Most people who decide to self-publish do so because they wish to rid themselves of the hassle of pursuing publishers requesting them to publish their book or because they feel they will do a better job publishing their own book themselves. Most often, though, self-publishers are looked down upon as people who had their manuscripts rejected by publishers and therefore had to publish their own book. They are called “vanity publishers”, although the term is misleading but more about that later.
For those of you who are seriously considering self-publishing rest assured you will be in good company. Some famous self-published authors include Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, E.E. Cummings, William Blake, Edgar Allen Poe Benjamin Franklin and India’s very own R.K. Narayan, just to name a few. In fact John Grisham sold his first book “A Time to Kill” out of the trunk of his car after having published it himself.
Among the many options available for self-publishers, improved connectivity and easy access to the latest technology make Print on Demand (POD) the most preferable method. POD has virtually eliminated the need for self-published authors to print and buy up to a thousand copies of their own book up front. Books can now be printed as they are ordered and shipped directly to the customer, thus eliminating the possibility of having unsold books lying around.
Here is how a traditional publisher works. The publisher has a set budget for each year which translates into how many books they will publish each year and more importantly, how many new authors they will accept. If a publisher has room in their budget for six books next year and are under contract with four established authors who will deliver one completed manuscript each, then they can only accept two new authors. So if five thousand manuscripts cross their desk they will only choose two. This implies that 4,998 authors will not get published by this publisher. So they all dust off their manuscripts and ship them off to the next publisher or, worse still, inform the author with “deep regret that the manuscript cannot be published at this time”. Now most major publishers only accept manuscripts by invitation or from established literary agents. The Catch-22 is that to get your work noticed and recommended by an established agent or by a publishing house worth their salt you usually need to be published and have a book deal in the first place.
So why go the self-publishing route? Although that is a question you have to answer yourself as an author, self-publishing allows you to have complete control over the content and design of your book and, as importantly, dictate how much royalty you wish to earn off each book that is sold. And, you also like to work hard. The following steps enumerate the processes along the self-publishing route.
Step One: Have your book ready before you start worrying about the publisher. Think about what it is you want to write about and how you are going to write it. Be realistic about the time you are going to take to write the book and how much time you need to set aside for the task each day. Remember that once the book is written you still need to edit it, rewrite it, reedit it and rewrite it again. After you’ve done that you will need someone with excellent editing skills to go over it for you. If your book needs research and travel, set aside time for that too. Be realistic about the time it will take you to complete the manuscript.
You will also need a computer to type your manuscript into. You don’t have to necessarily own one as you can spend time in a cyber cafe writing your book. Be sure to always back up your work. Having your own computer, though, allows you to have software installed that you are comfortable with and allows you to set your own schedule.
For your book, you can use software that is freely available, yet legal, and meets all your needs. Assuming you are a Windows user, you can use Lyx for type setting your manuscript. Scribus is another good alternative for this purpose. You can design your cover and draw any illustrations you need for the book using Inkscape, freely available software that is comparable to Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw.
Step Two: Now you are ready to find a POD publisher. There are several types of POD publishers out there. Some have you go through a submission process, which you will almost always pass. They will publish your book for a fee, which is often exorbitantly high. They are called “Vanity Publishers” because they are paid by the author to get the book published and sold; the book is not sold on its own merit. These publishers will take your book to book trade shows and shop it around to distributors and wholesalers. So you do get some value for your money.
A true POD (Print on Demand) publisher will usually charge you nothing in terms of upfront fees or “set up fees”. They will also not pay you any amount as royalty till your book is sold. They make their money by taking a percentage of each book you sell. Because they have lesser costs and take a smaller risk, they also take a smaller percentage then do most traditional publishers. Note that the sales of your book are market driven; people are buying your book because the content of the book appeals to them. The only time you pay these publishers is when a book is ordered for sale. Then too, most preferably, it is your customer paying for that book.
While several such POD publishers are available if you search for them on Google, in India there are a few who offer POD in the true sense of the word. True POD publishers must be willing to print in runs of one (one copy at a time) and must be able to issue an ISBN for your book. Preferably, they should also be able to sell your book online.
You will have to do the research for yourself and determine which POD publisher works best for you. Visit their website and search for the information you need. Contact them by phone or e-mail, ask them for clarifications and even references of past clients so that you can ascertain the quality of their work yourself.
For the purposes of this article I am going to discuss CinnamonTeal Print & Publishing Services. Based in Goa, they offer POD services as well as allied pre-press services such as editing, proof reading, page layout and cover design so that all services required for self-publishing can be availed of at one place.
Step Three: Once you have written your book and zeroed in on a print-on-demand publisher, there are a few things you need to do so that your book is noticed and bought. Engage the services of someone and get the pages laid out nicely and neatly, have illustrations inserted at appropriate places and get a suitable cover designed for the book. These are tasks you could even do yourself with the help of software that makes it very easy to do.
While designing the book cover there are certain aspects you need to keep in mind. You need to have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) assigned and a barcode developed for that ISBN so that it can appropriately placed on the back cover. Most publishers in India, including CinnamonTeal, will issue you an ISBN (and the bar code) for no charge. Next, check with your publisher if the publisher’s logo must be placed on the cover and place it where needed.
Most importantly, price your book appropriately. Make sure that pricing is explained well by the POD publisher you choose so that there are no ambiguities as to the pricing mechanism. Once the price is fixed, this must be mentioned on the cover of your book. Also, enquire about the quantum of royalty you will receive from the sale of each book. While traditional publishers offer authors a royalty ranging from 6-10% of the price of each book, POD publishers offer authors up to 80% of the profit made on each book as royalty.
After you have completed all aspects of the manuscript, it is suggested that the manuscript, both the content as also the cover be converted to .pdf (Portable Document Format - Adobe®) before uploading. Conversion software is available for free. Once converted the manuscript may be emailed to the publisher.
At this point your book is available for sale. It is suggested that you order a copy of the book yourself so that you can see what it looks like and be satisfied with its look but that is a matter of choice.
Step Four: Once your book is available for sale, comes the hard part – marketing the book. You should spare no effort here - send it for reviews, offer it to book clubs, get as much press coverage as you can. Create a webpage and publish an excerpt there. You want people to know about your book so that they get interested in it so do whatever it takes to market your book. You have to promote your book at every chance you get. The more you promote your book the more you will sell.
Conclusion: Self-publishing is hard work. There is nothing vain about it. The reward is that you will keep more of the profits for yourself and have total control over your book. If someone tells you that self-publishing is for writers with no talent tell them that it certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted. In fact, for those who are sure about their work, self-publishing is perhaps the best way to go.
Links:
CinnamonTeal Print & Publishing Services:
http://cinnamonteal.dogearsetc.com
Lyx Publishing Software:
http://www.lyx.org
Scribus Publishing Software:
http://www.lyx.org
Inkscape Vector Graphics Software:
http://www.lyx.org