Category: Choosing a Publisher

Choosing a Publisher

Excellence in Self-Publishing…and Beyond

“I was told not to self-publish…it will kill your writing career before it starts.” This advice was pressed to author Lisa Genova from a literary agent just a short time before she did self-publish her novel on early onset Alzheimer’s, Still Alice. 

Genova did self publish—and flourished. She spent a year successfully selling and promoting her book. Several media spots in her local Boston area helped gain a wider audience and shortly after winning the Bronte prize for excellence in romantic fiction her book was auctioned out to traditional publishers on a six-figure contract.

It’s no secret that self-publishing is gaining steam in the book world in it’s own right, with it’s own advantages. And in the case of Genova and many other authors, self-publishing can be a calling card of sorts, helping get your book noticed all over the industry, and even in those big (often cloistered) traditional houses.

While it is never guaranteed that any particular book will be picked up by a traditional publisher, there are a few key elements in self-publishing that will help your book gain as much attention as possible. And why not enjoy all those advantages of successful self-publishing, regardless. 

  1. Custom Cover Design. You’ve got great content, pertinent and insightful. Truly great words to share. How do readers find those words? A professionally, custom designed book cover.
  2. Cover Scribing. Now your cover has sparked interest. Where to next? The book back cover or webpage synopsis. Writing sales copy is a specific skill. Have a professional copywriter help sharpen those few, important paragraphs.
  3. Editing. Now you’ve got an open book in reader and reviewers hands. What will they find? A published author and professional editor once commented that even after proofing her manuscript for the 50th time she couldn’t manage to catch many apparent problems. An editor herself, she reluctantly opted for another professional editing service—and claimed that decision to be among the most significant in her entire publication.

These 3 key elements are among just a few of the services and options available with the rapidly growing world of full-service self-publishing.

As always, have fun and keep writing!

Sincerely,

Karl Schroeder

Choosing a Publisher

4 Myths about Self-Publishing

There can be a lot of confusion about self publishing and print-on-demand. As you decide the best publishing path for you, I would like to clarify some misconceptions you may have heard.

 

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 off-set 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.

 

I hope you found this helpful.  Keep writing!

 

Sincerely,

Karl Schroeder

Choosing a Publisher

More Pricing Info for the Self-Publishing Author

Many options in the custom self-publishing world provide you with the unique freedom to set your own retail cover price.  Authors should have the control set their own trade discount and royalty they want to early in the publishing process.  In fact, some publisher’s websites even provide features that automatically calculate the necessary pricing information for you based on your book details right away.

 

That dynamic pricing calculation should also include your author copy base price—the price you can purchase your book at.  This is one detail to consider when selecting your publisher.  Upon close look you may notice that some publishers artificially inflate a book’s retail price and then offering to sell copies to the author for a “discount.”  Strangely, this scheme adopted by so many POD publishers is similar to what you’d find with off-set printers—providing a “bulk discount” only if the author orders a large number of books all at once.  That defeats one of the biggest advantages of print-on-demand.  All they have really done is inflated the low-quantity costs enough to allow a discount on higher quantities.  No wonder their retail prices can be so high.

 

Look for a publisher that offers the pricing flexibility to allow your book to retail at the best competitive rates possible, while also providing you the option to purchase your book at those below wholesales costs in low quantities to sell on your own.

 

Have fun and keep writing!

 

Sincerely,

Karl Schroeder

Choosing a Publisher

Self-Publishing – Putting Authors in the Driver’s Seat

As we discussed previously, property rights in book publishing is one important consideration in finding the path that best meets your goals. 

 

In all forms of art—painting, woodwork, sculpture, writing—ownership exists. At many levels.  A painter paints a picture. Owns the picture.  Sells the picture.  A sculptor molds a bust.  Owns the bust.  Sells the bust.

 

Ownership changes but the picture does not.  The bust does not.   

 

In the Traditional sense, authors sell their work to publishing houses for an advance on royalties. Those publishers then, owning the material, can do whatever they want with your writing—cut paragraphs, chapters, change the title even.

 

Imagine crafting a beautiful landscape only to have someone paint over it. 

 

The good news is many custom self publishing options currently offer non-exclusive contracts now.  The non-exclusive part keeps authors the driver’s seat and preserves the essence and origination of the writing.  It’s your work, thoughts, ideas, and stories, after all. 

 

Have fun and keep writing!

 

Sincerely,


Karl Schroeder

 

 

“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done” – Steven Wright