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Many people have a romanticized notion of what it means to be published, and also of what it takes to get there. You may think you mail off a query letter to a potential publisher and then the next day you'll have a FedEx envelope with a contract and a huge advance just waiting inside. For a very lucky few that may be the way it works — but not for the majority. Getting published is a lot of hard work, no matter if you choose to go through a traditional publisher or if you choose to self-publish. Technology has afforded us the ability to circumvent some of the more traditional publishing methods, however, which can save the self-publisher a lot of time and effort.
It used to be that if you wanted a professional-looking book you had no choice but to suffer through the process of book proposals, agents, editors, and query letters. But with the advent of e-publishing and more and more online printing options, it's now easier than ever to take control over getting your book published on your own. This way, with a small investment of time and money, you can have complete control over the finished product.
This tutorial will guide you through the process of designing, publishing and selling your book. I've put together information from ample resources and my own personal experience in order to bring you this information on everything you need to know about self-publishing.
I'm assuming that if you're here, you've already written the book itself and you're just looking for how to make it available to the world. If you have yet to start writing the book, use this information as research but don't spend too much time here at this site. The first important thing to do is simply to write what you have to say. The next steps of publishing and selling what you've written are the steps that this tutorial covers.
If you're ready to do some work to realize your goal, let's begin!
Choosing a Book Title
Even if you already have a title picked out, it will serve you well to do some research on the techniques used by professionals when choosing a name for a book. The name not only has to be descriptive, it also has to be eye-catching. You may have written a best-seller but if the name doesn't catch anyone's interest, no one will pick it up and read it.
A good name conveys much to the potential reader. What is the book about? Who is the audience for the book? Is it fiction, non-fiction, or poetry? Does the title give any clues to anything about what's inside? What would make me pick up your book over someone else's? Make sure to look at your book title objectively when thinking about your answers to these questions.
Copyrights
Contrary to popular belief, officially registering your material is not required in order for it to be protected. The current Copyright laws protect your work as soon as you write it, with no actions required. Providing the notice that a work is Copyrighted is also not required, since any published work must be assumed to already be Copyrighted and thereby protected.
If you're holding out any hope to have your work published by a regular publishing house, officially registering your Copyright before mailing off the manuscript could potentially kill your deal before it's even offered. Let the publisher handle the Copyright issues once it reaches that step.
If you're certain you're self-publishing, you're already covered without having to do anything at all.
Things To Do
Get a P.O. Box
The first thing you're going to need to get when self-publishing your book is a Post Office Box. A P.O. Box provides a private way for distributors, customers, vendors, agents, etc. to contact you with orders, payments, and other general correspondence. It also provides you with a return address to use when mailing out your shipments. I strongly advise against using your personal address for this purpose, since keeping a good separation between your personal life and your business life is simply good business.
Get a Fax number
The other thing you will need is a Fax number. Many government forms and distributor/vendor forms require this number when you register with them, so get it now before you need it. This number does not have to be toll-free, nor does it need to be a direct number into your house.
By choosing e-fax, you have access to your faxes from anywhere there is a computer with an Internet connection — making it extremely convenient (and inexpensive). As long as you don't request a number that is local to your area code, and as long as you don't need to send faxes (just receive), getting an e-fax number should be free. (Check out e-fax.com for more information.) There are also many other online fax service companies which you can find with a quick Google search.
Get a Domain Name
Another item you'll need to begin work on is your Web site. Don't get overwhelmed, but don't skip this step, either. At this stage the only thing you need to do is to pick a URL, choose a Web-hosting company, and register the domain name. There is no need to actually build the site yet, just get it ready to build later. This is an important step because later on your Web site will be an integral part of your marketing strategy.
It's important to register a unique domain that will follow you regardless of what service you use to connect to the Internet. If you connect to the Internet through service from your local phone company, chances are they provide hosting services and a Web site home page that you can build through them. The problem with using this service for your official Web presence for your self-published book is that it is not very likely that you will always be living where you are now, nor that that particular phone company will always be around.
By registering a unique domain name, it doesn't matter where you live or what service you use to connect to the Internet, your registered domain name will follow you anywhere and everywhere — making it completely stable and permanent. The easiest way to accomplish this is to pick a hosting company and let them register your domain name for you, through them. That way your domain name and hosting are taken care of by the same place (making it easier to manage, and easier to renew your services annually). The hosting company I recommend is Dreamhost.com, since I've been hosting sites there for almost nine years.
Get a second phone line
The last item on the to-do list during the preparation stage is to get a separate phone number for your business. It's a good idea to get a toll-free number (for the same reasons why I advise to get a unique domain name that can follow you around no matter where you live and what phone service you use), but this is not a requirement. The important thing is to not use your personal home telephone number on any of your registrations since you need to have a separate voicemail message for callers, and also because you need to keep your personal life separate from your business life.
Printing House
It's extremely important to choose your printer before you finalize your work. Every printer will have their own requirements as far as how to submit the manuscript and artwork, the size restraints or requirements of their press, and the type of media they will accept.
There are thousands of online printers, and it would be impossible to research them all. My advice is to ask for references from other people who have self-published. Who did they use? How easy was it to work with them? How much did it cost? How quick was the turnaround? What was the minimum order of copies? What type of support do they offer?
My personal recommendation is for RJ Communications based in New York. They have been around for almost 15 years and did an outstanding job on my own self-publishing project.
Storage Solution
Space
Don't underestimate how much space boxes of books can take up. You can stack your boxes to reduce the “footprint” of how much space they take up, but they still will monopolize any space they're put in.
Climate
Books are made from paper, obviously, and paper is very vulnerable to temperature and humidity changes. Even though in May your attic may feel like it's the perfect place to store your books, come August you will realize your mistake. The wide fluctuations of temperature throughout the year and the humidity would eventually destroy all your hard work and monetary investment. Make sure that wherever you choose to store your books has a constant cool temperature and low humidity in order to preserve the quality of your books.
Ease of access
Although it may be nice of your neighbor, or your parents, or your best friend to offer their attic or garage to store your books, make sure to think about the convenience factor (for you AND them). Having to go knock on someone's door each time you need a copy of your book will get old real fast. Make sure that whatever storage solution you ultimately choose is convenient to get to.
Inventory control
The first thing you should do once you receive your shipment of books is to count how many boxes there are. Once you have the grand total, take a Sharpie and write on every single box, “1 of 15″, “2 of 15″, etc. This will help you keep track of how many boxes you have and when you're getting close to running out. Do not try to keep track of every individual book since each box of books will likely have a different amount inside. Depending on how quickly you end up going through your boxes of books, once you're down to a couple of boxes left you may want to think about ordering a re-print to replenish your supply.
How many copies to print?
The things to consider when deciding how many copies of your book to order are:
∙ Making sure to order enough extra for sending out for Review Requests
∙ Making sure your storage solution is adequate for the number of copies you want
∙ Making sure you're confident in your ability to actually sell the copies you're thinking of ordering
∙ Researching any special deals the printer is offering for certain batch orders (keep in mind taking advantage of a fantastic deal won't help much if it results in too many copies that will never sell)
∙ Making sure the number of copies you want to order is even one of the options your printer offers
In general, it's cheaper to run off more copies than you need than to run out and have to order more. Once your job is already processing, it doesn't cost much extra to print off more copies of what it's already doing, but if it stops and then a few months down the road you end up needing more, they have to start all over again, which is why you save money by just getting more than you need with your first order.
The printer aims for a set number of books but what you receive may end up being more or less than that amount. This is completely normal, since the printing press has certain requirements for paper size and the number of jobs it can process. Your job is one of many they are processing at the same time, so jobs may be combined for efficiency.
Create the PDF
The guidelines for creating the media for submission to the printer need to come directly from the printer. You can easily create the required submission yourself in Word, including the Table of Contents, the Index, and everything in-between.
Once you have the 100% perfect Word document — designed precisely to the printer's specifications (including exact margins, page size, and spine depth) — then you can turn it into the PDF that's given to the printer.
Most printers require separate submissions for the book content, any graphics, and the cover art. You can put each of these separate files on a single CD/DVD to send to the printer, and make sure to keep a couple copies of the submission CD/DVD for your own records (and for if you ever need to order re-prints).
Cover Art
Except for the book's title, nothing is more important in grabbing a potential reader's attention than the cover art. Just because it's so very important, however, does not mean that you have to pay an arm and a leg for it. There are many companies that will provide a cover based on a template you can customize, and the cost for this is minimal.
If you feel it's important to hire a designer to create a perfect cover for your self-published book, make sure to agree on a flat rate ahead of time instead of paying an hourly rate for their service. The quality of what you end up with will be basically the same, so why pay more than you have to?
Get an ISBN
“ISBN” stands for “International Standard Book Number.” Prior to 2007 it was a 10-digit number, but now it's a 13-digit number that gives your book a unique identifier. Think of it as a social security number for books.
Of all the steps in publishing your own book, I think obtaining the ISBN number and getting your barcode are the most fun. Once you have the ISBN number and your barcode, you are “official”! Without the ISBN you won't be able to sell your book in stores nor get it listed in the Library of Congress, so it's a very important step in the publishing process.
If you plan to sell your book on your own only — never making it available in any stores, placing it with distributors, or giving it to libraries — then you don't need to do this step. Since it's not that expensive to do, however, it seems like a good idea to go ahead and do it so just in case you decide later to make your book available through other means than simply selling it on your own, your book will already be ready.
The cost for your ISBN will vary slightly depending on how soon you need it. Normal two-week processing costs only $125 for a single ISBN number, with second business day processing costing $150, and next business day processing costing $200. The barcode is reasonably priced at an additional $25.
Before ordering your ISBN number and barcode you will need to have decided how much you will be setting your sales price at. The sales price is listed on the barcode so you need to know it ahead of time, before filling out your ISBN/barcode order form.
Setting the Sales Price
Deciding on the sales price for your self-published book doesn't have to be a difficult decision. The biggest tip I can give you is to step back from the project and look at the book with an objective view — from an outsider's vantage point. You wrote the book; you poured your blood, sweat and tears into it so obviously you are going to think it's worth a million dollars even if it's just a 20-page pamphlet. However, to a buyer, they are definitely not going to see it that way.
Do some research on similar books on the market in order to gauge what the general going rate is for a book of a similar size and scope. Keep in mind that having fancier artwork on the cover does not make the book worth more! Fancy artwork helps to get your book stand out and get noticed, but does not increase its value to the potential buyer. Having a Foreword written by someone famous will also not necessarily raise the value of your book. The value of your book comes from the book's content alone. It is up to you to read your competition and decide objectively how your book compares and how to price it fairly.
The general rule of thumb is to set the price at two and a half times the “single-copy print cost,” which should not only cover your costs but also cover volume discounts you may give to some distributors, and also allow for a reasonable profit.
Shipping Considerations
If you're going through the trouble, cost and hassle of publishing your own book — paying for nice artwork and quality paper and binding products — don't forget to think about the aspect of self-publishing that involves actually getting your product to the buyer! A nice presentation can go a long way towards a buyer being happy with their purchase or being completely disappointed and non-trusting of the information you have put in your book.
The things to consider are the materials you use to wrap the book (to protect it through the shipping process so it arrives looking just as nice as when it left), the shipping labels for printing the purchaser's information as well as your return address information, the shipping tape to keep it all together, and the postage required to mail it.
Packaging
Depending on what methods you are employing for selling your book, you will have different packaging needs for getting your product shipped. If you're selling your book on your own — as individual copies to individual buyer's — then some simple bubble mailers will probably do the trick. If you're also selling your book through Amazon or some other online seller, then you will need book boxes to ship multiple copies of your book to the distributor.
Buying your packaging products in bulk is the trick to saving money on your shipping costs. The most expensive way to buy your packaging products is to buy the mailers one-by-one from your local grocery store or drug store, as you need them. The most inexpensive way is to buy large quantities of your most-used shipping products from an online vendor who will offer a bulk discount. For most people who are self-publishing, you can find reasonable discounts without having to invest in huge quantities of extra packaging products by simply buying them in small bulk packages from your local office supply store.
Labels
What type of label you buy will depend on what type of printer you will be using to print them with. If you use an ink-jet printer to print your shipping labels, make sure to cover the label on your package with clear shipping tape so that moisture will not make the ink run or smudge. For the best results with printing labels, though, use a laser printer. Your local office supply store sells many sizes and colors of shipping labels for virtually any printer. My suggestion to you would be to keep it simple — not only for appearance's sake (you want to be taken as a professional, not amateur!) but for cost's sake as well.
Shipping Tape
If you're using bubble mailers to mail individual copies of your book out to buyers, you probably won't have to use shipping tape very often. It comes in extremely handy, however, when you have to ship off books to Amazon in the book mailer boxes. Shipping tape (or “packing” tape) comes pre-loaded onto handy dispensers, sold at all office supply stores. These tape dispensers make quick work of packing up boxes of books. Do not skimp on costs here and attempt to use something like Scotch tape for shipping your packages. Again, the goal is to look professional!
Postage
Online postage is definitely the way to go, unless you have stacks and stacks of unused stamps just sitting around (along with a hefty shipping scale)! In keeping with the whole “professional” theme, online postage is the only way to go. Most online postage sites allow you to print the postage directly from their sites onto your shipping labels, making it extremely easy to get your packages ready to go.
Create a Web Site
It used to be that a Web site was a nice “bonus” for your product, but these days it's simply a necessity. People expect an online presence for anything they buy these days, so make sure to give them something worth looking at.
Your Web site can be as in-depth or as simple as you want it to be. The fact that you have one is what's most important, followed by what it looks like, and then what type of information is available on it.
At a bare minimum it must provide information about the product, information about the author, and contact information so potential purchasers, critics, and distributors can contact you. If you're feeling particularly energetic (and you have money and time to burn), you can also create an online e-commerce site for selling the product, as well as building an online community to support the product. These are not requirements, but are nice features if you're able to provide them (and if they make sense to the product).
Currently it appears the “blog” is the type of site du jour for selling or promoting virtually anything and everything (or nothing). Blogs allow your site visitors to keep up-to-date with the latest happenings without you having to have extensive Web programming knowledge and without you having to pay for someone with that knowledge to update a site for you. Most blog sites are extremely easy to use and require no special knowledge or abilities whatsoever. A great example would be Blogger.
To go any more in-depth with a Web site than a blog, you will probably need to hire a professional to handle all the necessary steps. You'll need a domain name, a Web hosting company, a Web designer, programmer and graphic designer, an e-commerce solution, an SEO specialist to consult with, and to set up service with a company that will handle your online credit card payments from customers. It's a huge project, so don't go into it thinking it will be a simple thing! And unless you're a Web professional, do not even consider doing this project on your own.
Amazon Advantage
To the book self-publisher, Amazon marketplace is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Yes, it can be annoying working with a huge company that's full of bureaucracy, but the benefits far outweigh the annoyance-factor.
The way it works is that Amazon will order a small number of your books to start with, and then they see how they sell. They decide the minimum inventory they want to keep, and then they strive to keep that inventory level. The annoying part is that many times they will send multiple “orders,” often within the same week — so you find yourself stuffing shipping boxes with small amounts of books constantly. They do allow you to ship multiple orders in the same package (if you make sure to indicate all the order numbers on the shipping label), but you will find you still will receive an order when it seems like you just shipped one off to them. Ah, the price of success, right?
As your book sells, you receive a portion of the sales proceeds once you reach a certain threshold or minimum sold. Amazon offers great resources for viewing your sales and keeping track of everything right from their Web site.
One of the annoying things about selling on Amazon is the ability for users to “rate” books. The problem with their rating system is that users are able to equate their experience with Amazon with the quality of your book — which is quite unfair, of course. If you go to my book listing on Amazon, you will see what I mean: Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome: A Patient's Perspective. A user rated my book very poorly because it was “listed on back-order” and they still had not received it. Obviously that has nothing to do with my book but everything to do with Amazon's ability to ship an order out, and yet Amazon offers no way to “fix” this unfair rating by users.
Regardless of the annoyance-factor, selling on Amazon is still worth the hassle. It takes away the need for you to have your own e-commerce system and the need to have a way to accept credit card payments, and by offering your book for sale on Amazon it's another way to make your product look professional.
Marketing
There are many inexpensive ways you can market your book with great results. Of course you can hire a marketing company to launch a campaign on your behalf, but unless you have money just burning a hole in your pocket, that is completely unnecessary.
Press releases
Writing a good press release does take a bit of skill and know-how, but I'm confident you can do it and save tons of money over paying someone to write it for you (see the resource links at http://www.selfpublishingtutorial.com). Once it's written, then you have to decide whether to fork over some money to get it as widely distributed as possible, or submit it to a free press release service. I would suggest networking with other self-publishers to see what their experiences with press releases have been.
Book reviews
The best way to get a book review is to send a reviewer a free copy of your book. The downside to getting this review is that you have no control over it being a positive review! Many successful books and movies have gotten bad reviews, so don't let the possibility of a bad review keep you from trying to get them in the first place.
Writers Conferences
The best way to get advice for what works and what doesn't is to network with other authors. It's also a great way to meet potential agents, or at least to learn how to make a great first impression with one eventually. The easiest way to network is to attend writers' conferences and workshops. No matter where you live it's likely that there is a writers' conference that will meet nearby at some point in the near future. Check out the links in the resources available at http://www.selfpublishingtutorial.com for more information on writers' conferences.
Agents
Until you've shown there's a ready market for your book, there's no reason to contact an agent. If you've sold more than a few thousand copies of your book then you're probably ready to find one specializing in self-publishers. If you haven't even published your book yet, don't waste your time contacting one. By the time you contact one you want to show a promising history of sales already on the records, a thriving community already in place, and a ready market ready to gobble up anything you produce — otherwise you're not worth their time.
Good luck with your self-publishing project! With a little time and effort, your book will be published and I promise you all the work is well worth it!
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