Self-Publishing – Page 33 – Self Publishing Advisor

Self-publishing Writing Advice from the Book Doctor

The Book Doctor runs through word choice for the self-publishing author

Q: A newspaper reporter in my writing club took me to task for using ‘whether or not’ in fiction dialogue. I see why the corsetry of reporting would not use this phrase, but isn’t fiction dialogue supposed to be somewhat the same as the way people actually talk?

A: First I must comment on the use of corsetry (the making of corsets or other binding garments). It made me smile; I’ve never seen the word used to refer to the limitations of journalism, but it certainly fits.

You’re completely correct that journalism has its confines, while dialogue in fiction has almost no such restrictions. All bets are off and all rules dropped when it comes to dialogue in fiction. While narrative has its guidelines, dialogue should sound natural.

People naturally speak in contractions and use expletives, slang, idioms, clichés and wordy phrases, all things that narrative should not use. Human beings repeat themselves and pick the wrong words, sometimes, too, which can add humor to dialogue. I saw much of that tactic used in the dialogue on the TV show The Sopranos. I recall one character kept saying, “I’m having prostrate trouble,” when the correct word is “prostate,” but many people incorrectly use the word “prostrate” in this sense.

Do people say “whether or not” when they speak? You bet they do, and it’s your choice as the author whether to use it in dialogue, but avoid it in narrative.

Book Marketing, Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

How do I get my self-published book into bookstores?

Traditional book retail stores often look for four things when deciding to order a book or stock a book on their shelves:

1. Availability with a wholesaler like Ingram.
2. A 50-55% trade discount, which means more money for the retail store. The highest trade discount you can set through most effective publishers is 55%, industry standard.
3. A retail returns policy. A few on-demand publishers offer an optional retail returns program. The retail returns option is generally only effective when each of these other criteria are met.
4. Finally, customer demand. Bookstores also require consumer demand for your book. Creating demand, or “buzz,” is up to your promotional efforts – it’s never to early to start planning. In addition to researching your upfront publishing costs, be sure to look also into these two critical things: (1) your book pricing structure and (2) the marketing support available with your publisher.

Self-Publishing

Guest Post: Book Doctor Talks Narrative Voice

Writing advice for the self-publishing author

Q: Where can I find the guidelines about how formal or informal the narrative should be?

A: I cannot point to one specific source for formal versus informal writing, except that slang, contractions, dialect, and clichés are informal, whereas most narrative should be formal. That said, I used an informal narrative style in my own book, Write In Style, including contractions, because I wanted the book to reflect my personality and be upbeat, friendly, and not too textbook-like. It’s important to know the guidelines and break them only for a specific reason, such as when the narrative intentionally reflects the voice of a specific narrator.

Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at http://www.zebraeditor.com.

Self-Publishing

The Book Doctor talks “Copyright” Protection

Self-publishing affords author the advantage of 100% content and property rights control, which makes copyright protection an important element to consider when choosing your publisher. Bobbie the “Book Doctor” Christmas shares some helpful tips…

* * *

Q: When I send my manuscript to readers or agents, should I put the copyright c in a circle on the title page, on every page, or anywhere at all? Should a date be there also?

A: I tend to trust people and therefore do not put a copyright mark on my manuscripts, because the laws of copyright protect us—that is, we own the rights to all our intellectual property the moment we create it. Also, agents and publishers who see a copyright mark may think the person who sent the manuscript is unknowledgeable or paranoid, because it is not necessary to officially register the copyright until the work is laid out and ready to be published in book form.

If, however, you feel more comfortable marking your manuscripts with a copyright mark, the traditional method for showing a copyright is to use the symbol c in a circle or write the word “Copyright.” Either form should then be followed by the year and your first and last name, all on one line. It should appear on the title page only, and because it is not standard to have a copyright mark on a manuscript, there is no standard for where on the title page to put it. I would probably put it two lines below the name of the author on the title page.

Do not, however, go to the trouble of registering the copyright with the government until the book is about to be published. The content will no doubt change between the time you write it and it gets published, so wait until the book is in its final form before paying to register the copyright.

* * *

Some full service self-publishing options will actually handle copyright registration with the US Copyright office for you. Be sure to check with your representative.

Self-Publishing

Self-publishing & Page Count

The most important thing to recognize is the difference between your manuscript page size (which is most likely 8.5 x 11) and your published book trim size (which will most likely be smaller). When you discuss page count with your self-publisher, or per-page pricing, it is based upon the size of the published page, also referred to as trim size.

The most common published book trim sizes are 5.5 x 8.5 and 6 x 9, although on-demand publishing now offers most trim size choices available anywhere in the industry.

If your manuscript is 100 pages long at 8.5×11, you probably have closer to 200 pages of finished text when the book is published. Congratulations, your book just got twice as long.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, some authors are surprised when they see pricing based upon 200 pages instead of 100. Don’t be caught off-guard.

Keep in mind that your production price is directly related to your published page count. The more pages your book has, the more it will cost to print. Therefore, most authors keep their books between 100-300 published pages.

Yes, that probably means your book is already long enough to publish! But being long enough, and being finished are two different things, right?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: