Self-Publishing Presentation, Notes, and Information

This page contains the presentation you viewed at the class, as well as: 
  • The Glossary of Terms
  • ​Which company should I use to create, print, or ship paperbacks?
  • Notes about making Children's Books
  • Website Design suggestions
  • ​and Sites to help you find other assistance
Self-Publishing Presentation
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Glossary of Terms
  • Case Laminate, or Case wrapped - these books have a printed cover adhered to the hardcover. A gloss laminate provides a more durable cover that will have less chance of ripping, even when opened over and over again by little hands.
  • 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 Copyright protection is available to both published and unpublished works.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 - Short for CreateSpace.com. Now defunct, CreateSpace has merged with KDP.com (see below).
  • 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.
  • KDP.com - Kindle Direct Printing (KDP). This online site used to only publish Kindle books, but CreateSpace has merged with KDP, which now handles printing of paperback books as well.
  • 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 a discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which company should I use
to create, print, or ship paperbacks? 
The answer depends on the specifics of what you want to do.
  • To get your book on listed  for sale on Amazon.com: Use KDP.
    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 to make it worthwhile for B&N.)

  • To have your book listed for sale on other channels outside of Amazon:
    Use IngramSpark or Draft2Digital. 
    Every book that goes to B&N, or BAM, or Charter Books, to libraries, or is ordered by other bookstores, comes from Ingram. Working with IngramSpark provides a direct channel to that distribution, but their working interface is more difficult, and they charge for each manuscript (and revision) that you upload. Draft2Digital provides a lot of the same distribution (the major players) without the hassle or the cost. Unless you crave being in the remote markets, I say stick with D2D. Besides, Amazon has cornered over 90% of the market anyway. 
    IMPORTANT NOTE: Some bookstores (notably Barnes & Noble) will not purchase books that come from Amazon's KDP.

  • To ship your book to U.S. readers who order from your website, for giveaways, or to send review books to bloggers, etc.: Use KDP or Snowfall Press. Both are inexpensive and quick.

  • For printing copies to have with you for autographing: Use Snowfall Press, IngramSpark, or Draft2Digital.
    [For AZ writers, the local outlet for Snowfall Press is in Phoenix, saving shipping costs entirely if you pick up your books from their south Phoenix location at D&L Press (www.dandlpress.com/)]
Children's Books
BLURB for creation & printing. 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.

Snowfall Press for printing. Various sizes of case-laminate books can be printed through Snowfall.

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 Creation
​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. 

You may also use WordPress to design a website (and it's free), but this requires a bit of work at the outset. Once the site is in place, though, use of it is relatively 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:
  • Developmental editing
    The editor works with the author to develop a manuscript from initial concept, outline, or draft (or some combination of the three) through any number of subsequent drafts, making suggestions about content, organization, and presentation, based on analysis of competing works, comments of expert reviewers, the client’s market analysis, and other appropriate references, rewriting, writing, and researching, as needed, and sometimes suggesting topics or providing information about topics for consideration of authors and client.
  • Substantive editing
    The most intensive form of 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. 
  • Copy editing
    The editor corrects problems of grammar, style, repetition, word usage, and jargon.
  • 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:
  • Copy Write Consultants offer very affordable copyediting and proofreading services for any genre.
  • Reedsy is a marketplace of book publishing professionals.

Self-Editing Tools:
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 rated by the people who have used them previously, which helps in selecting someone new.

Cover Designers I Can Recommend:
General Information that May Be UsefulThe Six Best Blogs (and Websites) for Indie Authors
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/60852-six-great-blogs-for-indie-authors.html
This list, compiled by Publisher’s Weekly, includes Jane Friedman,
Joel Friedlander (“The Book Designer”), Joanna Penn (“The Creative Penn”), Indies Unlimited, CJ Lyons’ “No Rules Just Write,” and Passive Guy’s “The Passive Voice.”

How-tos for Self-Publishing

Promotional Materials
Book Review Sites
Company              Website
Midwest Book Review         http://www.midwestbookreview.com/
Feathered Quill        https://featheredquill.com/
Kirkus Reviews         https://www.kirkusreviews.com/
BookPage         https://bookpage.com/
Reader’s Choice        https://readersfavorite.com/
Book Reporter         BookReporter.com
Book Review       BookReview.com
Armchair Interviews         http://www.armchairinterviews.com/
Blog Critics         BlogCritics.org
Book Ideas        BookIdeas.com
Library Journal       https://reviews.libraryjournal.com/
Publishers Weekly      https://selfpublishingadvice.org/publishers-weekly-reviews/
Booklist      https://www.booklistonline.com/get-reviewed
BookBrowse      https://www.bookbrowse.com/
Blue Ink Review      https://www.blueinkreview.com/
Indie Reader      https://indiereader.com/
Small Press Reviews      https://smallpressreviews.wordpress.com/
Compulsive Reader      http://www.compulsivereader.com/
Mostly Fiction      http://bookreview.mostlyfiction.com/
My Shelf      http://myshelf.com/reviews.htm
New Pages      https://www.newpages.com/reviews
ForeWord Review      https://publishers.forewordreviews.com/reviews/
Booklife      http://booklife.com/about-us/review-submission-guidelines.html