Self-Publishing, part 2

In Part One, I discussed the process of traditional publishing and trying to land a literary agent, which will nearly always be difficult if not impossible. So, after dozens (or more likely, hundreds) of rejection notices from agents (if you even get a response), what are your options?  Self=publishing is your opportunity.

Why now?
Fortunately, these days self-publishing is an option for many writers. Although the self-publishing has been around for a long time, it is has been made more viable because of several inter-related developments:

• E-books, as these do not require printing
• Print on Demand (POD) technology, which can print a single issue of a print copy very quickly when a customer order is received, thus reducing the need for a self-published author to buy and keep physical inventory
• Access to distribution streams to market/get your book to readers, to include social media
  
  

Now, there are many platforms where you can “do-it-yourself” (DIY). And I’ve seen some very good DIY projects. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many DIY books that are sub-par and give fodder to those who continue to look down their collective noses at self-published authors.

​For example, in some DIY books, there is poor:

• Copy editing (which should be professionally accomplished no matter if you’re going for self- or traditionally published)
• Proof editing
• Typesetting (i.e., how the words look on the page)
• Cover design
  
  

So, I’m not a fan of DIY unless you have multiple talents or know when and who to reach out for areas (e.g., cover design) that are not your strong suit.

Using Self-Publishing Companies and What To Look for:

So, what I will talk about are those self-publishing companies (not Vanity Presses—those are something very different for critical reasons that I don’t recommend), that will allow you to purchase their professional services to help walk you through the publishing process. Here’s some things I consider the minimum essential services when evaluating the different self-publishing companies:

Must haves:

• Access to the major distribution streams (i.e., minimum of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Ingram)
• Package pricing to allow you to tailor your specific needs to their services.
  • Beware the “one-size-fits-none” option—that’s often a hallmark of a Vanity Press
• Good cover design as an option
• Basic internal design (i.e., typesetting)
  
  

Should:

• Have basic editing services if you have not already procured them elsewhere
• Offer the book edition types that you desire—i.e., e-book, soft cover, and/or hard cover
• Be competitively priced (shop around!)
• Provide Marketing services, if you feel week in this area
• Conduct plenty of in-process quality assurances checks prior to the book being hard bound or released
• Maintain a functional website for authors to check sales and place personal inventory orders
• Provide satisfactory speed to market. This is a question only you can answer, but you should research/inquire just how long (on average) does it take a self-publishing company to get that first (hard) copy ready to sell

Okay—in keeping with good blogging—I’ll end this thread and pick up with my latest work, The Master of Hounds, now going through my self-publishing company, Lulu, in the next post.

For More Information:

Here’s a good read for more information about self-publishers.