Is self-publishing right for everyone? Perhaps not. Is it right for you? Check out these 5 TIPS from self-publishing success story, Gang Chen, which may help answer that question.
Category: Self-Publishing
Writing advice for the self-publishing author.
Q: I use three periods in my dialogue a lot to indicate pauses of speech, interruptions of words, etc., but I haven’t seen this in many books. I keep trying to limit myself or use other means of communicating, but I don’t know what to substitute them with. Are they okay to use? Can I use them a lot? What are some alternatives? Below are some examples:
“Goodbye, brother.” John took her hand and squeezed it. “We have to go. I’m sorry…I’m just,…I’m sorry we couldn’t save you.”
“Matt…what did you trade for them?” He looked up, tried to smile, and was about to give an excuse, but her disapproving stare made him look down again.
A: Although three periods (called ellipses) can represent hesitation in dialogue, so can a comma, and the two should never be used together, as it was in the first example. In the second example, a simple comma would suffice. “Matt, what did you trade for them?”
The use of ellipses for hesitation (not for interruption) is acceptable, but like any creative writing device, it should not be overused, which is why you won’t find the device used too often in good literature. Use ellipses only when hesitation is vital to the dialogue, as it was in the first example. Use a dash (sparingly) to indicate interruption, as in the example below.
“I’m sorry, but I—”
David scoffed. “Sorry? Don’t give me any of your excuses.”
Bobbie Christmas, book doctor, 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 pioneer, Lulu, recently pulled planned $70 million IPO, which has generated some discussion as to the future of this long standing service provider. As book publishing continues to push through its current industry-wide revolution, does this suggest that the early, free models are loosing viability?
1) DO NOT CHOOSE SPEED OVER QUALITY
Avoid publishers that claim to publish in 24 hours. After the time it took to write your book, do you want it published right, or overnight? Avoid overnight publishers no matter what they charge because the only one looking at your book will be a computer. It should take between 6-15 weeks.
2) DO NOT BE FOOLED BY HIGH ROYALTY CLAIMS
A royalty is simply a percentage of another number. The actual dollars and cents you earn depends upon that second number. The truest royalty is a royalty based upon the retail price of your book. Many publishers use “net royalty” which is a royalty based upon their profit. To be sure, always confirm your profit in dollars and cents.
3) DO NOT SIGN YOUR RIGHTS AWAY
The main advantage to self-publishing alternatively with a on-demand publisher is that you keep all the rights to your work. The rights are valuable. Read the contract. Your rights should clearly stay with you.
4) DO NOT BE CONFUSED BY BULK DISCOUNTS
If a publisher normally offers discounts to an author who buys their own book in bulk, that tells you two things. 1) It tells you they are more concerned with selling to you than to other readers. 2) It tells you they are charging you too much for lower quantities. Do you really want to be forced to buy 100 books at a time just to get a fair price? “Bulk” discounts simply trick the author into buying more books than they need, which defeats the whole advantage of on-demand printing.
5) DO NOT BE TRICKED BY AUTHOR DISCOUNTS
As an author, your per-book price should be based upon the production cost of the book, not the retail price. No wonder publishers inflate their retail pricing. You should always receive a below-wholesale price, regardless of how many you buy. You will never make money if you have to buy your own book at wholesale from the publisher.
Q: When you spoke at a conference recently, I heard you refer to self-publishing. Isn’t “independent publishing” the correct term now?
A: Yes and no. An independent publisher is a small publisher that may or may not publish the works of the owner, but it always publishes the works of other authors, as well. When you publish only your own books, you are self-publishing. I know the distinction is vague; in either case you have to set up a company and be a publisher, but an independent publishing house accepts the works of others, as well as the works of the owner.
Also, when you use a firm that helps you publish, so that you don’t have to set up your own company, you are a self-published author, as opposed to a traditionally published author.
In the end, we are simply talking semantics. If you spend any money at all toward the printing of your book, you are self-published. Being self-published used to carry a stigma, and perhaps that’s why some people don’t want to use the term, but the market has changed over the years, and people’s attitudes have changed with it. At a time when selling a book to a traditional publisher is almost impossible, yet printing your own book has become easier than ever, self-publishing has taken on a whole new character and lost much of its prior poor image. Nowadays the only stigma comes from a poorly written or unedited self-published book. If the book looks good, reads well, is thoroughly edited, and sells well, who cares who paid for the printing?
Bobbie Christmas is a book doctor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, and she 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 Advisor 