Tag: Self-Publishing

Book Promotion, Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Ask the Book Doctor: About Book Covers and Free Feedback

Ask the Book Doctor: About Book Covers and Free Feedback

Q: My book is being edited and will be soon be ready to be printed. Being short on cash, how can I put a nice cover on it as cheaply as possible? I don’t expect it to be on a bestseller list, but I do want it to be more advanced than my first attempt.

A: You are wise to be concerned about the cover. The cover often is the only thing that sells a book. If the cover looks bad, few people will buy the book, no matter how well written the contents may be. As in editing, the cover is not a place where you want to scrimp.

If you don’t want the cover to look cheap, don’t be cheap. That is, pay someone, even if it is only a design student, to design a book cover properly and well. Don’t create your own artwork for it unless you’re an accomplished artist. Don’t use the artwork of one of your children unless the book is a children’s book.

Getting the front, back, and spine looking professional takes much more work and knowledge than most non-designers can imagine, plus the file must be compatible with the printer’s equipment. Unless you have a design program, know how to use it, and have studied design, I don’t recommend designing a book cover yourself. If you want the cover to look professional, hire a professional to do it.

Barring hiring a pro, you can use one of the self-publishing companies that offers cover design as part of a printing package. You can check the Internet for such companies and see if they offer any covers that appeal to you at a price that is satisfactory, or you can surf the Web for cover designers and pick one with the best price. Through the miracle of the Internet your designer can be anywhere in the world and send the files to you electronically. Be sure to check out some of the lower priced book design companies in India, too.

Yours in writing,
Bobbie Christmas, author Write In Style, the triple-award-winning textbook on creative writing
Zebra Communications
230 Deerchase Drive, Suite B
Woodstock, GA 30188
770-924-0528
http://www.zebraeditor.com
Bobbie@zebraeditor.com
Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-Publishing Pricing Considerations

Book pricing is important to consider when exploring self-publishing options. Many authors get pulled in by little or no upfront costs. It’s important to investigate how that publisher benefits from such a model.

The fact is, 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 reselling your book to retailers? The wholesale price is what retailers will expect to pay.

Make sure your publisher offers author copy base prices below wholesale. Through a bit of investigation you’ll likely find that with a strong publisher your base prices are usually dollars below other publishers.

Most publishers 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? Yes, 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?

Just something to be aware of as you finish up your manuscript.

Have fun and keep writing.

– Karl Schroeder

Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-Publishing: Ask the Right Questions

Regardless of whether you are holding out for an old-fashioned publishing
contract or taking matters into your own hands with custom self-publishing, here are 5 questions you should
know the answers to when you decide to publish:

1 – What is the minimum number of books you have to purchase, and what does
each book cost you? Many require certain quantities to be purchased at highly marked up prices. That is how they ‘get you.’

2 – Who determines your retail price? How much is it? – Here’s another one
to look out for. You should have that control. Publishers that don’t allow that are often in the business to make money on your book. You’ve done the work. You should see the rewards.

3 – Who determines how much money you make from each book? Another good test.
Your publisher should pay 100% of the difference between the wholesale price and the
production price of the book. Most publishers pay anywhere from 5%-50%.

4 – Do you receive marketing support after publication? Free services like the Marketing COACH offered by Outskirts Press is an invaluable collection of proven tactics shared to help improve your book sales.

5 – Do you retain all the rights to your book? You definitely should. Check
the contract of wherever you publish.

Isn’t this fun!

– Karl Schroeder

Choosing a Publisher, Networking, Self-Publishing

Self-Publishing and Online Marketing

Leading traditional book publisher, HarperCollins, recently initiated an online social networking and self-publishing operation that is designed to flesh out new titles to pull into their traditional publishing program. This provides concrete evidence that self-publishing is the real deal, despite what detractors may purport.

Among the many advantages of self-publishing, as in part demonstrated by HarperCollins, is the ease of online social networking and media access, which provides outstanding viral marketing potential for authors. Outskirts Press is offering a free 30 second book teaser video for authors initiating the process this month. What a cool and effective marketing tool.

Traditional publishing is looking to the pool of self-published titles to bring to the market. The good news is that the market is already there for self-publishing authors. Make sure your publisher offers a variety and adapting base of marketing support and options following publication. The potential is huge.

Have fun and keep writing…

– Karl Schroder

Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-Publishing: The New Black

Last Friday I happened to run into a new friend at a coffee shop down the street from my home. She also works in the publishing industry as a consultant, but more on the traditional model side. We enjoy running in to each other and talking shop.

This last run-in she mentioned a new author for which she’s providing ghostwriting and consulting services. Amy was evidently reserved in progressing with the project and I pressed for a bit more information. As it turned out, this particular author Amy was working with has a timely book topic on the table with a pressing eagerness to see it published; and with business savvy, the author wanted to see an attractive return on investment.

“Okay, what concerns do you have?” I asked. Amy first responded that shopping for an agent to pick up the book would push the timeline way back, and then between the agent’s and then the publisher’s cut, what could she reasonably expect to provide as an incentive to her author.

I couldn’t help but smirk. With self-publishing, authors retain exclusive control and full royalties, while having their books published in full-service style – start to finish – in around 12 weeks. Amy’s look was one of almost disbelief. When I mentioned all of these things along with the advantage of unlimited on-demand, international distribution offered by the best full-service self-publishing options she was noticeably, informed.

If you are an author, or publishing professional, revisit this question: What are your publishing goals? For many authors, the most important goals are:
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1) Keeping 100% of your rights and creative control to your book
2) Keeping 100% of your author royalties
3) Setting your own retail price, profit, and author discount
4) Publishing a high-quality book that is available worldwide

I hope that helps. Keep writing…

– Karl Schroeder