Good morning everyone. Today’s blog post is courtesy of Sue Collier. See her bio below.
You’ve written your manuscript and you’ve decided that self-publishing is your best option for getting into print. What’s your next step?
A Google search on “self-publishing” or “POD self-publishing” will bring up ads and websites for companies like iUniverse, AuthorHouse, Trafford, Xlibris, and Outskirts Press. Unfortunately, not one of those companies will enable you to actually “self” publish. All are vanity presses masquerading as self-publishers. Most serious self-publishers who plan to make a profit should steer clear. Why?
The main reason is that these companies are simply a “middleman” between you and the print-on-demand printer they use (usually Lightning Source). These companies mark up their printing costs, then pay you a small percentage of sales (they call it a “royalty). This also usually inflates the price of the book, often so much so it’s impossible to be competitive with other books in the same genre.
Something else most authors don’t realize—often until it’s too late—is that these companies are the publisher of record on their books. Hence, the books are not self-published. And once you’ve got the Outskirts Press—or others of their ilk—imprint on your book, it’s like the kiss of death in the publishing world. The books are generally expected to be poorly edited and are usually badly designed. Sales are dismal—less than 50 copies might be sold (and usually those are sold to the author).
To truly self-publish and to make the most profit from your book, you need to be the publisher of record. You can do that by buying your own block of ISBN (International Standard Book Number) from Bowker. Having your own ISBNs now makes it possible for you to go to a POD (or offset) printer directly—no middleman required. You’ll need to start up a publishing company—not nearly as complicated as it sounds—because Bowker (as well as Lightning Source—more on that later) works with publishers not authors.
Once you’ve got your publishing company name and ISBNs, then what? Your best bet is to find professionals to help you with the book production process so you can take the book to a printer yourself. Ask around to other authors who have truly self-published to see who they’ve used. You’ll definitely want to hire an editor to edit your book and a graphic artist to design your book cover; skimping on these two areas may mean a significantly lower quality book. Outfits such as Outskirts, AuthorHouse, and the like offer these services, but they are almost always poorly done. Books are often full of errors and covers tend to be your choice of a picture and a font (so another book could have your exact same cover with a different title). These books are pretty much unmarketable; even worse, they may put the author’s reputation at risk.
Once your book is ready for print (either ebook or paper book) I recommend either CreateSpace (owned by Amazon.com) or Lightning Source (owned by wholesale giant Ingram). Many self-publishers think they need to work with an outfit such as Lulu or Fast Pencil in order to get their books printed digitally (POD); that’s not true. Both CreateSpace and Lightning Source work directly with self-publishers—no middleman required. A 200-page book would cost $9.30 to manufacture at Fast Pencil; the same book costs only $3.50 at Lightning Source. Why spend almost $6 more per book?
I’ll be self-publishing Jump Start Your Books Sales, 2nd Edition, this summer, and my plan is to go to Lightning Source. Although they have higher setup fees than CreateSpace, they offer better distribution to the trade. If you only want to sell your books through Amazon and you plan to release just one title, CreateSpace might be your best bet.
Educate yourself on exactly what you are getting into before you sign any dotted lines. Make sure you understand the difference between subsidy publishing and true self-publishing before deciding on your best way to get your book into print.
Self-publishing expert SUE COLLIER is coauthor of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing,5th Edition (Writer’s Digest Books, 2010) and the forthcoming Jump Start Your Books Sales, 2nd Edition (Communication Creativity, 2011). She has been working with authors and small presses for nearly two decades, providing writing, editing, production, and promotions work for hundreds of book projects. Visit her self-publishing blog at Self-Publishing Resources.
Thanks so much for hosting me today, Patricia!
I am working with someone who is self-publishing in Canada. Are these two books still useful in Canada or can you suggest a Canadian equivalent that would help me get under way for printing and distribution? Thanks for the informative post. I appreciate it.