Category: Choosing a Publisher

Book Promotion, Choosing a Publisher

Self-Publishing. The real deal?

There remain detractors intent on diminishing the viability or professionalism of independent or self-publishing. Ask yourself this, would you consider a 6 figure royalties payout on your book a mark of successful, professional publishing? How about 6 figures in six short months?

http://tinyurl.com/chen100k

Proof in the pudding? It seems so.

We make it a point to communicate the importance of not short changing independent publishing. Also, don’t short change yourself. Make sure your self-publisher has the professionalism, experience, and resources to meet your highest publishing goals.

Karl

Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing – Let’s Clarify

Tuesday’s post concerning publishing contract details prompted me to consider a few pieces of information self-publishing authors may benefit from on the front end, deciding which route to take their books. It’s true there can be a lot of confusion about self publishing and print-on-demand. Let’s clarify some misconceptions many have seen floating around.

1. MYTH: Whoever owns the ISBN owns the book.

FACT: This use to be true. Nowadays, not as much so. Most POD publishers assign an ISBN they own, and they do this for the authors’ convenience; in any case authors should ALWAYS keep all the rights to their book.

2. MYTH: Independent self-publishing is different from publishing with a POD publisher because the publisher owns the ISBN.

FACT: It is true that the ISBN identifies the publisher of record. Look for a publisher that allows authors to supply their own ISBN at some level.

3.MYTH: New York publishers promote and market all their books.

FACT: New York publishers usually devote the lion’s share of their marketing budget to the top 1% (Harry Potter, for example) of the books they publish. The other books published during that season are victims of the sliced marketing budget. Most authors don’t get any support from their traditional publisher at all.

4.MYTH: Printing a book with an offset printer is the same as publishing it.

FACT: Printing a book is one facet of publication. Before a book can be printed, it needs to be designed. Then it needs to be printed. Then it needs wholesale distribution through Ingram and availability online with retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Then it needs fulfillment of orders and invoicing.

Printing a book with an off-set printer accomplishes one of those steps. Publishing a book with a turn-key, custom self-publisher accomplishes all of them. Some authors choose to do both; an on-demand edition complements an off-set print-run very nicely.

Karl Schroeder

Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing and Book Rights

I was recently consulting with an author in a transition from one self-publisher to another in order to take advantage of greater distribution and better book pricing. In doing so I wanted to review the initial publisher’s contract.

Here’s an excerpt from the letter the competing publisher sent to him:

“While Section Six (6) of your Publishing Agreements states, ‘If I cancel, will have the non-exclusive right to produce, market, and sell my Title for one year following receipt of my cancellation notice,” has chosen not to exercise this right.”

What’s the catch? They maintain the right to sell your book without paying you, but then they tell you it’s not good enough to do that.

It’s clear that this publisher had no intention of generating revenue from any book’s sales, regardless of market potential. No wonder there book prices were sky high – they make their money selling services and then books back to their authors.

The good news is that there are strong, full service self-publishers out there that keep 100% books rights where they belong – with authors.

Keep the pens rolling and the fingers punching.

– Karl Schroeder

Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Tips on Annotation for the Self-Publishing Author

Last week we discussed the book marketing value of professional cover scribing. Annotation provides an avenue to use that externally to enhance that marketing online.

ANNOTATION is used by Ingram during the distribution process. When the book is listed on Amazon or Barnes & Noble’s website, it’s the annotation that fills the PRODUCT DESCRIPTION/OVERVIEW section.   The ANNOTATION is also restricted in length, although very often can be substantially longer than the Back Cover Copy.  Ideally, the ANNOTATION should be as long and as detailed as possible, perhaps requiring multiple headings to separate elements of the ANNOTATION.  The total character count, including spaces, should be as close to 4000 as possible without exceeding it.   It’s okay to include the author biography again in the ANNOTATION, provided a separate heading (Like “About the Author”) separates the content. Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have the capability of understanding basic HTML formatting tags, so judicious use of several tags can help an ANNOTATION really stand out.  Two specific tags that should be used are the <b>BOLD</b> tags and the <em>italics</em> tags, both of which can help draw a reader’s attention to specific words and phrases within the ANNOTATION. Bullet point and numbered lists are good here, too.

Whew. Have fun. Keep writing.

– Karl Schroeder

Book Promotion, Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing Book Pricing Note

Did you know that most publishers charge you the wholesale price (or higher) for your own book unless you buy it in bulk?

The wholesale price! How are you supposed to make any money that way? The wholesale price is what retailers will expect to pay.

Make sure your author copy price is always BELOW wholesale (and if you compare around, you will find that self-publishers with solid author prices are usually dollars-per-book below other publishers).  On a side note, some of these publishers pull authors in with low upfront fees. It becomes apparent where they do make their money.

Some publishers also attempt to conceal this by offering “bulk discounts” on large book orders of 100, 200, 500, or more.

Do you really want to buy 500 copies all the time, just to get a reasonable “per unit” price? Sure, when your book is first published, this might be okay because you’ll need marketing copies.

But what about 1-3 years down the road, when you just want 10 quick copies? Then what will each book cost you? Something to think about…

Have fun and keep writing.

– Karl Schroeder