I’m writing (and am about to self-publish) my 6th book (my latest book, The Time Management Memory Jogger, wasn’t self-published). I should have written this book well over a year ago, but I didn’t. It’s for the 2007 version of Outlook, and I had little incentive to become a hermit and write because most people who contacted me about training were still using 2003.
But lately that’s changing. When my 2003 book stopped selling, I knew it was time to write. And as soon as I finish this one, I’ll have to start on the 2010 version.
If you think you have a book in you, but haven’t started, determine your audience and write articles: that’s not as overwhelming. And when you think you have enough for a book, learn how to self-publish. Then learn how to promote it.
For details on getting your book done, do what I did. Get the book by Marilyn Ross, The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing. For help on ways to promote the book, get John Kremer’s 1001 Ways to Market Your Book.
Note: Marketing your book is WAY harder than creating it.
The Main Thing
There are tons of rip-off experts and scam artists in the world of so-called self-publishing because people don’t have a clear understanding of who the actual publisher is. Self-publish means you are the publisher and your company name is on the back of the book as the owner and you make the profit when the book sells.
You can avoid ripoffs and scams by reading and subscribing to the Writer’s Beware Blog at http://accrispin.blogspot.com/.
Some of What You’ll Need to Do
ISBN Number
First, get your ISBN (International Standard Book Number) now. This is a unique 13-digit identifier for every book that retailers and libraries will need, http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/application.asp. I don’t remember how long this took (a couple of weeks), and it’s probably quicker now. When I did this years ago, I received ten numbers for around $200 bucks.
Library of Congress Number
Once you have the ISBN and you know the finished size (the dimensions of the book when it’s closed) and page count of your book, get your Library of Congress Number: http://pcn.loc.gov/. You’ll receive it in an hour or so, and it’s free. They’ll request a complimentary copy of the finished book.
Barcode Graphic
You’ll need a barcode on the back of the book if you’re planning on selling it in stores. The price of the book is encoded here. You can get the graphic for this from www.createbarcodes.com. You’ll receive it via email immediately. You’ll need to send this file to your book cover designer.
Their instructions are very self-explanatory except that I didn’t know what Supplemental Data meant. In the box, you’ll see 50995. The 5 stands for US currency. My book costs $24.95, so my supplemental data # is 52495. At this writing, the barcode costs $10 bucks.
CIP Data
The gibberish in the front of books is cataloging info for librarians. One-book publishers can’t get this info the same way the major players do. A company does it for about $165.00, but I recently discovered that you can take your book to a library, and a librarian will help you do this for free.
Cover Design
Do not settle for anything less than a professional cover. I didn’t do this for my second book, and I ended up on national TV with my little tired cover. You can bid the design work out at www.elance.com. Look at different portfolios. Make sure you bid it out as a work for hire and that you own the deliverable. I haven’t had much success going this route and prefer my local designers.
Two local Atlanta designers are:
Sandy Barth (GoHighProfile.com)
LaVon Lewis (PencilWorx.com).
Type Setting
I teach Microsoft Word so I’m able to lay out my book using it. Word is a great desktop publishing software and few people realize its power. I like the fact that I can lay out my own book using software I know so I always have the latest version of the file. Here is a blog post I wrote on what Word can do for you, Is Your eBook Ugly.
Make It Look Professional
Look at books in your genre from big publishing houses and see how they lay them out…where is the Preface, Introduction, Table of Contents, etc.? What’s on the spine? Your book needs to be done like theirs as much as possible so it looks professional.
Editors
Bad writing will sink a book. Here are a couple of editors you can check out. If this isn’t in your budget, try bartering with someone who can do this (I enlisted the help of a dynamo review team in exchange for two copies of the book and a free Webinar). Otherwise, wait until you save some more cash. It costs just as much to print a bad book as a good one.
Dr. Marcia Riley: WritingforResults.com
Bobbie Christmas: ZebraEditor.com
With this Outlook 2007 book, I asked for volunteers to test the steps. In exchange for doing this, each reviewer will receive two copies of the book, and their names will be listed in the acknowledgments.
Pricing
Don’t just pick a price for your book. Go to the bookstores or online to check similar books. Take into account that Amazon, wholesalers, etc., will get their share, sometimes as much as 60%. And then there’s the unit production cost. And, of course, special deals and volume pricing have to be considered too. And figure in the cost of shipping the books to you from the printer.
Printing
I use print on demand and can print one, three, 100, etc., as I need them. The company to use is http://www.LightningSource.com (LSI). Their print quality is excellent. It costs about $75 bucks to get into their system (and sometimes they run specials where it’s free). You’ll upload your cover graphic and a PDF of your book and they’ll take it from there. Be sure to read instructions on sizing and PDF requirements. Use a standard finished size for your book so printing will be less expensive.
Important. My book size in Word is set at 6.14 x 9.21 (the extra allows for book trim the printer will need). When I created my PDF, it defaults to paper size 8 1/2 x 11. This won’t work for the printer. You’ll have to create a custom size in Adobe Acrobat. Here is an article on the Adobe site that explains how to do this.
In the section for using the custom size, they left out that you first open the PDF you just created (open it in Adobe Acrobat, not the Reader). Then click File, Print Setup, printer is Adobe PDF, click the Paper Size drop-down box and choose the custom size you created, OK. You’ll know you did everything right by clicking the File menu (in the new PDF), Document Properties, and the Page Size near the bottom of the dialog box displays the custom size you created.
Another important point: when you create your PDF, click to embed all fonts whether you used them in your document or not.
Ingram Books owns LSI so bookstores and Amazon can order directly from them. They’ll send you a check every month for any books they sell. For a small, monthly fee, you can add your book to their catalog.
No matter how good you think your book is, do not print more than 500 in the first run (if you go the traditional press route). I know you’ll save money per unit by printing more, but don’t. Too many people have done this and ended up with books stored in their garage. I went way overboard with my first book because this is the one thing no one told me. At that time, there was no print on demand.
This is not all you’ll need to know, but you’ll learn much more in the books I’ve referenced. Much success with all this.
P.S. If I get enough requests, I’ll put together a Word for Authors Webinar and teach you how to lay out your own book, complete with an index, table of contents, and cross-references that keep up as page numbers change!
PEACE.
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