need to be completed before your book goes to press. For example, all books need an ISBN, a Library of Congress Card Number, and a copyright notice. Chapter 7 outlines many of these tasks.
Many companies that offer comprehensive publishing solutions for self- published authors, including Print-On-Demand (POD) publishers (described in Chapter 11), can handle some or all these administrative tasks on your behalf. Using one of these comprehensive publishing solutions is helpful to first-time authors because the service makes the whole process easier and saves you considerable time and money.
In addition to the many administrative tasks that must be completed before a book gets published, the manuscript must be laid out and designed, and the book’s front and back cover need to be created. These steps you can handle yourself, using desktop publishing and graphic design software, or you can hire a professional graphic designer to do this design work for you.
Graphic design is a skill that takes tremendous creativity, artistic flair, and training and experience. For your book to look as professional as possible, consider hiring an experienced graphic designer to handle your book’s interior layout and design and to design your book’s front and back cover.
Chapter 8 focuses on how to design and lay out the interior of your book, using desktop publishing software, such as InDesign CS2, QuarkXPress, or Microsoft Publisher. Chapter 9 provides the information you need to create the most impressive and high-impact front and back cover possible.
Checking Out Your Printing Options
Published books come in all shapes and sizes. You have a handful of options when it comes to actually printing your book:
Traditional printing options involve using offset printing technology to publish a large quantity of books at one time. This process is used by major publishing houses and offers many advantages but also a few drawbacks for self-published authors. See Chapter 10 for more details.
Print-On-Demand (POD) has become the most viable publishing option for the majority of self-published authors (despite some small drawbacks). POD requires a relatively low initial financial investment and requires the author to maintain little or no inventory. For all the benefits and drawbacks of PODs, see Chapter 11.
eBooks are another popular form of published material. Chapter 12 delves into how and why you may want to publish your book as an eBook and how you can potentially use a local print shop to photocopy and bind your book for small print runs.
Before choosing which printing and publishing option is right for you, consider your goals, your distribution plan, and your budget of your book. (Keep in mind that marketing, advertising, and promoting your book also requires a significant investment.)
No matter which printing and publishing option you choose, you should develop a good rapport with the company you work with. Chapter 13 focuses on how to develop a good rapport with any printer.
Delving into Distribution
As a self-published author, one of your biggest challenges (besides writing the book) is to get it into the hands of readers. You can sell your book in many ways; the trick is to find distribution methods that work best for your book and allow you to achieve your sales goals. Here are some methods:
Online booksellers: In Chapter 14, you find out about distribution through online booksellers, like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com, which for many self-published authors is the most viable and inexpensive way of making a book available to the general public.
Retail distribution: Chapter 15 focuses on traditional distribution through retail booksellers and other specialty retailers. You find out about working with wholesalers and distributors, independent bookstores, specialty retail stores, direct mail, and professional organizations.
When you try to distribute your book through major retailers, you may be competing head-on with the major publishing companies that are supported by teams of professional salespeople who’ve well-developed connections to key buyers at the various retailers. You may be at a disadvantage in this situation, but as you can see in Chapter 15, your book can find its way onto the shelves of major bookstore chains and mass-market retailers.
If you plan to sell your own book to distributors, wholesalers, retailers, booksellers, or individual consumers, you need to deal with warehousing, order fulfillment, and shipping. Chapter 16 provides an overview of what’s required when it comes to distributing your book.
After achieving some level of success as a self-published author, many people team up with a major publishing house to obtain nationwide distribution through the major bookstore chains and other retailers. For some self-published authors, approaching a major publishing house is a viable option. The benefits of working with a major publisher are explored in Chapter 17.
Getting the Word Out with Publicity and Marketing
Your book may not sell no matter how good it is unless you develop a comprehensive, effective, and well-timed marketing, publicity, and advertising campaign to reach and convince your intended audience. The following elements are a few successful publicity and marketing campaigns:
Generating free publicity in all forms of media (radio, television, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and the Internet) is one of the most powerful and cost-effective ways for self-publishers to generate awareness of their book. If handled correctly, public awareness can be transformed directly into book sales.
In Chapter 18, I cover how to develop the publicity materials you need to promote your book properly. I cover items such as the press kit folder, press release, author bio, author photo, and pitch letter. Chapter 19 focuses on how to use those materials to generate media reviews, articles, and features about your book.
Another way to educate potential readers about your book is through paid advertising. Advertising allows you to distribute your exact marketing message through appropriate media outlets. Chapter 20 covers how to create effective ads to promote and sell your book.
The Internet offers you the opportunity to utilize cost-effective niche marketing techniques to easily target your book’s intended audience. Tapping the incredible power of the Internet to promote your book is the focus of Chapter 21.
Whether your book sells for $9.95 or $29.95, your profit potential is ultimately limited because the book itself is a low-priced item compared to most other products with higher profit margins. Self-published authors need to use the recognition and credibility they receive as a published author and repackage their book’s content into other, higher-priced items, such as DVDs and audio books. Many self-published authors also generate additional revenues by lecturing and hosting seminars or training programs relating to their book’s topic. How to generate additional revenue streams from the content of your book is covered in Chapter 22.
Surveying a Brief Self-Publishing Timeline
Self-publishing your book isn’t a fast and easy project. Plan on investing considerable time into each step of the process, especially when it comes to actually writing the manuscript.
Unfortunately, determining how long it takes you to sit down and write the full-length manuscript for your book is impossible until you actually begin writing and understanding more about your personal work habits as a writer. For some people, the researching and writing process takes weeks. For others, it takes months or years. After you’ve completed your manuscript, you can more accurately calculate a production timeline for your book, based on the printing and publishing decisions you make.
Here is a rough timeline of tasks to handle after you finish writing the manuscript:
Establish your publishing company (if applicable).
Have the manuscript edited.
Choose a self-publishing option, such as offset printing or POD, and then hire a printer and/or publisher.
Apply for an ISBN, copyright, and other book-specific information, if necessary (this step may be handled for you, depending on the publishing process you choose and the company you work with).
Set the cover price for your book.
Select a publication date.
Have the manuscript’s interior pages designed and laid out.
Hire a graphic designer and create your book’s front and back covers.
Develop press materials for your book.
Plan and implement a comprehensive marketing, public relations, and advertising campaign.
Develop a Web site to promote your book.
Begin pre-selling your book (pre-selling includes putting together and sending out press materials, promoting the book to distributors, lining up booksellers to sell the book, taking out ads, and so on).
Have your book listed with online retailers.
Publish the book and ship it to consumers, booksellers, retailers, and distributors (as appropriate).
Continue promoting and marketing your book as you take orders.
As you develop your timeline, allocate ample time for each step of the publishing process to wind up with the best possible finished product. For example, a professional editor may take several weeks to edit your manuscript. It can then take a professional graphic designer at least a week or two to create a professional front and back cover (potentially longer), and additional time may be needed to do the layout and design work necessary for your book’s interior.
As you read each chapter of this book, consider how long each step in the process may take you, based on your unique lifestyle, responsibilities, and personal situation. Make sure that the timeline and deadlines you set for yourself are realistic, using the time estimates you read about in each chapter. Stay focused on your goals and deadlines, and work hard to achieve them!
After the manuscript is complete, with proper planning, you can potentially have it professionally published in as little as two to three months. Just think, in 60 to 90 days, you can be a published author!
Chapter 2
Understanding the Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing
In This Chapter
Considering self-publishing as an option for your book
Looking at the benefits and potential drawbacks
Surveying the skills that self-published authors need
Wondering whether becoming a full-time self-published writer is right for you
So, you’ve decided to write a book. You have a great idea for content, you know your topic, and you’ve pinpointed your targeted audience. Or perhaps you’ve already written the manuscript that you believe has the potential to sell well. Now, you need to make a big decision. Are you going to approach major publishing houses in hopes of getting them to publish, distribute, and market your book, or do you plan to self-publish?
Thanks to a variety of recent technological developments in printing and distribution, self-publishing has become a more viable and cost-effective option than ever before. This chapter explores the pros and cons of self- publishing and helps you decide if publishing your own book is the right decision for you.
Why Should You Even Consider Self-Publishing?
Pursuing a traditional route for getting your book published may not be possible. It doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t pursue your goal of getting your book written, published, and distributed, but self-publishing offers you — the author — a variety of benefits and significantly greater creative control over your project. Check out the additional reasons why you should consider self-publishing:
Competition in the traditional book publishing industry has become extremely fierce. Tens of thousands of books are published every year and distributed through major retail stores, but only a small fraction of those books actually become bestsellers and earn a significant profit for the publishers and authors.
Getting the attention of a major publishing house is hard. Even if writers develop a well-written proposal and are represented by a well-known literary agent, the chances of publication are still slim.
Unfortunately, it’s likely that many potential bestsellers get passed over by the publishing houses, either because a proposal was one of thousands received that didn’t get the proper attention, or because the publisher didn’t have the resources to take the gamble involved with publishing a book by an unknown author.
You have 100-percent control over your publishing project. This control even includes what content goes in your book. You don’t have to answer to editors, a publisher, a publishing company’s sales or marketing department, or anyone else when developing your book’s content.
You can set your own schedule. Decide when you want to write, edit, publish, market, and sell your own book. You can fast-track the project and make it available to the public within a few short weeks or months, or you can take your time and handle each step of the publishing process at your leisure. You aren’t tied to deadlines imposed by a major publishing house.
Is self-publishing right for you? Maybe you need a checklist of sorts to see if you fall under the criteria for becoming a self-published author. Well, I’ve provided a list below. How convenient! Self-publishing your book may be the ideal solution for you, if the following criteria apply:
You’re a first-time author looking to publish, market, and distribute your book, but you can’t get the attention of a major publisher.
You’re a business professional or expert in your field and want to use a published book as a marketing tool to enhance your professional credibility and reputation.
You’re an established author who wants 100-percent creative control over your next book project, and you want to make more money per copy sold than you would working with a major publisher.
You want to put information in book form, such as your autobiography or family genealogy, and distribute it to a small group of friends and family.
You represent a company that needs to develop book-length publications or manuals in-house.
You work with a group or association and need to create a fundraising item, such as a cookbook or yearbook, that’s sold to raise money and/or is distributed to members.
You own the rights to republish a currently out-of-print book that you believe still has a viable market.
Before making the decision to pursue self-publishing, though, make sure that you review the potential drawbacks, which are outlined later in this chapter. For the author, self-publishing requires a much greater time commitment (above and beyond just writing the book’s manuscript), a lot more work, and a financial investment.
What Are the Benefits of Self-Publishing?
Some of the biggest benefits of self-publishing include
Having the ability to publish any type of content
Maintaining total control over your entire project, including all creative control over the manuscript, cover design, and marketing of your book
Saving time because the time it takes to self-publish a book can be significantly faster than working with a major publishing house
Earning significantly highly royalties per copy of your book sold
Keeping money in your pocket because you don’t have to hire a literary agent to help you market your book
You may decide that approaching the major publishing houses, after finding out about the benefits of self-publishing in the following sections, isn’t something that you want to do. You don’t want to risk potential rejection and have to give up a lot of control over your project in order to get your manuscript published, so the self-publishing option may be more worth it for you.
After you decide that self-publishing is the right direction to go with your book project, you need to determine the most cost-effective and viable printing option that’s based on your needs, goals, and budget. Part III of this book focuses on actually printing and publishing your manuscript using traditional printing methods, Print-On-Demand (POD) technology, eBook publishing, and local print shops.
Self-publish any type of content
No matter what type of book or the content of your book that you’re looking to write and get published, chances are self-publishing is your answer. Thanks to the U.S. Constitution and the Amendments, the United States has freedom of speech and freedom of the press. If there’s a topic that may be considered too controversial or edgy for a major publishing house, through self-publishing you have total control over the content of your book.
Although your book may not be controversial, its target audience may be too narrow for a major publishing house to consider sales worthy. Yet, if you know exactly how to market your book to your intended audience, publishing your book can become a profitable endeavor. (Check out Part V for the full scoop on publicity and marketing.)
Through self-publishing, you can publish any type of content. The possibilities are truly endless. Here are some of the common topics or genres authors have had success with through self-publishing:
Autobiographies or biographies
Children’s books (fiction or nonfiction)
Collection of artwork, drawings, or paintings
Collection of poems or essays
Cookbooks or a collection of recipes
How-to books
Reference books or textbooks
Training manuals or guidebooks
Works of fiction, such as a full-length novel or collection of short stories in any genre (horror, sci-fi, romance, comedy, adventure, erotica, and so on)
Self-publishing gives virtually anyone the ability to become a published author to share ideas, knowledge, experience, or creativity in a variety of formats. These books can then be distributed through almost any type of distribution channel including bookstores, retail stores, mail orders, and online (see Part IV for more about book distribution). And not only does self-publishing allow you to publish any type of content, but also it allows you to cost-effectively publish any number of copies of your book.
Maintain control over the entire process
When you publish your own book, you wear both the author and the publisher hats. You’re ultimately responsible for handling all the work that a major publishing house typically handles on behalf of authors:
Getting the manuscript edited
Creating page layouts and design
Crafting a front and back cover
Getting the book printed
Distributing your the book
Managing marketing, advertising, and promotion
(What, you’re not an expert in all these areas? Well, you’re in luck once again. Every step is covered in this book!)
Authors who work with a major publishing house must give up a lot of creative control over their book project. It’s the author’s job to write the manuscript. The publisher typically handles everything else, often without consulting the author on creative decisions. Authors who have their book published by a major publishing house don’t typically get a say on cover design or how their book is marketed or promoted.
By self-publishing your book, you’re the boss. You can hire freelancers and consultants to help you edit, design, publish, distribute, and market your book, but ultimately, you’re responsible for making all the creative and business decisions. So, if you’re emotionally close to your book and don’t want anyone taking away your ability to make creative decisions, self-publishing offers you a great opportunity to get your book published on your terms.
Taking on total control of your entire book project requires you to make a wide range of business decisions that impact the sales success and profitability of your book. You’re responsible for the financial investment needed to print, distribute, advertise, market, and promote your book. See “What Are Self-Publishing’s Drawbacks?” later in this chapter.
Quickly get your book into the hands of readers
Bringing a book to print yourself can happen significantly faster than if you were working with a major publisher. By self-publishing your book, you have the flexibility to set your own schedule and deadlines, without having to cater to the needs or demands of a major publishing company. You can dedicate the time and effort needed to write, edit, and publish your book in a few weeks or months, or you can take your time and complete each step of the publishing process at your own convenience. You set your own schedule, based on other personal and professional demands on your life.
When you work with a major publisher, bringing your book to print can take up to two years. Using many self-publishing techniques, such as POD or eBook (see Chapters 11 and 12), the process (after the manuscript is fully written) can take just a few weeks.
Achieve your career-related goals
Some people write books because they want to pursue writing as a career. (Check out “Can Self-Publishing Be a Full-Time Gig?” later in this chapter for more about this career option.) Others, however, use their work to promote other aspects of their established career.
After you become a published author, you instantly become a credible “expert” on whatever topic you wrote about. People respect authors and the knowledge they share. Therefore, being a published author can help you
Land a new job in your area of expertise
Earn a raise or promotion with your current employer
Launch or expand your own business and earn the respect of customers
Become a consultant or freelancer in your area of expertise
Earn extra money lecturing or teaching seminars on your book’s topic
Be the media’s go-to person whenever a news story breaks about your topic
Pursue writing as a full-time career, assuming you’re able to sell enough books or write enough articles for newspapers and magazines to earn a living
In addition, after your book publishes, it can be used as a powerful marketing tool for yourself and/or your company. The book serves as a resume or business card for promoting yourself as an expert in your field and helps you pursue your professional goals.
Depending on how you utilize your book as a marketing tool, the profits you generate from actual book sales can be insignificant compared to the boost in income from generated new business because potential clients and customers were able to find you as a result of reading your book or being exposed to publicity about your book.
Many self-published authors use their book as a promotional or marketing tool and give away free copies of their book to potential and existing clients. Wouldn’t you consider giving away a book that costs between $5 and $10 per copy if you could generate hundreds or thousands of dollars in new revenue?
Published authors who have a proven track record can earn a significantly higher income and become a recognized expert in their field (compared to other in their professions who haven’t written a book). The recognition and respect you receive as a published author can be extremely valuable.
Earn more royalties
Major publishers typically pay authors a recoupable advance, plus a pre-determined royalty on book sales as compensation. Writers who self-publish their books, however, must cover all their project’s development, printing, distribution, and marketing costs out-of-pocket. The profit potential, however, can be significantly greater.
Instead of receiving a 25-cent, 50-cent, or even a dollar royalty for each copy of your book sold, a self-published author can earn 40 to 60 percent of the book’s cover price and sometimes even more. So, if your book sells for $15 per copy and you sell just 1,000 copies, the profit is between $6,000 and $9,000.
Conversely, if you’re an author whose book is published by a major publishing house, you earn only a 25-cent royalty per book. If that book only sells 1,000 copies, your earnings are a mere $250. As initial sales are generated from your book, you potentially have to repay your outstanding advance to the publisher. (If the book doesn’t sell, however, the advance doesn’t need to be repaid.) Even if that’s been done, your literary agent often takes between 15 and 20 percent of your earnings as his commission (see the following section, “Save money without a literary agent”). If the major publishing house sells tens of thousands of copies of your book, as the author, you stand to earn a decent income. This, however, doesn’t always happen.
Another benefit to self-publishing is that you don’t have to wait three to six months to receive royalty checks from the publisher. Authors who have their book published by a major publishing house often have to wait for the money they’ve earned, but self-published authors tend to be paid a lot faster, especially on copies of the book they sell directly to customers. Self-published authors also aren’t subject to a withholding of royalties as a reserve against returns for up to six additional months.
As a self-publisher you stand to earn more money per copy of your book sold, but it’s also considerably harder, but not impossible, for self-publishers to get distribution in major bookstores. So you need to develop innovative ways to market and sell your book. Part V helps you kick start your public relations, marketing, and advertising efforts.
Save money without a literary agent
A literary agent is compensated by the author and typically receives a commission of between 15 to 20 percent of the author’s revenues. As a self-published author, you don’t need to work with a literary agent, which saves you money and gives you greater control over your entire book project.
The job of a literary agent is to help an author sell his book idea to a publisher, negotiate publishing contracts, and ensure that the author receives timely royalty payments from the publishing house. Not having proper representation by a literary agent keeps many authors from being noticed by major publishers.
Keep in mind that if you want to sell your self-published book to a major publisher down the road, you may benefit from hiring an agent. Also, most of the major publishing houses now require their authors to be represented by an established literary agent. But the choice is up to you. See Chapter 17 for details on selling your book the major publishers.
What Are Self-Publishing’s Drawbacks?
Although many reasons exist for wanting to self-publish your book (see the previous section), a few drawbacks exist, too, when committing yourself to this type of publishing venture. These cons include large time and cost considerations, specific distribution issues, and finding professionals to help you produce the best book possible. I discuss them in the following sections.
Recognizing the time and costs involved
Having total control of the publishing process can be a double-edged sword, but from a creative standpoint, it can be liberating. Practically speaking, the time and financial commitment may be too much for you.
Time commitment: Although all authors have to invest the time and energy to actually write the manuscript for their book, self-published authors also have to invest the time needed to edit, layout and design, print, market, advertise, promote, sell, and distribute their book. Each of these steps is vitally important in the success of a book, and each requires a time commitment on your part. If you’re willing to write a self-published book but not prepared to invest the time necessary to promote and sell it, nobody will know that your book exists, and your sales may be minimal. The more time and energy you invest in marketing, advertising, promotions, and sales, the better your chances are of selling large quantities of books and generating high profits.
Financial considerations: From a financial standpoint, all the costs associated with the publishing process become your responsibility as a self-published author. Depending on the approach you take, this expense can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. The goal, however, is to invest money in marketing and advertising that generates higher sales for your book and results in higher profits. If all goes well, the investment you make offers a high return.
After you make the decision to self-publish, you must develop a plan to handle each major task or responsibility as both the author and the publisher. If you have the time, resources, and finances to handle all aspects of the self-publishing process, you’re in excellent shape. However, if you’re not equipped to handle even one aspect and you don’t have the financial resources to hire experienced professionals to assist you (and save some of your own time), your potential for achieving success can diminish dramatically. See “Hiring all the help you want and need” later in this chapter for more information on hiring help.
Some of the popular ready-to-use self-publishing solutions, especially those that offer POD services (described in Chapter 11), can help you organize your publishing process. These services handle
Basic layout and design
Cover design
ISBN number registration
Hiring a professional editor to review your manuscript
In Chapter 6, you also see many of the business-related expenses in the budget as you set up your publishing company and begin making plans to write, publish, promote, distribute, and sell your book. Having your own company can have significant tax advantages and ultimately save you a lot of money and give you and your book additional credibility.
