Outskirts Press – Page 30 – Self Publishing Advisor

The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing

There are pros and cons to any endeavor. Though we’d all like to say that our solution relieves the end user from making any of the wrong decisions, that’s simply not the case. However, there is a good and bad side of each coin. Here are a few related to self publishing:

Pros

Freedom of expression — you write your own words. You don’t have to change what you’ve written or even edit your manuscript.
You control how your book looks — everything from the cover to the interior formatting is in your hands.
You set your own price — it can be a low or high as you would like.
You receive 100% of your royalties — there’s no middleman stealing your profits.

Cons

No one critiques your manuscript — how can you be sure your story is “worth reading”?
You don’t have to edit your manuscript — a messy manuscript turns into a poorly-written book that very few people (if any) will want to read.
You control your book’s design — this is great if you’re a designer but not so great if you have limited graphic skills.

The best route to take is to choose a reputable self-publishing company. Interview several of them until you find the one that best suits your needs. That way, you can be given much of the same guidance you’d receive going with a “traditional” publisher, but you’ll enjoy many of the same freedoms that come along with self publishing.

What other pros/cons can you think come along with self publishing territory?

ABOUT CHERI BREEDING:
Since 2005 Cheri Breeding has been working as the Director of Production for Outskirts Press. In that time, she has been an instrumental component of every aspect of the Production Department, performing the roles of an Author Representative, Book Designer, Customer Service Representative, Title Production Supervisor, Production Manager and, Director of Production. She brings all that experience and knowledge, along with an unparalleled customer-service focus, to help self-publishing authors reach high-quality book publication more efficiently, professionally, and affordably.

Wendy Speaks

2 Things that Can REALLY Crush Your Book

If your sales figures are low many times it can be due to faulty or inconsistent marketing. Sometimes you just can’t get the word out to your audience. People are ready to read your book, but they have to know it exists. Ideally, you hire a book marketing consultant or try to “go it alone” and hope that book sales are the result of your efforts.

What happens when you’ve come up with the perfect book promotion strategy but no one is buying the book? Many times you just need to change gears. Maybe the activities you have invested your time into aren’t really reaching your target market. You have to figure out where your target market is “hanging out”, go there, and mingle with them. But, that’s not the purpose of today’s post. Today, we are aiming to reveal the two biggest book crushers. If you feel like you’ve tried everything to get people to purchase your book to no avail, you may need to re-evaluate your book and make sure that you’re not committing either of the following critical errors:

A boring cover. Books really are judged by their cover. It’s a cliché we use very often here. However, we can’t stress the importance of that statement enough. A professionally-designed book cover can make you stand heads and shoulders above other books on the market (all other things being equal). A boring (read: template) book cover could mean that your book won’t be seen. In a sea filled with many fishes, you have to stand out. If you don’t, no worm for you!
Lack of editing. Have you ever read a book that is filled with errors? Doesn’t it make it much harder to not only read the book but also take the author seriously? That book = your book if you choose not to hire an editor.

Either or both of these can kill your book very early in the game.

What other “book crushers” can you think of?

ABOUT WENDY STETINA:
Wendy Stetina is a sales and marketing professional with over 30 years experience in the printing and publishing industry. Wendy works as the Director of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants; and together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process in order to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction, or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Wendy Stetina can put you on the right path.

Book Reviews, Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week: Burned: A Tragic Mystery by J.A. Nevling

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if they don’t know about it? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.

When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us let the community know about a great book. So, without further adieu, here’s this week’s book review:

Burned: A Tragic Mystery

J.A. Nevling

Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.

ISBN 9781432724436

Reviewed by: Betty Gelean for Review the Book

“Being burned is a very tragic event, especially when it is a baby who is badly burned, even through the efforts to keep this to a minimum by her father who is also burned. A tragedy which could so easily happen through a brain focusing on the wrong thing at the wrong time. An overtired brain, a stressed brain, or in this case, a distracted brain.

The big game is on TV and Jim, the father, is baby-sitting his nine month old daughter, Anna, who is currently sleeping, to give his wife, Sharon, some time out with her friend Katie. When he hears Anna fussing, he does all the right things, cleaning her, changing her, and putting her bottle on to warm. What he doesn’t realize is going to change all their lives in the next several minutes. A gas explosion is going to set the house on fire, not a small fire but a raging fire. Jim’s efforts to get the baby out of her crib are next to impossible. The crib is burning and as he tries to bring her out avoiding the worst of the flames surrounding her, she falls through the side of the fiery crib. He does the right thing to try to protect her, stumbles outside and passes out.

When Sharon arrives at the hospital she learns both that her husband will survive, but Anna has been so badly burned it will mean a long recovery at best, but they don’t know at this point if she will survive. Though the doctor does not want Sharon to see her at this time, she absolutely insists, and this action will clinch the effects that soon will engulf the whole family. Sharon will soon turn her back on her husband and they will be separated. The stage is now set for the mystery part of the book.

J.A. Nevling certainly knows how to write emotion. He also knows how to write a sequence of awful proportions in a way that the reader knows what is going on, but is not horrified to the extent that he/she will find the book so upsetting it will be impossible to read further. The reader instead will stay focused on the story as it unfolds and will have trouble putting it down. This book is meant to be read. It will be emotional by its nature, but there is so much more than the fire and its results. Once Sharon has moved away, Anna is going through her various treatments, and Jim is dealing with his feelings of guilt, remorse, and the loss of Sharon, the mystery portion of the book begins to unfold.

Sharon has found a small apartment and a good job at Prescott Industries, a new life she can not quite separate from the old. When a marriage is based on real love, it doesn’t separate easily. Yet soon it becomes apparent that a transition has happened in Sharon’s personality. She can’t understand it, she often sleeps too much and feels strangely different. She seems to lose time, her ability to focus has changed, and she has some memory lapses. When she is run off the road as a car rams her from behind, she begins to feel someone is out to kill her. The detectives she talks to have some doubts but decide they should look into it. This is a real mystery, and there are several suspects, but the ending is shocking, and at the same time satisfying. This book is a definite adventure in reading. It speaks to the fallibility of people, love in its truest form, runs the gamut of several emotions, and is well worth the read. I enjoyed the book, which seems strange in light of the difficulties involved, but that is how well-written it is.”

DISCUSSION: Are you trying to obtain book reviews as part of your overall book promotion strategy?

Book Design, Wendy Speaks

3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Publisher Format Your Book

Your book’s format is important to its overall success. It’s so important that authors often outsource their book’s design to get the best possible results. While there are some authors who are skilled in graphic design, many authors are mainly talented in their own area of expertise — writing.

Authors that decide to publish their book using a self-publishing company, such as Outskirts Press, typically choose to allow the publisher to format their book for them. However, there are some authors who opt to either format the book themselves or hire a graphic designer. If you’re using a self-publishing company, you should not let them format your book if:

You don’t mind a poorly-designed book. The best writers can also be the most amateur book designers. If you aren’t experienced in graphic design, you should have someone else do this for you.
You want to pay more money — on top of your publishing package cost. In most cases, your publishing package has the fees for book design already built into the cost. Publishers typically don’t reduce the cost of your package even if you submit a “print-ready” manuscript. On top of that, graphic designers are in demand and charge premium fees. This can add a hefty amount to your publishing costs.
You want to have “more control” over your book’s formatting. One of the biggest benefits of self-publishing is maintaining creative control over your book. The importance of this benefit cannot be overlooked. So, while this may initially seem like a good reason to design your own book, you can achieve the same result by allowing your publisher to design it for you.

Did you let your publisher design your book for you?

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week, Uncategorized

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week: Pearl by Darlene Cox

Pearl A Life Too Short: A Death Too Long

Darlene Cox

Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.

ISBN 9781432766368

Reviewed by: Midwest Book Review

Pearl is Darlene Cox’s third self-published novel. Other books written are A Little Bit of Larceny and Web of Deceit. A fourth novel will be out in November 2011 and is the sequel to Web of Deceit.

Faircloth, Virginia was a small and peaceful town where everyone knew and trusted each other, so it seemed, until a young beautiful woman was found by two young boys beaten to death in Jacobs Gully partially buried under a pile of leaves. Her name was Pearl and she was 28 years old. Possible suspects in her murder would prove to be many. Faircloth’s Sheriff Atherton and his small staff of deputies would have their hands full.

Pearl was a free-spirited woman who was married to a much older man who owned a Cadillac dealership and she was well taken care of by him. She drove around often at night in her Cadillac convertible with the top down, hair blowing in the wind, anytime and anyplace she felt like it often speeding down the highway. The authorities were perplexed about her death. They wondered if she may have had a flat tire and someone gave her a lift, or maybe she picked up a hitchhiker. She was a kind person and they figured she might have known her killer.

The investigation is most intriguing as the cast of characters lure you into the plot keeping you guessing as the clues unfold.

In addition, to the brutal death of Pearl, the charred remains of an unknown young woman were found in an abandoned house adding more suspense, more secrets, and more questions. The story gets complicated, picks up speed, and authorities believe these two murders may be connected as many townspeople became suspect.

For a small town, the investigation was an exhausting task with only a few deputies and a medical examiner’s office. The search for the murder weapon that killed Pearl had been determined to be a small rock with possible blood splatters on it that would become a grueling chore to find in the woods surrounding the crime area. And, the medical examiner was a well-known drinker who would be too slow in giving the results of his findings regarding the DNA and autopsy reports. Onlooker’s footprints and tire tracks ruined valuable evidence that could have been helpful to the forensic team. Hours and hours were spent on the road and in the woods looking for a bloody rock and Pearl’s Cadillac which had been missing since the day she died. Most interesting, her car was a valuable clue needed to help solve the crime.

To add to the mysteries, a third woman was found on the shoulder of the highway badly beaten and left in a ‘catatonic state.’ The plot gets murky and leads become dead ends.

Darlene Cox has once again created a classic “who done-it” tale pulling the reader along guessing at every turn, with a surprise ending. This book is highly recommended.

DISCUSSION: Are you trying to obtain book reviews as part of your overall book promotion strategy?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: