One Last Word on Self Publishing

Jus to shave a bit off of my previous post. I do have one more thing IMPORTANT to share about self publishing.

You must know that retailers are not always keen about stocking books from print-on-demand services. The reason being is that most POD services sales are non-returnable. Stores don't like buying things they can't return incase they don't sell.

Also when I looked at Writer's Beware I saw mention of Amazon not selling POD books their Booksurge doesn't print. I haven't gotten to checking up on how things are now though, as that was news they revealed last year. I also don't see how they could get away with it for long before lawsuits being filed.

Now that I've mentioned that. I also want to not that Lightning Source does allow you to set your books as being returnable. I assume that means returns will be deducted from your royalties. On the upside it hopefully makes retailers more likely to stock your books.

I actually contated them about in regards to that as soon as I found that out.

I haven't had a chance yet, but I'm going to ask if retailers when ordering are able to see that your books can be returned or are more likely to carry LS printed books because they give publishers the option of making their books returnable.

As soon as I get word on that I'll post it here!

Back to the Books: Layout and Publishing

The next step in learning how to self publish would be layout and, well, publishing your book! You've now got your ISBN(s) barcode and you're ready to put that book together.

First of all you're going to need some way to convert your files into PDFs the likely format your printer of choice will need. A program such as Adobe Acrobat or another program capable of creating PDFs.

Open Office Is one such program, and it's free. It has a wide range of features, word proccessor, spread sheets, data bases, that sort of thing. And can save you money in that it can work with a lot different file types. I have it myself. However, Open Office is still leans more toward word processing and isn't really that good when it comes to book layout with pictures. If you're a writer it might be something you want to check out, as it can save you having to buy Acrobat if you're not looking to make complicated PDFs.

For those of us visual artists going the self publishing route, it really might be key obtaining a book layout and design specific program such as Adobe Indesign or Quark Xpress.

I mostly do my work in Adobe Flash and/or Adobe Illustrator I have Photoshop, but I hardly ever use it. You can do page layout in all of them. However, you still need means of putting those pages together.

I have to admit I don't know if you could pull that off in those, as I opted to invest in Adobe In Design. I look around for freelance work, and figured picking up a new program would allow me to expand my options and give me the opportunity to make more money.

I'm still just getting into In Design. The "magazine cover" featured in this post. I did that with Adobe In Design. It took very little time to figure out how. You have text boxes, image boxes, you can layer them, put them where ever you want. It's fairly user friendly right from the start. This is coming from someone that knew virtually nothing about things like that. I highly suggest getting In Design if you can.

NOW LETS GET TO THOSE ISBNs AND BARCODES!

So now you have an idea of layout and I bet you know where I'm going now. Once you have your barcodes, with the layout technique of your choosing, you just put it on the cover of your book. That's it. You just have to make sure it's in an area where it will be printed fully and scanable.

NOW FOR THE PUBLISHING!

The publishing part of self publishing is not without it's pitfalls. First of all you have to decide how much you're willing to spend to make things happen.

Now the many many things out there to read are beyond the scope of my blog to delve into. at the end of this I shall provide a few key links you may want to check out.

And so I shall skip ahead to Lulu.com my first choice for publishing. Depending on what your plans for self publishing are Lulu may be the right choice.

First of all they're "free-ish". They do have their basic service, you pic you book format, up load your files, and work everything out. That's just the "in a nutshell" description of the process.

They're basic "Published by Lulu" option is the free one. I think. Their guidelines mention it's subject to change so who really knows. That option is free, because they simply assign one of their own ISBNs to your book and are "officially" your publisher. You're not really stuck to them if you choose to take your book out of print and move elsewhere you just have to give them notice so they can work on bringing everything to a halt.

However, with the basic option you don't really have any real visibility for your book beyond Lulu, retail wise. Because they have expanded features they want you to buy. Like their "expanded distribution" for $49.95. For that then they are supposed to list your book with Amazon and other retailers.

Be Warned! Lulu's Expanded Distribution, does not have sterling reviews what few there are.

Also at the basic level, books available for print are quite limited. I was VERY frustrated to beging putting things together for my book only to look back over Lulu's site and find the perfect size for my book, wasn't avaible to my chosen print/distribution methods and basic level.

Lulu also has their "Published by You" feature for $99. For that what happens is they simply sell you one of their ISBNs. They are one of the few authorized by RR Bowker to do so. You get some better distribution options and book formats. For me $99 for one ISBN was a bit spicy considering how much I'd save saving up for 10, especially because I have other bookable ideas.

If that sounds like something for your project, look into Lulu.

HOWEVER, Lulu pricing is really high. If you're doing a simple book, like a younger kids book I'm working on, to make a reasonable profit you have to set your price ridiculously high.

The lowest I could get my starter price to be was $10.25, which to make a reasonable profit. I couldn't even rationalize buying my own book. So you have to take that into account.

AND NOW LIGHTNING SOURCE!

As you probably guessed they're the print service I'm planning on going with now. I've actually gotten mail from real people regaurding my questions, and rather promptly.

They don't have all the printing options I would like, but I found an option that works. Also I gave them a general idea of what I was thinking about the demensions of my book, pages and size, and asked about the base printing cost. On-Demand Printing costs more per book.

The base price of my book with Lighting Source was only about $3.50 So I can set the wholesale price to be a bit more inline with my book and hopefully potential retailers won't mark it up too much.

Now with LS costs for your proofs seems a little spicy at $30, which is mostly for the overnight delivery. However, considering other print on demand services want "huge" start up costs for your books, it's a steal. LS does have inital set up fees per book, but when you think about people having to actually do things to make sure your files print right. And the overall service is $12 per year. You're still comeing out ahead when something like Amazons Book Surge want's $300+ to start.

One other catch with Lighting Source, a catch I'm stuck on right now. You do need to have at least one ISBN as you work on finalizing your application. So I can't do that til I've saved up for my numbers.

All in all though, I'm still pretty confident with them.

And as I mentioned now some key linkies you may wanna check out.

LINKIES!

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's page and Blog

How Publishing Really Works

And this Cnet Article

Back to the Books: ISBN and Barcodes

Ok, at last I'm getting back to my self publishing adventure thus far.

In my previous post I just gave a quick blurb about ISBNs and Barcodes you need for self publishing. Do be sure to check out ISBN.org you'll find lot of important information there.

I'm not simply going to send you off there and let you do figure everything out, nay, I've already done some of that. Especially with the barcoding, they go hand in hand. You can't simply have your ISBN. You can, but without the barcode it pretty much defeats the purpose of trying to publish your book for real.

RR Bowker also has Bowker Barcode Service there are others out there, but I'm just going with them for ease of posting.

Barcoding is a pretty simple thing. Once you have your ISBN assigned to your book, you take the number and use a barcode generator, that such a service would offer. They use your ISBN and, well, generate your barcode. They then send the code off to you, however they will.

So now you have your book, your very own ISBN(s) and a barcode. What's next?

Next will be putting it all together. But first, a special note on ISBNs!

ISBN SPECIAL ALERT!

When it comes to publishing whomever buys the ISBN associated with a book is considered the publisher. Period.

There are services and companies out there that offer ISBN's for sale "affordably priced". The honest ones will eventually tell you the catch, the shadyones won't tell you a thing.

What these places do is buy ISBNs in large numbers from RR Bowker and get a volume discount. They then turn around and sell the numbers individually or at "reduced" prices and make a profit.

What this means for you is, when it comes to the big publishing picture, these companies are considered the publisher of your book. In all the databases and everything your book is attached to their company/or whatever name they registered not you.

Furthermore, very few companies are authorized with RR Bowker to sell individual ISBNs. One being Lulu.com

Anyother company or individual offering ISBNs for sale WILL BE CONSIDERED THE PUBLISHER OF YOUR BOOK.

So always besure to proceed with caution and read everything that affects your works.

When next I post, It'll be on to layout, design, and printing! YAY!

This Cartoonist's Road to Self Publishing Thus Far

Well, I decided to share a little on how things are going so far with self publishing. I'm not anywhere near as close as I thought I was to getting a book into print. Primarily because my chosen printer requires in their application process for you to provide at least one ISBN. They didn't mention that anywhere prior to that step.

A little "hey before you apply make sure you have your ISBN(s)" would have been nice.

Now I'm sure most have an inkling of what an ISBN is. Those are those serial numbers with the barcodes on your books.

What you might not know, I didn't, is that pretty much anyone looking to publish a book can buy them. Just go here. http://www.isbn.org R.R Bowker is the company that handles ISBNs in the US. You can find out more about the whole deal there.

The catch is that they sell ISBNs in groups of 10 and they're a few hundred bucks. However, you're pretty much a publisher at that point. And it's up to you to find a printer.

Also you will need to purchase a barcode as well if you're looking for retail distribution. Good news is Barcodes are only about $25. Again, more information on Bowker's site. I'll touch on that more later myself as there are more artisty designy things associated with that.

I do have to say I have stumbled across self-publishing information way easier than I thought I would. Or perhaps the universe decided to cut me a break. Not break enough to have the $275 for my ISBNs right now, but it's a start.

Now there are options out there that might save you a few bucks, but as usual there are catches to them. And I will get to those soon enough. Not right now because, well I've had a full day and this evening is getting long.

Gettin' Literary

Well a little idea that I had for a simple little alphabet book has taken me in an interesting direction. BOOKS!

Yes I need to get me a copy of Children's Writers Market simply to look toward more traditional publishing. However I am also looking into self/Print-on-Demand publishing.

There is much to learn and one day my head will be full of fun and generally useless facts once more. Also as things progress I'll begin touching upon the knowlege I've managed to aquire. Of course that will require readers. Although I have one comment further down, YES!

Guess I should go get creative and figure out some places to venture for promotion.