SELF PUBLISHING THE PRINTPAPA WAY PAUL NAG
Chapter 1 What & Why? Everything you wanted to know about Self-Publishing, but were afraid to ask. 5
6
Self-publishing as the name indicates is where the author is directly responsible for the publication of the book. Don t worry, it does not involve you setting up a printing press and book binding equipment to get your book out to market. However as a new author who wants to write a book, there are three questions that you need answered before you decide how you wish to proceed as far as publishing your work is concerned: 1. How do you find a publisher willing to work with you and guide you through the entire process? 2. What exactly does a publisher do anyway? 3. And the sixty four thousand dollar question is, what are all the steps involved if you want to self-publish and what is it going to cost you? To answer the first question, finding a publisher is as easy as going online and typing Book Publishers or Publishing Houses in Google. You don t even have to leave the comforts of your home to do this, however getting a reputed publisher to pick up your manuscript and take one look at it is a completely different ball game. The big publishing houses are extremely selective as to what they do and do not publish and as a result, the chances of you, a new author being picked up by a major publishing house is very slim. Sounds tough and maybe even unfair, however that is the reality. That is not to say that it is impossible to get picked up by a big name publisher. Maybe your work is so original or has As far as third question is concerned, the steps to self publishing are very similar to that for traditional publishing with some major differences. The key points are that, as a self-publisher, you would be responsible for not just authoring, but cover design, formatting the document, editing, copyrighting (if needed), printing, marketing, sales and fulfillment. Again I will touch on each of these topics in detail in the subsequent chapters. All of this may sounds tough, but none of it is rocket science. With the recent advances in technology in desktop publishing and 7 What & Why?
design tools such as Microsoft Word, Corel Draw, Adobe Creative Suite etc., anybody with a computer and the right software and the willingness to spend the time and effort to learn these tools is well equipped to generate creative content meant for publishing. I will revisit this in more detail in Chapter 5 (Designing the Cover). As far as all the other parts of the self-publishing puzzle are concerned, there are lots of resources available on the web for handling every part of the book creation process. There are companies that specialize in every aspect of the book publishing process, whose expertise can be leveraged by you the author to turn your dream of writing a book into the reality of getting them to your readers hands. Ok, so you have decided to go the self-publish route, the first thing that comes to mind is, well what is this entire adventure going to cost? Be prepared for a surprise, believe it or not, your most significant cost is your investment in time to master the tools required to author your book and then the time taken to understand the various channels available for marketing, sales and fulfillment. A low second in terms of cost is what it would take to actually print copies of your book. There are printers out there who specialize in short-run, on-demand book printing where you can order as few as ten copies at a time. You can find these printers online and again the entire process can be accomplished from within the comfort of your home. You can submit all files electronically, view electronic and hard copy proofs, order the prints online or via email and get the finished copies delivered to your doorstep, literally in a matter of weeks or days (in some cases). All these tools and resources are out there and available so you the author can really focus on what matters the most i.e. generating the creative content. That is something that only you can do. Last, but not the least, the one question that we have not dealt with so far is WHY. Why is there so much buzz around self-publishing lately, so that it almost appears like it is the only route available to authors nowadays. More importantly why should you do it and what are the potential risks. Here are some of the pros listed in the following paragraphs. 8
FIRST and foremost, YOU ARE THE BOSS, literally with a big B if you like. You get to make all the decisions regarding your book and you do not have to deal with the so called experts i.e. Editors & Publishing executives who will literally remove parts of the book or make you comply with major changes to ensure that your book is more commercially viable. Ultimately as far as the publishing house is concerned, it s all about MONEY, so they will do what it takes to make sure they make money. Whether or not the final outcome is to your liking, may or may not be a priority for the publisher. And if I were to hazard a guess as far as you the author is concerned it s not all about the money, it probably never is. It is about you passion to write and see your work in print and hopefully make your mark on this world long after you are gone. If that is the case then self-publishing is the way to go, no questions asked. The 2nd most important advantage to self publishing is that you get to retain the rights to your book. That may not sound like much right now for a new author with no commercial success in sight. However, do not let anyone downplay the significance of this particular aspect of your book and I will give you three reasons why: 1. It gives you the ability to set your own market price for the book. And if by some chance your book does become a bestseller, you can always at that point go back and strike a lucrative deal with a publisher. More than likely they will all be lining up at your doorstep at that point. 2. You have the right to make as many edits as you would like to your book based on any feedback you receive on your first edition. This is especially useful if you plan on releasing multiple editions of your book. Something the publishing house may or may not allow you to do. That would mean that you are at their mercy or driven by the terms of your contractual obligations if you need to make any changes to the content. 3. You can reproduce the entire book or parts of it at will anytime you wish. This is something that would be an absolute no-no with the publishing house, as they own all rights to the book if you do not self-publish. 9
The 3rd advantage to self-publishing is that you get to keep whatever revenues you generate from the sales of your book. It may not be much to begin with, but then again who knows, you may be the next Dan Brown or Tom Clancy. When you deal with a publisher, you receive royalties on the book sales. This is usually a small percentage of the profits from the sales of your book. This only works to your advantage if you are already a big shot writer, in a position to dictate your own terms and the publisher is able to move large volumes of your book because of your reputation. Last but not the least you are not tied into any long term contracts which prevent you from looking for greener pastures, if and when you do make it big in this business. Also you are not at your publisher s beck and call when it comes to attending promotional events like book signings, appearances etc., hopping from city to city at your publishers directions to promote your book, all the while hoping that this turns into a money making venture. This is almost a mandatory marketing activity when it comes to the traditional publishing houses. So let s hope you love to travel and live in hotel rooms for weeks at a time. Might be a fun thing to do, if you are young and single and doing this for the first time. At the same time, as much fun as these activities maybe, they can also be a potential distraction and take you away from doing the one thing that you are good at and makes you what you are i.e. THE AUTHOR. 10