Self-Publishing Presentation, Notes, and Information
This page contains the presentation you viewed at the class, as well as:
- The Glossary of Terms
- A few Frequently Asked Questions
- Notes about making Children's Books
- Website Design suggestions
- E-book creation vendor
- Sites to help you find other assistance
Self-Publishing Presentation
To download the presentation, click the page icon located on the gray bar to the right of the slide numbers.
Glossary of Terms
- Copyright - The Copyright office says that your work is copyrighted the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Copyright protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Registration is voluntary. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work.
- CS - CreateSpace
- Distributor - Company, group or individual who sells products or services to retailers instead of to consumers.
- DPI - Dots per inch. Convention expressing graphic resolution of a graphic file, resolution of a computer monitor, or potential printing density of a computer printer.
- ebook - Electronic file format to which books may be published. Although dedicated devices may be used to read eBooks, they may be read on other platforms such as PDAs and personal computers as well.
- Formatting - 1) Process by which a design team lays out a manuscript to create book pages. 2) Text effect applied to characters to make them appear bold, italic, sheared or otherwise.
- ISBN - International Standard Book Number. Unique 13.-digit number (10 or 13 digits prior to 2007) that identifies a version of a book. In the U.S., ISBNs may be purchased through Bowker.corn or via some distributors.
- Offset Printing - Common printing technology that applies layers one at a time. A reverse image of each color interfaces with the page via a roller. The roller presses against the paper applying the proper color of ink.
- PDF (Portable Document Format) - Adobe Systems file format that can be precisely reproduced on different systems. PDF files are often sent to a printer.
- POD (Print on Demand) - A process whereby individual copies or small numbers of a text are printed to order using digital technology.
- Print-Ready - Final PDF files of a book that have been flight-checked and are ready to go to the printer. See also PDF (Portable Document File).
- Royalty - Payment to a book’s author that is usually a percentage of sales revenue.
- Subsidy Publishing or Supported Self-Publishing - A subsidy publisher shares publishing costs with the author. The publisher typically markets the book through retailers. An author must bear at least some of the cost of copyediting, typesetting, proofreading, indexing and printing the book. Some subsidy publishers require an author to purchase a large number of copies of the book to cover the costs of its initial publication.
- Wholesaler - Company, group or individual who purchases high volumes of books from a publisher at deep discounts and sells them to retailers at midlevel discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Should I use CreateSpace or Ingram Spark for paperbacks?
Answer:
Use CreateSpace for:
Use IngramSpark for:
What about Snowfall Press? http://www.snowfallpress.com
I routinely use Snowfall Press to print copies of books for readers who order from my website and for copies I want to take with me. Snowfall Press offers POD printing of your uploaded (for free) files and they will drop ship to readers/customers. Their printing prices are less than CreateSpace and freight is often less, too. For those in the Phoenix area, you can pick up from their south Phoenix location at D&L Press (www.dandlpress.com/).
Answer:
Use CreateSpace for:
- Amazon-only distribution, and don't sign up for their expanded distribution. (They tell you they can get your book into bookstores and libraries, but it won't happen -- the margins aren't good enough.)
- US shipping to readers who order from your website, for giveaways, or to send review books to bloggers, etc. It's inexpensive and quick.
Use IngramSpark for:
- All distribution outside of the Amazon arena. That means every book that goes to B&N, or BAM, or Charter Books,or to libraries, or if they get ordered by bookstores, comes from Ingram.
- Non-US shipping to readers who order from your website, for giveaways, or to send review books to bloggers, etc.
- Independent bookstores, in an effort to get in with them, use IngramSpark because the quality is better and some bookstores (notably Barnes & Noble) may be averse to seeing a book come from Amazon's CreateSpace.
- An initial order for autographed books. After all, the people who ask for autographed books are most likely your best customers. Give them your best material.
What about Snowfall Press? http://www.snowfallpress.com
I routinely use Snowfall Press to print copies of books for readers who order from my website and for copies I want to take with me. Snowfall Press offers POD printing of your uploaded (for free) files and they will drop ship to readers/customers. Their printing prices are less than CreateSpace and freight is often less, too. For those in the Phoenix area, you can pick up from their south Phoenix location at D&L Press (www.dandlpress.com/).
For Children's Books
BLURB. www.blurb.com/childrens-books
I mentioned an online service that allows authors to create children's picture books and delivers printed copies. That company is called Blurb (www.blurb.com/childrens-books). I haven't used them myself, but I've read good reviews of the company and the finished product.
Here's what Blurb says:
SCBWI. www.scbwi.org
The acronym stands for Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. This is a good group to join for contacts and information. They have meetings and workshops, although most are held in Phoenix or Tempe. Online resources include illustrators who have portfolios of their work.
BLURB. www.blurb.com/childrens-books
I mentioned an online service that allows authors to create children's picture books and delivers printed copies. That company is called Blurb (www.blurb.com/childrens-books). I haven't used them myself, but I've read good reviews of the company and the finished product.
Here's what Blurb says:
- Books made easy. Easily drag and drop illustrations onto blank pages and use any of your fonts with our free book layout software.
- Print 1 or 1,000. Print one children's book at a time or print in volume with offset for deeper discounts and a lower per unit cost.
- Sell your book.
SCBWI. www.scbwi.org
The acronym stands for Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. This is a good group to join for contacts and information. They have meetings and workshops, although most are held in Phoenix or Tempe. Online resources include illustrators who have portfolios of their work.
Website Design
I recommend a couple of companies (Weebly and Wix) to you because they have free options that are easy to use and maintain without having to hire a designer. The website you're viewing was made with Weebly (www.weebly.com). If you need more than the free option provides, they have paid options described on their sites.
Alternatively, you may use WordPress to design a website, although this requires a bit of work at the outset. Once the site is in place, though, use of it is easy.
Take a look at other authors' websites to get an idea of the different things you can do to "sell" your book.
I recommend a couple of companies (Weebly and Wix) to you because they have free options that are easy to use and maintain without having to hire a designer. The website you're viewing was made with Weebly (www.weebly.com). If you need more than the free option provides, they have paid options described on their sites.
Alternatively, you may use WordPress to design a website, although this requires a bit of work at the outset. Once the site is in place, though, use of it is easy.
Take a look at other authors' websites to get an idea of the different things you can do to "sell" your book.
Editors
Many editors will allow you to send a few pages from your work in progress and provide a sample of their work (a brief edit) as well as an estimate of charges for the project.
Editing comes in a number of flavors:
Local Editors I can recommend:
ebook Designer
The man I recommend is Ken Johnson of www.yourebookbuilder.com. Ken does great work -- hand-crafted ebooks -- at a reasonable price.
Other Freelance Help
A one-stop shop for many kinds of services, from editing to illustration and more, is www.upwork.com. The freelancers listed there are also rated by the people who have used them previously, which helps in selecting someone new.
Many editors will allow you to send a few pages from your work in progress and provide a sample of their work (a brief edit) as well as an estimate of charges for the project.
Editing comes in a number of flavors:
- Substantive (developmental) editingThe most intensive form of editing is substantive editing. The document is evaluated as a whole and problems of structure, organization, coherence, and logical consistency are corrected. Sentences may be removed or added. Paragraphs may be rewritten, condensed, or expanded. Blocks of text may be moved from one section to another. Substantive editing includes one revision at no additional charge. Turnaround time must be negotiated.
- Copy editing
The editor corrects problems of grammar, style, repetition, word usage, and jargon. Copy editing includes one revision at no additional charge. Turnaround time for copy editing typically is three business days. - Proofreading
Proofreading is the lightest form of editing. Minor errors are corrected. Minor errors include:
• errors of grammar and style
• errors of capitalization, punctuation
• errors of spelling and word usage
Local Editors I can recommend:
ebook Designer
The man I recommend is Ken Johnson of www.yourebookbuilder.com. Ken does great work -- hand-crafted ebooks -- at a reasonable price.
Other Freelance Help
A one-stop shop for many kinds of services, from editing to illustration and more, is www.upwork.com. The freelancers listed there are also rated by the people who have used them previously, which helps in selecting someone new.
