Hello,
Has anyone self-published their work? I'm thinking about doing this. I keep hearing that it's not that bad, not like it was years ago. If you have any tips, I'd greatly appreciate them. Thanks...
Has anyone self-published?
(12 posts) (4 voices)
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I decided to self-published my first two books, after it proved impossible to find a publisher.
I was lucky to find a really good printers that helped me a lot. The most difficult thing was getting the money for the printing. I had to borrow money, which was scary, as I didn't know if I would be able to sell enough books to break even.
My books were both for the local market, so I did the distribution and invoices myself. Luckily I had friends with enough space in their house to store loads of boxes with books.I think the most important things to think about with self-publishing are: money, distribution, storage of unsold books, but also who is going to do the design, finding a proofreader or editor.
It is a lot of work, but I would do it again if I had to. Like writing the books, self-publishing the second one was easier than the first one, especially with regards to getting them into shops. My first book was selling well and shop owners didn't even hesitate to stock my second book.
Make sure you get ISBN-numbers for your books, as many bookshops won't sell unless it has a ISBN-number.
Good luck!
Posted 1 year ago # -
DuchessOfWriting
MemberThanks for the information! I'm glad that you've had success with self-publishing. Most people are so negative about it.
Luckily, I have many "creative" friends who are illustrators and graphic designers. Plus, I understand the marketing/distribution process. I forgot about the ISBN numbers -- thanks for the reminder.
Posted 1 year ago # -
It's a pitty that people are negative about self-publishing, but I think that still stems from a time when self-publishing was seen as vanity and something only done by people who's books were that bad that no publisher would touch them.
But I think these days it is totally excepted to publish your own books. And I know several people who first self-published their books, which were later picked up by publishers.
Appart from the ISBN-number I also printed the price of the books on the back. That way the shops had to sell them for that price and not more.
You're lucky with all your 'creative' friends. Make good use of them, I'd say.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I self publish my travel guides (see http://www.cherylsguides.webs.com)
To avoid having to pay big bucks upfront and then have a hugei nventory on hand, you can work with a POD publisher, which is what I do. The site I use allows you sell both ebooks and print books. Best of both worlds!Posted 1 year ago # -
I have a question for both Maria and Cheryl:
I have been hearing about both methods for some time now, and that there are pros and cons to each - I'm wondering if you'd both be willing to share a little bit more information for other forum members, such as:
1. What is the approximate cost to you per book? Or perhaps more important, what is your profit margin per book?
2. What do you see as the benefits to self-publishing using the method that you chose?
3. What do you see as the downsides?
I am currently writing a book that I hope to publish someday (I have no idea how long it will take me to finish - I'm not able to just focus on it 100%), and I'd really like to get a better idea of which direction to go in when I'm ready.
Many thanks!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Trisha,
1. I don't have any cost per book with Guidegecko, where I publish my travel guides. They do a 50-50 split with ebooks, and give you 74 percnt of the purchase price less their printing costs, which seem really reasonable. In both instances you set the price you want to charge. On POD books, I generally set the price after I figure out how much I want to earn per book. Since guidegecko does not charge you to list a book, you have no upfront costs involved. If you want to buy a stack of books and sell them on your own, you can buy them for the printing costs. I don't want to do this any more, and I like the fact that people can order my books around the clock.
2. With self-publishing you don't have any deadlines to meet, unless you set them yourself. This is important to me as I have health issues and may go for several days without writing anything. You can also determine how many pages you want. I like to write small books, and I don't think many publishers would be interested in that. I have a couple of ebooks that are 13 pages and everything up to 88 pages, which is my latest: Motorcycle Museums of the United Kingdom. On my longer books, buyers have the choice of e- or print book.
3. Guidegecko only sells travel books -- not just those that are self-published but also from the big boys like Frommers, Fodor's and LP. My little books can get lost! So I have to work like heck to market them -- of course, I probably would have to do my own marketing with a traditional publisher any way, so it's not a big deal.
Hope this helps a little.
Cheryl
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thank you Cheryl - this is enormously helpful!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Sorry about my late reply, Trisha. I have my final exams next week and have been studying a lot...
Both of my books were for the local market.
1. When I had to set the costs of my books, I thought about the maximum price I personally wanted to pay for a book like that. Then I tried to find a printers who could give me the best price. It worked out that I had to have 3000 books printed of my first book and 1000 of the second. My first book is sold for 5.99 (English pounds), the second for 6.99. I spent something like 1.85 on the printng of the first book, the second book more, because there were less of them. Bookshops get 35%, so when I did the distribution myself I ended up with 65%. Now that I don't live in the UK anymore a local publishers have taken over the distribution and invoices etc. She gets 25%, so now I only end up with 40%. Which is fine with me as she really does a great job.
The first books will give me some profit, but most of that has already gone into the printing of the second book. With the second book I will break even if they are all sold.2. Biggest benefit of self-publishing the way I did would be that it was a way of getting my books in the bookshops and read. I wrote my books to have them read by people, so getting them in the shops was important to me. I tried to find a publisher, but couldn't get one.
I also liked the fact that I had the whole process in hand myself. This included the design of the front cover, layout etc. The books have turned out as I wanted them to, which might have been different if I had found a publisher for them.
Cheryl is right about not having a deadline if you publish it yourself, but I am someone who likes to work against deadlines, so I always set them for myself.3. Obviously the biggest drawback of my way of self-publishing was coughing up the money for the printers.
Another was getting shop owners to stock my book. I went to all the bookshops and museums etc in my home town and at first people were a bit weary. But in the end all the shops but one or two stocked my book and as I tried to be very prompt with deliveries etc, no one hesitated to stock my second book.
It's also a drawback not to have a proofreader and editor when you self-publish. I was lucky to have a friend who knew a retired proofreader, who was willing to proofread my books for free. It was very important to have my books proofread not just because English is not my native language, but also because I wanted my books to be as professional as they could be.I think which way of self-publishing to choose depends greatly on what type of book you have written. My first two books were local books and it was therefore no problem for me to find a local printers and do the distribution myself. I have by now written a third book, which if I would choose to self-publish it, I'd publish via POD or maybe as ebook. I am not sure if I would be able to get the same amount of control about design etc with doing an ebook, but I will have to look into that.
As I said above I would do self-publishing again, because it is a lot of fun and a sure way of getting your books actually on the shelves, instead of just a file on your laptop.Good luck with your book, Trisha!
Posted 1 year ago # -
I need to make a couple of corrections -- one, GuideGecko split is 75%, not 74, though that's close enough. Also, I need to clarify that I did self-distribution with my first guide, and no way do I want to get involved with it again.
Dutchie made some good points. To respond to her question about ebook control. I have total control over the ebooks I do with guidegecko. You set the book up once, and it can be used as either a POD or ebook, customer's choice. With POD, you also have to do a back cover. Front cover works for both versions.
A proofreader/copy editor is essential. I also have friends, both former newspaper copy editors, who edit my books for me. One also lived in China and goves back more often than I do (I didn't think anyone did this!), so she edits the China book for content boo-boos as well. My husband, who started riding motorcycles when he was 8 years old, was technical editor on my motorcycle museum book. I also have another friend, no editing background, but she goes over them from a reader's standpoint. Both my husband and this friend have come up with stuff the other two didn't. You can never have too many eyes look at your manuscript! I give all my "assistants" credit in the book as well as autographed copies. One friend also does occasional freelance copy editing,and I always give her a reocmmendaiton on her LinkedIn profile. I also refer paying jobs to both of the copy editors if something comes along that I either don't want to do or am not able to handle by myself.
Posted 1 year ago #
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