Ten years ago, if you could not interest a traditional publisher in your book, you could spend tens of thousands of dollars preparing your book and thousands of dollars more with a custom printer to fill your garage with boxes of books. Thanks to digital printing technology, however, it is now possible to obtain a professional quality copy of your book for under $1,500. With Bookstand Publishing, you normally receive 48 copies of your book in the initial printing. The initial printing is included in the publishing package price. Visit our web site at www.bookstandpublishing.com for a list of all the benefits of publishing with Bookstand Publishing.

Here are a few questions you may want to ask yourself:

1. What is your motivation and purpose for publishing your book?

Writing a book is a lot of work. Publishing one is even more work. Is your purpose clear and sufficiently well conceived to sustain you through the experience? If profit is a motive, then the venture must be treated as a business. Typically, from start to finish, a writer will spend 10% of his or her time writing the book, 15% publishing it, and 75% marketing and promoting the finished book. Keep your purpose clear!

2. Is your book written for a specific market niche or group of people?

It is more expensive to promote a book to a wide general audience. Marketing costs are less when the target audience is specific, definable, and accessible.

3. Do you have a way to sell books direct?

Selling books direct (at retail price to your target audience) is the most profitable way to recover your initial self-publishing investment. The standard heavy discounts to wholesalers and bookstores can be costly for slow-moving books. In fact, without a solid marketing plan, selling books to bookstores can be the least profitable way to distribute your book. Think of alternative ways to distribute your book: Organizations, associations, corporations, conventions, fundraisers, and back-of-the-room sales after lectures or workshops, to name but a few. These are known as special sales markets. 

4. Are you willing to go out and promote your book?

A general rule for authors: A book stops selling when the author does. No matter who publishes your book, you are responsible for creating the demand for it. A book will not sell well sitting on a bookstore’s shelf, unless interest is generated for your book. Don’t forget: Writing a book is about 10% of the effort, publishing it is about 15%, and marketing it is 75%!

5. How many copies do you think you will sell?

Beyond your friends and family, who will be interested in your book? Knowing your market and how to reach those people are important questions to answer before you invest in self-publishing. The fact is that 95% of all books published sell fewer than 7,500 copies. With Bookstand Publishing’s print-on-demand services, though, you will not incur the added expense of printing thousands of copies of your book, only to stockpile them in your garage.

6.  What is Print-on-Demand (POD)?

At its simplest, print-on-demand (POD) publishing means that whenever a book is demanded (ordered, bought, requested), a copy of the book is printed to fill that specific demand.

This article is excerpted from The Self-Publishing Checklist by Andy Baldwin.  You can request a FREE copy of this book be sent to you here: http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/pod4/

Here are the basics of how to self publish a book:

1.  Write your manuscript

You need to write your novel, how-to-book, short stories, memoir, or poetry in a single electronic manuscript, preferably in Microsoft Word.  Gone are the days when writers wrote on typewriters or wrote out their stories in longhand.  If you have your manuscript on a typewriter or written out in longhand you will need to find someone who can input the manuscript into a MS Word document or other electronic format.

Here are some tips that will help ensure that your manuscript looks professional and is ready for any good Full Service Self Publishing Company:

• If you have pictures for the book, insert them into the manuscript where you want them to go.  Most self-publishing companies will not charge you anything additional for pictures if they are already inserted into your manuscript.
• Be sure all pictures are at least 300 dpi (i.e. a high resolution image)
• Always use the tab or alignment tools to indent and align text.  DO NOT use the space key
• NEVER use the Enter Key at a line’s end to force a return.  Let the software do the work for you.  The only exception to the rule is poetry, where it is fine to use the Enter Key at the end of a line or stanza.
• Always use the Page Break to start a new chapter or when you want to the text to move to the next page. DO NOT use the Enter Key or Space Bar to create a new page.
• DO NOT worry about page numbering.  Your Full Service Self Publishing Company should do this for you at no additional charge.

2.  Edit and re-edit your manuscript.

Your manuscript needs to be edited before you submit it for publication.  While the author can make the first several edits, the final edit should be done by someone other than the author.  The author is too close to the story and his or her mind will see things as correct when they are not.   Here is a good article by my friend (and Bookstand Publishing co-worker) Rick Helley on why editing is so important: Editing Your Self Published Book.

Minimally, you need to edit for grammar, punctuation, tense, and consistency. A book with lots of grammatical and spelling errors, or one that is hard to read will not be taken seriously by reviewers or readers and it will not sell well.  It will also reflect poorly on you.  A professional edit is great. If you can’t afford a professional edit, have a family member or friend, with editing experience, edit you book.  (I have found that a lot of English teachers will be happy to edit your book on the side)

3.  Submit your manuscript to a Full Service Self Publishing Company

For the first-time author, I strongly recommend you use a Full Service Self Publishing Company, such as Bookstand Publishing.  Full Service Self Publishing Companies will help you lay out your manuscript, help you with your cover, give you advice, provide you with electronic proofs of your book before it goes to press and much more.

In particular, you want to be sure that your Self Publishing Company provides you with:

• ISBN number
• Bowkers Books in Print Registration
• Distribution on Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com
• Distribution through the wholesaler Ingram and/or Baker & Taylor
• Print on Demand order fulfillment

Please see my article on Finding a Good Self Publishing Company.

4.  Decide Upon a Cover

With most Self Publishing Companies you will have the following cover options:

1. You can choose from any of the cover templates the company provides
2. Supply your own cover artwork.  The supplied cover artwork must meet specifications of the Self Publishing Company.
3. Have your Self Publishing Company create a custom cover for you for an additional fee.
4. Provide a single image and have your Self Publishing Company create a unique cover for you from the single image. You can use a photo you have taken or you can purchase an image from any stock photo company usually for less than $35.  I prefer to use www.istock.com but there are many stock photo companies to choose from.

5. Work with you Self Publishing Company to develop a marketing plan appropriate for your book.

Books don’t sell themselves. You need to promote them.  Work with your Self Publishing Company to develop a marketing strategy for your book.

Some books, like memoirs, will not require much marketing since the target market may be just family and friends; however, if your market is bigger you may want to consider a variety of different marketing services such as:

• A Kindle Adverting Campaign
• A Press Release
• Publicity Campaign
• Website Design
• Professional Reviews
• Bookmarks and Postcards
• A Book Return Program for bookstores
• Bookstore Advertising

Additional Resources

Bookstand Publishing has lots of resources to help you prepare your book for publication and promotion, and you can receive them with no obligation by registering on the home page at www.bookstandpublishing.com.  By registering you will receive:

• Access to our FREE Self Publishing Guides
• Access to our Kindle Advertising Site Guide
  
• Access to our pre-formatted MS Word Templates for all different book sizes

Avoid a bad self publishing experience. Follow these rules!

Here are 7 rules for any author shopping for a good self publishing company:

1.  You want to keep 100% of your rights

Any self publishing company that does not allow you to keep 100% of your author rights is not a legitimate company, in my opinion, and you should avoid them at all costs

2.  You want a non-exclusive contract

You don’t want to work with a company that restricts your rights and who you can work with.  You want someone who is trying to help you, not restrict you.

3.  You want a company with a good reputation

Only deal with self publishing companies with a good rating with the Better Business Bureau.  In addition, do an online search of complaints regarding the company.  A lot of big self publishing companies have gotten themselves a bad reputation because they use very aggressive sales techniques, they don’t or won’t resolve problems when they arise and their staff is not well trained to answer questions about sales and distribution.  Avoid them.

4.  You must have these essential services

Your self publishing company must provide you with:

• ISBN number
• Bowkers Books in Print Registration
• Distribution on Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com
• Distribution through the wholesaler Ingram and/or Baker & Taylor
• Print on Demand order fulfillment

If you are looking at a company that doesn’t offer these basic services, then they are not a publishing company, they are a printing company.  They are going to print books for you, but no online or offline bookstore will make them available for sale

5.  Decide if you need Full Service or Self Service

There are two types of Self Publishing companies, Full Service and Self Service.  Full Service self publishing companies will help you lay out your manuscript, help you with your cover, give you advice, provide you with electronic proofs of your book before it goes to press and much more.  Self Service companies, on the other hand,  expect you to come to them with everything formatted and complete and if there are problems they are your problems.  Most authors new to publishing should use a Full Service self publishing company to start

6.  Compare publishing packages

Publishing packages come with a variety of services.  When comparing publishing packages between companies be sure you are comparing apples to apples.  In particular compare:

• The number of books that come with each package
• The price to purchase additional books
• EBook services such as Kindle, Nook and iPad editions
• Any additional fees such as shipping costs

7.  Consider other services you may need

In evaluating self publishing companies, you need to consider what other services you may need beside the basic publishing services.  You may want to consider:

• Editing services
• Cover design services
• Illustration services
• Marketing services

For example, if you want to aggressively market your book you will need to be sure that the publishing company you choose offers a variety of marketing services for your book.

Quotes from published books
Generally you need to get permission if you quote, in total, more than 100 words from a published book.  Less than 100 words is usually considered fair use for which you don’t have to have permission.

Quotes from periodicals
Generally, you need to get permission if you quote, in total, 50 words or more from a magazine or journal.  Less than 50 words is usually considered fair use for which you don’t have to have permission.

Quotes from poems or song lyrics
You must have permission to quote from a poem or song if you use two lines or more.

Quotes from a book, magazine or song published previous to 1923
Anything published previous to 1923 in the United States is considered in the Public Domain and you can use the material in your book without permission.

Quoting the Bible 
The King James Version of the Bible is in the Public Domain since it was published previous to 1923.  Most every modern Bible translation has a permissions web site that outlines how you can quote their Bible translation.  Typically, they allow you to quote from their Bible translation proving you provide proper copyright attribution; the quotes do not comprise an entire book of the Bible, and the quotes are less than 25 percent of the entire work.

Using Pictures and Graphics
You need to have permission of the photographer or artist to publish their photo or artwork in your book.  Just because a picture is on the web, does NOT mean that it is in the Public Domain.

Your best bet in using pictures for your book is to purchase images from a stock photo company (such as www.istock.com) where they have the rights to the images and will sell those rights to you for a nominal fee.

The other site that is good for finding images you can use in your book (especially if you need photos of a public figure) is Wikipedia. Wikipedia always indicates if an image they use on their site is in the Public Domain and, if not, they will tell what you need to do to get permission to use the image.

Using Pictures You Have Taken
Usually, you need to have permission to use a photo from anyone in the picture that is recognizable.

When in doubt, get permission or check with your attorney

This is but a very small list, as thousands of famous writers have successfully self-published including:

• Edgar Rice Burroughs
• Zane Grey
• Rudyard Kipling
• DH Lawrence
• Gertrude Stein
• Virginia Woolf

The Shack by William Young has sold 12 to 15 million copies since the book was originally self-published in May 2007.

Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You To Know About is a self-published book by Kevin Trudeau and has sold over six million copies.

The One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard was originally self-published.

A Time to Kill by John Grisham was originally self-published. He sold his first work out of the trunk of his car.

Amanda Brown self-published her first novel, Legally Blonde, as a print-on-demand book.  Her self-published book was made into a movie starring Reese Witherspoon.

Business consultant Tom Peters self-published In Search of Excellence and sold more than 25,000 copies directly to consumers in the first year. He then sold the rights to Warner, whose edition has gone on to sell more than 10 million copies.

Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip and book series, self-published an original eBook, God’s Debris, early in 2001 as a way of testing the market for a new book.

What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles, was originally self-published.  Nine million copies are in print, and it has been translated into fourteen different languages worldwide. To date, over ten million copies have been sold worldwide.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter was originally self-published in 1901.

T.S. Eliot, author of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land, paid for the publication of his first book.

L. Frank Baum self-published some of the books in the Wizard of Oz series.

Mark Twain paid for the publication of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when he became tired of the foolishness of his previous publishers. He then invested the money earned from the sale of that book to help develop one of the first working typewriters.

American poet and short story writer Edgar Allen Poe, author of the poem The Raven and short stories such as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher, self-published some of his writings.

With self-publishing, you take control of your own destiny. Make your book a success yourself!

Here are a few questions you may want to ask yourself before you self-publish:

1. What is your motivation and purpose for publishing your book?

Writing a book is a lot of work. Publishing one is even more work. Is your purpose clear and sufficiently well conceived to sustain you through the experience? If profit is a motive, then the venture must be treated as a business. Typically, from start to finish, a writer will spend 10% of his or her time writing the book, 15% publishing it, and 75% marketing and promoting the finished book. Keep your purpose clear!

2. Is your book written for a specific market niche or group of people?

It is more expensive to promote a book to a wide general audience. Marketing costs are less when the target audience is specific, definable, and accessible.

3. Do you have a way to sell books direct?

Selling books direct (at retail price to your target audience) is the most profitable way to recover your initial self-publishing investment. The standard heavy discounts to wholesalers and bookstores can be costly for slow-moving books. In fact, without a solid marketing plan, selling books to bookstores can be the least profitable way to distribute your book. Think of alternative ways to distribute your book: Organizations, associations, corporations, conventions, fundraisers, and back-of-the-room sales after lectures or workshops, to name but a few. These are known as special sales markets.

4. Are you willing to go out and promote your book?

A general rule for authors: A book stops selling when the author does. No matter who publishes your book, you are responsible for creating the demand for it. A book will not sell well sitting on a bookstore’s shelf, unless interest is generated for your book. Don’t forget: Writing a book is about 10% of the effort, publishing it is about 15%, and marketing it is 75%!

5. How many copies do you think you will sell?

Beyond your friends and family, who will be interested in your book? Knowing your market and how to reach those people are important questions to answer before you invest in self-publishing. The fact is that 95% of all books published sell fewer than 7,500 copies. With print-on-demand publishing, though, you will not incur the added expense of printing thousands of copies of your book, only to stockpile them in your garage.

6.  What is Print-on-Demand (POD)?

At its simplest, print-on-demand (POD) publishing means that whenever a book is demanded (ordered, bought, requested), a copy of the book is printed to fill that specific demand.  The relatively recent advent of print-on-demand technology is what makes self-publishing such a great option for many authors.   You can now publish your book without a big upfront investment.

In this video I discuss the differences between traditional publishers and print on demand publishers.

Here is what I tell authors:

You need Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That is, you need to help the search engines find your book and/or Author Name and encourage them to post this result near the top of the search engine results.

To get started, you can do this:

1.       Website

First of all, you have to have a stand-alone website; otherwise, you don’t have very much to optimize. Your book may be on Amazon.com and other e-commerce sites, but you cannot control how these pages show up in the Search Engine Results as the content of these pages are controlled by the parent companies and not you; they are optimized for the parent company, not for your book.

A simple 3- to 5-page website (which is all you need) is quite inexpensive and is the first step to Search Engine Optimization for authors. There are many website hosting companies you can use, including WebHostingforAuthors.com (owned by Bookstand Publishing) and GoDaddy.com.

2.      Choose a Keyword or Keyword Phrase

You need to decide on what Keyword or Keyword Phrase you want to optimize. In most cases, you want to optimize either your Author Name or your Book Title. On occasion, you may want optimize a phrase related to the specific topic of your book (e.g., “White Water Rafting in Washington”).

Our goal is to “own” this Keyword or Keyword Phrase. That is, when someone types the Keyword or Keyword Phrase into Google, we want your page to show up at the top of the Google page results.

If you are planning on writing or have written multiple books, or if you are a speaker, I recommend that you use your Author Name as your Keyword, as your name is the “brand” you want to promote.

3.      Choose a Domain Name

You will need a Domain Name for your website. You buy a Domain Name when you get your website. The fee to purchase most Domain Names is usually $10 to $12 a year. Your Domain Name should simply be your Keyword.com. So if your Author Name is Hubert Pickernell, then your Domain Name should be HubertPickernell.com. If HubertPickernell.com is already taken, then use some variation of it such as HubertPickernellBooks.com or AuthorHubertPickernell.com.

Always choose a .com Domain Name (rather than a .biz, .org, .me, etc., Domain Name).

You can search for available Domain Names on WebHostingforAuthors.com or GoDaddy.com.

4.      Set Your Website Title

When you set up your Website, the most important item from a Search Engine Optimization standpoint is the HTML Title Tag. This is the title that shows up on your browser page. This Title Tag is where search engines look to find out what your page is about.

If your Domain Name is your Author Name or Book Title, your Title should be your book name and Author Name (e.g., “I’m Proud of My Name” by Hubert Pickernill). If you used a Keyword Phrase for your book, then your Title Tag should be your Keyword Phras

e (e.g., “White Water Rafting in Washington”).

5.        Content

Your website will, of course, need to have information about your book, how to buy it, your author bio, and more. For purposes of Search Engine Optimization, the key takeaway is to reuse your Keyword or Keyword Phrase in the content of every page of your site. If you have used your Author Name or Book Title as your Keyword, this should be easy to do. This tells the Search Engines that your Domain Name and Webpage Title are truly reflective of the content of the site.

90% of the time, these five steps will ensure that your book appears at the top of the first page of results of Google and Yahoo when your Book Title or Author Name Keyword is typed in the search engines.

In 10% of the cases, if you have the same the same name as a celebrity, or have chosen a very popular Keyword Phrase, you may not appear on the first page of results. If this is the case, then you need to follow additional Search Engine Optimization steps (which I will discuss in the next post).