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Printers, publishers and doing it yourself.

11/23/2010

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As more authors make the decision to go indie, there are a number of discussions going on about the best way to get your book in print. Having researched this pretty thoroughly over a period of about 6 months before publishing my first novel, here are my thoughts on it.

Please note that I'm a UK author and intend the print version of my book primarily for the UK market.

Firstly, there are a number of questions you need to ask yourself. These might include

1. How do you want your book to be available? For sale through retailers (online or physical) or will you be selling it personally?

2. Where do you want it to be available? Locally, nationwide, worldwide?
3. How much are you willing/able to pay upfront for your publishing?
4. Is this a one off or are you planning to publish more books? In addition, might you want to publish books by other authors?
5. Are you intending to produce a small number of books eg for an organisation, or are you hoping to sell as many as possible?
6. Do you want to take full responsibility for your books or would you prefer someone else does it for you?
7. Do you want your publishing to include editing, proofing and formatting services?

Having considered the above questions, you should be able to decide whether you want to produce your book POD (print on demand, where each book is printed and sent out as it is bought) or by an offset run (you would usually need to produce at least 500 at a time to make this worthwhile. POD is generally cheaper to set up but more per copy while offset is more expensive to set up but subsequent costs are cheaper.

You will also need to decide whether you want to go with a self-publishing service (eg Lulu, Create Space, Completely Novel) or a printer (eg Lightning Source). Self-publishing companies usually offer a variety of packages and services. They usually cost more even if the cost is passed directly to the buyer. Printing companies give you more options of control over distribution and pricing but you will usually need to produce print-ready files and provide ISBNs if necessary.

I'm not going to suggest that any particular option is best, though I would urge authors to carefully consider the importance of producing something that is good quality physically, and competitively priced. And those factors will vary depending on what country you live in/who you envisage selling your books to. Don't just look at the big companies but consider eg small press publishers and smaller printing companies who are offering these things.

It's also interesting to note that the distinction between printer (especially if they are a printer/distributor) and self-publishing service is becoming blurred.

Many different publishing options are becoming available. If you want to produce a book, don't automatically do what you've done before or what your friends have done but take the time to research what is best for you.

And good luck!
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Going to the book club.

11/9/2010

3 Comments

 
Back in the summer, my novel, The Girl on the Swing, was chosen by a nearby book club as their summer read. In September they met to discuss it and last week they invited me over to talk to them about writing and publishing.

Of course, it was a privilege to have my book chosen and to be invited to meet them, but equally important it was an opportunity to chat to a group of keen readers and see how they perceive the UK publishing industry.

Firstly they wanted to know how you learn to write a novel in the first place. And they have a point because while there lots of creative writing classes and writers' groups, they seem to concentrate almost entirely on short stories and poetry. In my case, learning novel-writing skills was a long process of trial and error. However, there are now more online critique groups, 'how to' books and distance learning courses available.

Then it was onto publishing and marketing and book formats. They knew virtually nothing about kindles or other electronic readers. To be honest, this doesn't surprise me. Most of my friends who've heard of them have done so through me. Only a couple of my friends are seriously interested in them as yet - one because she reads so much and the other because she has sight problems.

Having read my book, they readily accepted that getting a regular publishing contract is neither easy nor straightforward, neither is it much to do with with how good a book is, providing it meets a certain level of competence. I was quite surprised to learn how savvy they were regarding the way all mainstream promotion is bought. Apparently word had got out that a large fee was required to secure consideration of books discussed in a popular TV book club.

A positive from this was the fact that, once they have read a book, readers judge it on its individual merits, not on who published it. I would encourage all authors to look for opportunities to meet groups in this way - or indeed to meet readers in any way. Because for everyone who does, it sets off a chain that chips away at the old ideals of the traditional route being the only way and raises awareness about the growth of indie publishing, hopefully making the way easier for future indie books.

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    I'm Ali. I'm an author and musician, living in Devon, and I teach guitar.

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