Self publishing

To Self-Publish or Perish

Jean Sheldon

Why do you write? I write because of my love of creating stories and characters, and now that I've started, the passion has attached itself to my soul and I doubt that I'll stop. I also want to share those stories and character and part of that is ego. I'd like people to like my work and therefore like me. I'd be lying if I said that wasn't true. Another part of it is that I think they're worth sharing.

I'd tried the traditional path of submitting query letters to publishers and agents with little progress. The ones that answered gave me polite rejections, but many didn’t bother to respond at all. I finally learned to assume that if they hadn't answered in three months, they really had answered, and sent queries to different publishers and agents.

That went on until I realized I felt like a hostage. If you submit a MS somewhere, you are not supposed to submit it anywhere else until you have a reply. I understand that, because if agents or publishers put any time at all into your book, they don't want you to pull it out from under them. What about the writer? How long or how often can a writer remain on hold without a clue to what's going on? I decided to self-publish. Except for the continual headache of marketing, I have no regrets. Years ago, I wrote a poem with a line that asked 'If you close your eyes when you jump, do you know that you're falling?'. I obviously hadn't tried marketing a self-published book.

If you decide to self-publish, and I recommend you consider the option seriously, start a publishing company. The company doesn't have to be large, just a business to gather the needed tools with a name that is appropriate for your work.

Here are things you need to get started:

Apply for ISBN numbers

To acquire your publisher prefix and ISBN numbers go here: www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp

Bowker Books in Print

Register your company and books on Bowker Books in Print.

www.bowkerlink.com/corrections/common/home.asp You can find more information at their FAQ page: www.bowkerlink.com/corrections/Common/LearnMore.asp

Apply for a Library of Congress Catalog Number

Self-publishers and publishers with the works of fewer than three different authors are ineligible for the CIP program. You can apply for the Preassigned Control Number Program: http://pcn.loc.gov/. It is free and relatively painless. If you hope to have your books in libraries, it's important.

Join an organization for support and information (join more than one if you can afford it)

The Independent Book Publishers Association: www.pma-online.org/

Small Publishers Association of North America:  www.spannet.org/index.htm

Small Publishers, Artists, and Writers Network: www.spawn.org/

Prepare your manuscript

Write a book and have it professionally edited. There are many sources for editors if you don't already know one, but I find it best to look locally. (Did you notice how I slipped in 'write a book' as if it were a minor step? When you're doing all this other stuff, it will feel that way, but you know it was, and is, the most important. Otherwise, why bother with anything else?)

This would be an appropriate place to remind you that Novel Type and Design can help.

Design a cover, or have one designed

You must have the ISBN bar code on the back cover. If you lack the software to produce the code, you can find a list of some barcode suppliers here: www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/barcode.asp

Typeset text pages

If you're adept with your word software and can set the pages for publication and turn it into a PDF file that most printers can handle. If not, you'll need to have it done. Some printers offer typesetting and cover design services, for an extra fee, of course.

Deciding on digital or offset printing

Most writers have limited funding. If you decide to start with only a few hundred books, keep in mind some of the hurdles. Offset printers have a five hundred minimum press run, many a thousand. You will pay more per book to print a smaller amount, but sometimes not selling two hundred books is cheaper than not selling a thousand. I don't mean that to sound as though not selling is a forgone conclusion, but you have to be realistic, or you waste money that could be better spent somewhere else. For me, a big problem with printing more is storage. I've handcrafted most of my furniture from boxes of books with a blanket on top.

What is the difference between digital and offset printing?

As far as the text pages, the quality get's closer everyday. The problem with digital printing comes because the printing process heats the paper to such a high temperature that it changes it chemically. That change doesn't affect the printing, but there are still some bindery problems in digital printing. I suspect it won't be long before they work those out. Our industry, and by that I mean the trinity of publisher, writer and reader, will soon demand more responsible handling of the vast amount of paper used and often discarded. I am a firm believer in the future of print on demand. I'll bet that we can iron out all of the kinks when we can no longer justify reckless overruns. We shouldn't wait for that to happen.

Get print quotes

Your page count will have to be divisible by four. Some printers demand it be divisible by eight. Remember if you have front pages, count them as text pages.

Contact potential buyers

Call that cousin in Illinois that you haven't talked to in twenty years and remind him or her of who you are—an almost famous author works well. Anyone you can think of goes on your list.

Obviously, this is not a 'how to become a successful writer and publisher in thirty days' story. Rather, I presented a small collection of things I've encountered on my journey into publishing. I wish I could tell you that everyone will be helpful and want your success as much as you do. That isn't what I've always found, but I have learned by my successes as well as my failures, probably more, by my failures.