CONNECT WITH EXPERT PUBLISHING CONSULTANTS
Once upon a time there was a lady (me) who—over ten years—developed a non-fiction book. As you might imagine, there were more “stops” than “starts” and many “in-between times” when the manuscript pages simply sat in a box in the closet. Then photography became part of the adventure and I began placing selections in the manuscript. I enjoyed the creation of each and every paragraph and page. Then came the moment with it was completed, and before the last manuscript page fell from the printer, I knew it would be highly unlikely to find a traditional publisher. They had never “heard” of this very nice lady who loved the craft of writing and wanted to encourage other writers. Many of my friends—published authors—encouraged me to check out the field of self-publishing companies. (Of course, you know I selected the company that supports this blog, however, I must share more of the story.)
The publishing world is a BIG place and at one time (not so many years ago) the predictions were given that “real, hold-in-your-hand” books would soon be a thing of the past. In our era of POD (Print on Demand) technology, a manuscript can be published—and viewed online—in an hour or less. We have IPad size Notebooks and Kindles that download thousand-page books before we can repeat the title. Our desktop and laptop computers will turn-the-pages as we read our selection. Was this quiet and somewhat shy lady going to jump into that world?
I’ll leave the storyline now and tell you what I did—because my position is that REAL BOOKS will never disappear because of the true and felt-need that people enjoy holding their books in their hands.
- I started with Google…and ended up with a list of over 100 self-publishing companies and online ebook publishers.
- With a little help from friends—who told me the self-publishers that they would never do business with again—I narrowed that list to the top 10 self-publishing companies.
- Then I called them—no emails (at first)—so that I could speak with a “real person” and learn more about their process.
- I did not actually talk with someone at each of the ten self-publishing companies because a few had complicated messaging systems (“select #1 for marketing, #2 for…etc.”) which did not instantly allow me to speak with a person.
- The people I did converse with were, for the most part, friendly and interested in the concept of my book. However, I could tell that several were checking off scripted replies. I chose not to continue those conversations.
What I discovered is that there are many basic and foundational processes when getting our books published. However, not all companies approach them in the same way. I needed to be clear about the differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing. I needed a personal guide who would explain all the publishing options (services) their company offered—someone who would hear what I told them about my book and the audience it could reach—and then help me select the perfect combination of services to achiever my publishing goals.
If you’ve read any of my previous blogs (archived back to 2013), you’ll know that I have published FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, and I could not have fulfilled that dream (to help other writers break through writer’s block) without the help of my Outskirts Press, Publishing Consultant, Jodee Thayer! Her confidence in me and the manuscript gave me the courage to invest in myself and every writer who holds that book in their hands. That is my hope for every Reader of this blog—to collaborate with your own Jodee Thayer—and see your dreams come true! ⚓︎
Self Publishing Advisor 