• Self-publishing (a basic booklist)
• Links to resources and advice on self-publishing
• The truth about print-on-demand (POD) publishing
Self-publishing (a basic booklist)
Self-publishing is NOT the same as "print-on-demand" (POD) publishing and it is not the same as subsidy publishing. It is important to understand the differences between them, even if you have money to burn, because there are issues of control and ownership, as well as economics.
Print-on-demand publishing is a digital printing technology with which you can print one book at a time. Random House can use POD technology. And a self-publisher (someone who publishes independently instead of a traditional publisher like Random House) can use the same offset printers the regular publishers use. Printing is not publishing.
Before you engage in self-publishing, check out some of the following guides. The Ross and Poynter guides are fairly encyclopedic; buy at least one of them.
·
Publishing Basics (free download from Ron Pramschufer's website); also available as a free download:
Publishing Basics for Children's Books
·
Complete Guide to Self Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book
, 4th edition, by Tom Ross and Marilyn Ross
·
Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, 16th Edition: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book , 16th Edition by Dan Poynter
·
The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living: by Peter Bowerman
·
1001 Ways to Market Your Books: For Authors and Publishers by John Kremer
·
The Publishing Game by Fern Reiss (three titles:
Bestseller in 30 Days,
Find an Agent in 30 Days, and
Publish a Book in 30 Days ). Shorter books.
·
Beyond the Bookstore: How to Sell More Books Profitably to Non-Bookstore Markets, by Brian Jud
·
John Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame
·
Publicize Your Book: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book the Attention It Deserves by Jacqueline Deval
·
Guerrilla Marketing for Writers : 100 Weapons to Help You Sell Your Work by Jay Conrad Levinson.
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Links to resources and advice on self-publishing
There is also a wealth of information and advice available online. Check out some of the links below.
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The truth about print-on-demand (POD) publishing
I understand the convenience of print-on-demand publishing, but nothing I've seen shows that it makes sense economically, with some exceptions. Before you jump into POD, do your homework. These sites may help get you started thinking through the possibilities and economics of the POD option.
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From Elizabeth Hand's review of
Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature by Linda Lear, in the
Washington Post, 1-24-07, link below:
"The Tale of Peter Rabbit" first saw light in 1893, as an illustrated letter to Noel Moore, the 4-year-old son of Potter's former governess: "I don't know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits." Years later, in 1899, Noel's mother suggested that Potter turn her picture letters into a children's book. Potter already had successfully marketed her drawings as Christmas cards and pamphlets, but publishers had rejected "The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor's Garden."
So, in a move that has brought hope to would-be authors ever since, in September 1901 Potter withdrew her savings and paid for a first printing of 250 copies of her book, with another 500 copies ordered and held in reserve. The cost of her venture into self-publishing: 11 pounds.
"The public must be fond of rabbits!" she marveled a year later; "what an appalling quantity of Peter." By 1903, there were 56,470 copies in print. Today, the book has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide in 35 languages.
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