I'm taking a break from The Artful Self-Publisher this summer to focus on promoting Ghost Notes and Songs from Memory, and to figure out where this blog goes from here.
If you're new to self-publishing, here you'll find a wealth of information about subsidy publishing, printing methods, manuscript preparation, and everything else to get your project going. Scroll to the "Blog by Label" section and pick your category.
If you'd like to follow my trajectory this summer, keep an eye on my other blog, which is called Layin' Down the Law.
Thanks and happy publishing!
Art
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
POD Self Publishing II-Disadvantages
The drawbacks of POD self-publishing are similar to the drawbacks of POD subsidy publishing, with one important difference.
First, you are limited to certain sizes and styles for your book, just like you would be if you went with a subsidy POD company. In the end, your book will look like a POD book, which is probably a notch below the best the publishing world has to offer.
Secondly, just like offset printing, you, the publisher, will be responsible for getting an ISBN. This is one step Lightning Source will not handle for you, so be ready to pony up $270.
Finally, although Lightning Source will do returnables for you, it comes with a fee. Depending upon your situation, you may still choose to work with those traditional bookstores on your own, just like if you’d gone with an offset press.
Art
First, you are limited to certain sizes and styles for your book, just like you would be if you went with a subsidy POD company. In the end, your book will look like a POD book, which is probably a notch below the best the publishing world has to offer.
Secondly, just like offset printing, you, the publisher, will be responsible for getting an ISBN. This is one step Lightning Source will not handle for you, so be ready to pony up $270.
Finally, although Lightning Source will do returnables for you, it comes with a fee. Depending upon your situation, you may still choose to work with those traditional bookstores on your own, just like if you’d gone with an offset press.
Art
POD Self Publishing I-Advantages
Up until a few years ago, authors had to choose between either a subsidy publisher (POD or otherwise), or pay the big bucks up front for an offset press to print their books. There has since emerged a new middle ground, which is being called POD self-publishing.
As it turns out, most POD subsidy companies go to one source to manufacture and distribute their product, a company called Lightning Source. If you sign on to a subsidy POD company, they outsource your book to Lightning Source, who essentially do all of the work, get your book into its digital form, get your book set up at important wholesalers, handle fulfillment, etc.
Here's the funny thing: anyone can do business directly with Lightning Source. You don't have to be iUniverse or the like to work with them. In other words, your fee to a subsidy POD publisher is essentially a fee for them to transfer most of the work to Lightning Source. If you work directly with Lightning Source (or some other POD printer; I'm sure there are others), you're skipping the middleman. Many are taking this step and keeping more of the profit for themselves.
The advantages of this route are at least threefold. First, as mentioned above, you keep more of the money; no cut goes to the subsidy company. Not only is it the least expensive of the three options on the front end (Lightning Source has very agreeable start-up fees), your cut per book is significantly more when you sell books, often twice as much, depending upon how you set up your pricing. (Pricing details are all up to you with Lightning Source.)
Secondly, Lightning Source will set up your book at the same important retailers and wholesalers that a subsidy company would. This isn’t offset press, where the printer prints your book and you do all of the dirty work. Lightning Source does distribution for all of its subsidy presses, and they’ll do it for you, too.
Thirdly, Lightning Source has a few different options for making your book returnable, which might make it more attractive to brick-and-mortar stores. (Again, this is a detail that's entirely up to you.)
Finally, it’s POD, so you don’t have to worry about book storage.
In these ways, self-publishing POD with Lightning Source is emerging as the best of both worlds, with the simplicity and convenience of subsidy POD publishing but with the possibility of greater freedom and profits, like traditional self-publishing.
Next week, disadvantages to POD self-publishing.
Art
As it turns out, most POD subsidy companies go to one source to manufacture and distribute their product, a company called Lightning Source. If you sign on to a subsidy POD company, they outsource your book to Lightning Source, who essentially do all of the work, get your book into its digital form, get your book set up at important wholesalers, handle fulfillment, etc.
Here's the funny thing: anyone can do business directly with Lightning Source. You don't have to be iUniverse or the like to work with them. In other words, your fee to a subsidy POD publisher is essentially a fee for them to transfer most of the work to Lightning Source. If you work directly with Lightning Source (or some other POD printer; I'm sure there are others), you're skipping the middleman. Many are taking this step and keeping more of the profit for themselves.
The advantages of this route are at least threefold. First, as mentioned above, you keep more of the money; no cut goes to the subsidy company. Not only is it the least expensive of the three options on the front end (Lightning Source has very agreeable start-up fees), your cut per book is significantly more when you sell books, often twice as much, depending upon how you set up your pricing. (Pricing details are all up to you with Lightning Source.)
Secondly, Lightning Source will set up your book at the same important retailers and wholesalers that a subsidy company would. This isn’t offset press, where the printer prints your book and you do all of the dirty work. Lightning Source does distribution for all of its subsidy presses, and they’ll do it for you, too.
Thirdly, Lightning Source has a few different options for making your book returnable, which might make it more attractive to brick-and-mortar stores. (Again, this is a detail that's entirely up to you.)
Finally, it’s POD, so you don’t have to worry about book storage.
In these ways, self-publishing POD with Lightning Source is emerging as the best of both worlds, with the simplicity and convenience of subsidy POD publishing but with the possibility of greater freedom and profits, like traditional self-publishing.
Next week, disadvantages to POD self-publishing.
Art
POD Subsidy Publishing II-Disadvantages
There are disadvantages to going with a subsidy publisher. First of all, the author has limited control over what her product will look like. Do you want a matte finish to your cover? How about a specific type of paper? Does your book on 9/11 have to be nine inches by 11 inches to further convey your theme? Unfortunately, none of these is a possibility with POD publishing. You’ll have to go with an offset printer, and pay a lot up front for it.
Secondly, the vast majority of programs at subsidy publishers do not offer returnables, which means traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores won’t be able to return the book to the subsidy publisher for a full refund, which means they’re likely to ignore your title. When an author is published by a subsidy publisher, any dealings the author has with traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores almost always come directly from the author’s personal stock of books, and likely at very little profit.
Finally, with subsidy publishing, your overall cost per book is the most of any self-publishing option. Sure, with subsidy publishing, you can have your book published and up quickly at amazon.com, but at your likely royalty rate, you’re going to pay the most possible per book, which cuts directly into your profit. In other words, if you’re lucky enough to sell 1,000 copies of your subsidy published book, you probably would have been better off going with an offset printer.
Examine your market and likely sales potential before assuming subsidy POD publishing is the right choice for you.
Secondly, the vast majority of programs at subsidy publishers do not offer returnables, which means traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores won’t be able to return the book to the subsidy publisher for a full refund, which means they’re likely to ignore your title. When an author is published by a subsidy publisher, any dealings the author has with traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores almost always come directly from the author’s personal stock of books, and likely at very little profit.
Finally, with subsidy publishing, your overall cost per book is the most of any self-publishing option. Sure, with subsidy publishing, you can have your book published and up quickly at amazon.com, but at your likely royalty rate, you’re going to pay the most possible per book, which cuts directly into your profit. In other words, if you’re lucky enough to sell 1,000 copies of your subsidy published book, you probably would have been better off going with an offset printer.
Examine your market and likely sales potential before assuming subsidy POD publishing is the right choice for you.
Subsidy Publishing POD I-Advantages
There are many subsidy publishers who use print-on-demand technology, and probably many more by the time you finish reading this sentence. This part of the writing industry is growing quickly--exponentially, in fact--and you should explore your many options.
Many subsidy publishers offer a service and charge a fair price for it. Others charge more than what’s fair. A few are scam mills and should be avoided. The key to having one work for you is understanding what you need from your subsidy publisher and paying only for that. It can be a happy, healthy business relationship, but not if you don’t know what you’re doing, or why you’re doing it. Check ten subsidy publishers before deciding on one.
Going with a POD subsidy publisher has its advantages. First of all, it’s far less expensive to get up and running with a subsidy publisher than it is to go with an offset press, at least to get your book to the point where people can buy it. The packages offered at most POD subsidy publishers do not exceed $1,100, with others as low as $100. For that price you, at minimum, get your book uploaded to their digital file. And guess what? Since your book is in a digital file, you don’t ever have to store books at your home or office if you don’t want to. This is one of the biggest advantages of going POD: no stored books means more room for the rest of your life.
Also, most subsidy publishers will take care of little yet important issues, like ISBNs and basic distribution. No one gets into self-publishing because they want to deal with these types of details, yet everyone has to deal with them. You can either do it yourself or, for a fee, a subsidy publisher can slide in and take care of everything. That way, you can spend more time writing, or marketing, or doing other things that might make a difference in sales.
Next week, the disadvantages of POD subsidy publishing.
Art
Many subsidy publishers offer a service and charge a fair price for it. Others charge more than what’s fair. A few are scam mills and should be avoided. The key to having one work for you is understanding what you need from your subsidy publisher and paying only for that. It can be a happy, healthy business relationship, but not if you don’t know what you’re doing, or why you’re doing it. Check ten subsidy publishers before deciding on one.
Going with a POD subsidy publisher has its advantages. First of all, it’s far less expensive to get up and running with a subsidy publisher than it is to go with an offset press, at least to get your book to the point where people can buy it. The packages offered at most POD subsidy publishers do not exceed $1,100, with others as low as $100. For that price you, at minimum, get your book uploaded to their digital file. And guess what? Since your book is in a digital file, you don’t ever have to store books at your home or office if you don’t want to. This is one of the biggest advantages of going POD: no stored books means more room for the rest of your life.
Also, most subsidy publishers will take care of little yet important issues, like ISBNs and basic distribution. No one gets into self-publishing because they want to deal with these types of details, yet everyone has to deal with them. You can either do it yourself or, for a fee, a subsidy publisher can slide in and take care of everything. That way, you can spend more time writing, or marketing, or doing other things that might make a difference in sales.
Next week, the disadvantages of POD subsidy publishing.
Art
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Traditional Self-Publishing II
An International Standard Book Number, or “ISBN,” is that bar code and number on the back of most books. It’s your book’s numerical thumbprint, a way for the book industry to keep track of when your title sells, and where it sells from, which is something you want. Many POD companies tackle this detail for you, but an offset printer probably won’t, which means, if you want any kind of distribution, you’re going to want to take care of getting an ISBN yourself.
You take care of it through a company called R.R. Bowker, and it’s pricey. R.R. Bowker sells most of the ISBNs in the U.S. The problem is, you can’t buy just one ISBN for your introductory title. You have to buy ISBNs in blocks of ten, minimum, and the cheapest block will cost you $250.
R.R. Bowker is set up to supply numbers to publishing companies, not to individuals, and all of those ISBNs will seem superfluous if you only plan to publish one book. Still, do yourself a favor and get an ISBN, even if it means buying ten of them. At some point, Bowker has to take advantage of this new potential market of one-time self-publishers and start selling ISBNs one at a time, but for now that’s not the way it is. So, if you want to go offset, plan on the extra expense of ten ISBNs.
Also, your offset printer probably won’t set your book up at important retailers, like amazon.com, and important wholesalers, like Ingram. You will want to take care of this yourself.
Ingram is the biggest book wholesaler in the country, and it’s where companies like amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders get much of their stock. In other words, Ingram is the kind of place where you want your book hanging out. If it’s not at Ingram, book retailers will have to look harder for your title, and like anyone, book retailers don’t like to work harder than they have to. Make it easy for them; have your book stocked at Ingram.
Likewise, amazon.com. It’s hard to imagine in this day and age having a successful self-published book without said book being on amazon.com. This is the first place many book buyers go to find your book, even if they don’t buy it there.
If you go offset, you'll have to learn how to get your book on amazon.com. The good news is it’s not horribly complicated. Look into Amazon's Advantage program for more details.
Next week, subsidy self-publishing companies.
Art
You take care of it through a company called R.R. Bowker, and it’s pricey. R.R. Bowker sells most of the ISBNs in the U.S. The problem is, you can’t buy just one ISBN for your introductory title. You have to buy ISBNs in blocks of ten, minimum, and the cheapest block will cost you $250.
R.R. Bowker is set up to supply numbers to publishing companies, not to individuals, and all of those ISBNs will seem superfluous if you only plan to publish one book. Still, do yourself a favor and get an ISBN, even if it means buying ten of them. At some point, Bowker has to take advantage of this new potential market of one-time self-publishers and start selling ISBNs one at a time, but for now that’s not the way it is. So, if you want to go offset, plan on the extra expense of ten ISBNs.
Also, your offset printer probably won’t set your book up at important retailers, like amazon.com, and important wholesalers, like Ingram. You will want to take care of this yourself.
Ingram is the biggest book wholesaler in the country, and it’s where companies like amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders get much of their stock. In other words, Ingram is the kind of place where you want your book hanging out. If it’s not at Ingram, book retailers will have to look harder for your title, and like anyone, book retailers don’t like to work harder than they have to. Make it easy for them; have your book stocked at Ingram.
Likewise, amazon.com. It’s hard to imagine in this day and age having a successful self-published book without said book being on amazon.com. This is the first place many book buyers go to find your book, even if they don’t buy it there.
If you go offset, you'll have to learn how to get your book on amazon.com. The good news is it’s not horribly complicated. Look into Amazon's Advantage program for more details.
Next week, subsidy self-publishing companies.
Art
Traditional Self-Publishing I
Despite the emphasis placed on POD self-publishing these days, it's not the only option if you want to self-publish. There are at least three printing possibilities for someone who wants to self-publish her work in the current market.
First of all, you can always do it the old-fashioned way, which is to go to an offset press, get a quote for your project, and pay them to print it. This is the way many have done it, and still do it. As crazy as that sounds--isn’t this the kind of thing print-on-demand technology saves us from?--there are upsides to going with an offset press.
First of all, there are many more printing options with offset printing. For example, do you know that great texture most literary fiction titles have over the books' covers? It’s called matt finish, and you won’t get it if you go POD. Also, have you ever wondered what would happen if you went to your POD provider and asked for a certain kind of paper on the inside? You guess it. They can’t do it. The technology that brings us our books so cheaply comes with limitations. (Hey, you can’t have everything.) Your local offset printing company will gladly slide in to fill that special request for you should you not be able to live without it.
Also, having an offset printer print your book is one way to forgo one of the biggest drags of going with a POD subsidy publisher, returnables, which we'll talk more about later.
But, guess what? Publishing your book with an offset printer, a.k.a. traditionally self-publishing your book, has its price, and it’s hefty. Depending on more factors than you can name, the price to publish 1,000 copies of your book will easily make it into the four figures. Also, you have to say how many books you want printed, not just have your book uploaded to a digital system and have as many copies printed as you want, when you want. That’s a heavy hit right at the beginning of your self-publishing experience, especially when you have no idea how many you’re going to sell.
Moreover, with most offset printers, the more books you have printed, the cheaper your cost per unit. For example, 500 copies of your title might cost $3,000 to print traditionally, but you can get 1000 copies printed for $4,000. How can you pass that deal up, right? This thought process usually prompts beginning self-publishers to print way more than they need, causing a storage problem. (Imagine someone pulling up to your home with a pallet full of books. Do you have room for that much product?)
Finally, there are details to self-publishing your book that most offset printing companies simply won’t handle for you. For example, you will have to supply your own International Standard Book Number for the book.
“Wait a second,” you say. “What on earth is an International Standard Book Number?”
Good thing you asked.
Next week, ISBNs, RR Bowker, and more downside to offset printing.
Art
First of all, you can always do it the old-fashioned way, which is to go to an offset press, get a quote for your project, and pay them to print it. This is the way many have done it, and still do it. As crazy as that sounds--isn’t this the kind of thing print-on-demand technology saves us from?--there are upsides to going with an offset press.
First of all, there are many more printing options with offset printing. For example, do you know that great texture most literary fiction titles have over the books' covers? It’s called matt finish, and you won’t get it if you go POD. Also, have you ever wondered what would happen if you went to your POD provider and asked for a certain kind of paper on the inside? You guess it. They can’t do it. The technology that brings us our books so cheaply comes with limitations. (Hey, you can’t have everything.) Your local offset printing company will gladly slide in to fill that special request for you should you not be able to live without it.
Also, having an offset printer print your book is one way to forgo one of the biggest drags of going with a POD subsidy publisher, returnables, which we'll talk more about later.
But, guess what? Publishing your book with an offset printer, a.k.a. traditionally self-publishing your book, has its price, and it’s hefty. Depending on more factors than you can name, the price to publish 1,000 copies of your book will easily make it into the four figures. Also, you have to say how many books you want printed, not just have your book uploaded to a digital system and have as many copies printed as you want, when you want. That’s a heavy hit right at the beginning of your self-publishing experience, especially when you have no idea how many you’re going to sell.
Moreover, with most offset printers, the more books you have printed, the cheaper your cost per unit. For example, 500 copies of your title might cost $3,000 to print traditionally, but you can get 1000 copies printed for $4,000. How can you pass that deal up, right? This thought process usually prompts beginning self-publishers to print way more than they need, causing a storage problem. (Imagine someone pulling up to your home with a pallet full of books. Do you have room for that much product?)
Finally, there are details to self-publishing your book that most offset printing companies simply won’t handle for you. For example, you will have to supply your own International Standard Book Number for the book.
“Wait a second,” you say. “What on earth is an International Standard Book Number?”
Good thing you asked.
Next week, ISBNs, RR Bowker, and more downside to offset printing.
Art
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