"A person who publishes a book willfully appears before the populace with his pants down. If it is a good book nothing can hurt him. If it is a bad book nothing can help him.”
— Edna St. Vincent Millay
— Edna St. Vincent Millay
If you have decided that
traditional publishing is not for you, or if you just want to get your work out
into the public while you are still seeking that coveted publishing contract,
you may find yourself turning to self-publishing. This method can be
intimidating at first, but if you equip yourself with the proper knowledge you
should find that self-publishing only has to be as complicated as you want it
to be. Below I will share some general information about self-publishing, but
as a disclaimer please be aware that this guide is by no means comprehensive. There is a lot of information out there
that can help you, and you should weigh the pros and cons of your options
before you leap for the first big self-publishing platform you find. Remember
that not all self-publishing is geared towards getting you the same results –
you should identify what you are hoping to achieve by self-publishing before
you begin researching.
First, let us define the
difference between traditional and self-publishing. Traditional publishing is
very straightforward, and you will rarely find yourself signing a contract that
differs from the general model that most publishing houses follow. When you
sign with a publisher, you are selling the rights to your book (the amount a
publisher purchases a book for varies wildly depending on the work at hand) and
agreeing to accept a percentage of the sales (royalties, which you will usually
not begin receiving until the book sales have covered the initial amount you
received). In exchange, the publisher edits, prints, designs, ships, and
markets your book.
For self-publishing, as
previously stated, there are a wide variety of methods that you can choose
from. You are, after all, doing the majority of the work yourself, so you can be
flexible with how you want the process to go. Some self-publishing platforms
allow you to print only as many copies as you are willing to pay for (Print On Demand).
Others will print and store copies of your book and pay you royalties based on
sales. They may even allow outside sellers to purchase copies of your book so
that you potentially reach a wider audience. This may sound a lot like traditional
publishing, but the difference is that you as the author will have to put some
money into the project; on the other hand, you keep the full rights to your
book while doing so.
What you gain from choosing
to self-publish is greater control over your work. You decide when and where
your book gets printed, and you can choose to take your book out of print
whenever you want. The instant gratification of having your name in print is
much easier to attain by self-publishing, while you may spend years hunting
down a publisher who will sign a contract with you. Depending on what platform
you choose, you can also receive a greater portion of the profits from your
book sales.
What you lose by self-publishing,
however, is the editing, design, and marketing expertise that a publishing
house will bring to the table. This may not be a concern for you if you are not
intending to reach a large audience or if you have the time and energy to put
into marketing your own book. Having a support group of other writers to edit
your work will also negate some of this loss, though the perspective a
publisher has about what will sell on the current market will very rarely be
made up by someone who is not actively immersed in the publishing world. This
is not to say that it is impossible to garner a large following through
self-publishing – it can and does happen! But how well you succeed will be
entirely dependent upon how much muscle you put into the process. Long story
short, while a traditional publishing company will do all that work for you, if
you choose to self-publish you will be entirely on your own.
So now that you’re ready to
take the plunge, which pool do you want to swim in? You will want to choose
your platform carefully based on your needs and expectations. Bear in mind that
just because a self-publishing platform is big and popular does not necessarily
mean it is the right one for you. On the other hand, those platforms are
probably big and popular for a reason. Thankfully there are several good
websites that compare some of the top choices side by side, which I have linked
to below, and these charts can be a good resource for making a list of what you
are looking for, especially if you will be weighing in smaller companies as
well. As far as the big platforms go, here are my top three suggestions:
Create Space is a very
easy platform to use that allows you both flexibility and control while giving
you the advantage of being able to distribute your books via a major internet
retailer. This is a platform that allows you to keep your copyright. It has
tools built in to help you design your book for print, provides tutorials on formatting, marketing, and content creation, and also boasts extremely
fast turn-around times from start of process to availability of product.
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Lulu is a print on demand
service that breaks down the printing process into six easy steps all while
providing the author with a wide variety of options for how they want their
book to be bound. If you would rather not dabble in print books, Lulu also
gives you the option to sell your work as an ebook. They provide publishing
services for authors, including editing, proofreading, design, etc. If you want
to take the next step you can also allow Lulu to sell your books for you
through retailers like Amazon and Barnes&Noble.
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Kindle Direct Publishing is
also an affiliate of Amazon – but instead of creating print copies of your book
through Create Space, KDP focuses on ebooks. The process as a result is faster,
and your book can be available to a much larger international audience. Just
like Create Space, the author controls the copyright and can change or remove
their book at any time.
Once you have chosen your
platform, you will probably be able to access specific guides that tell you
what you need to prepare before your book goes online and into print. But just
in case they don’t give you all the gritty details, here is a checklist to
guide you:
§ Type Code Your Book – this will ensure that the proper
formatting will remain unchanged as the manuscript goes through the printing
process.
§ Write Back Cover Text – you can use similar techniques
to writing the synopsis for a query letter for your back cover text, since the goal
is ultimately the same: convince people to read the book!
§ Design the Cover – you will need graphics for the
front, back, and the spine; make sure your images are high resolution,
otherwise they won’t print well (standard print quality resolution for color
images with text is minimum 600 dpi; if your book has images inside it with no
text, 300 dpi will serve).
§ Incorporate the ISBN – depending on the platform you
pick, your book will be assigned an International Standard Book Number. You
might consider including it in the front pages.
§ Review Proofs – Your platform should allow you to
review proofs online before your book goes live. Take advantage of this to
catch any last minute errors. If you can review a physical proof, so much the
better, because sometimes printing can cause some very funny business to happen.
Self-Publishing Companies:
Review of the Top 5 Self-Publishing Companies & Platforms
Online Book Publishing Review: 2014 Compare Best Online Book Publishing Companies
SelfPub Smart: Company Reviews for Authors by Authors
How to Publish a Book: An Overview of Traditional & Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing a Book: 25 Things You Need to Know
Completely Novel: How to Self-Publish
How to Self-Publish an eBook:
Promote Your eBook & Maximize Your Exposure with These 5 Simple Strategies
