Home
SELF PUBLISHING—A Cautionary Tale of Success
By Vickie Jensen
Photographer and editor Vickie Jensen has learned valuable lessons as both a published and self-published author. Her self-publishing history goes back three decades to the days of typewriters and glue pots when she and her anthropologist husband, Jay Powell, were writing language and culture schoolbooks for Aboriginal bands in B.C. and Washington State. "Self-publishing was the logical choice for these books,"; she says, "because we wanted the copyright to reside with the bands, the texts were only for local use and we wanted them in the schools as soon as possible."; Although they produced some 40 schoolbooks in various languages, these were not considered "proper"; published works for Powell's career as an academic at UBC. "Our work with native elders was personally rewarding and highly satisfying,"; says Jensen, "and we knew those books were successful. They were some of the first attempts at Aboriginal language preservation. They looked like "real"; schoolbooks and they featured local native teachers, elders and students.";
Jensen has since published with Douglas & McIntyre, University of Washington Press and Harbour Publishing on subjects ranging from totem pole carving to maritime women. As a "real"; author, all her books earned back their advances and one went from hardcover to paperback, but Jensen has nonetheless formed her own company, Westcoast Words, to self-publish books, including one on underwater robots that has generated $10,000 worth of earnings every year for the past five years and sold nearly 7,000 copies.
Last year she self-published The Totem Poles of Stanley Park and sold 4,000 copies in the first five months. Here Vicki Jensen offers some practical advise on the pros and cons of self-publishing, a burgeoning field that BC BookWorld publisher Alan Twigg refers to as "independent publishing";.
DEALING WITH THE STIGMA OF SELF PUBLISHING
Self-publishing is an old and honourable tradition, boasting luminaries such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and Beatrix Potter, but despite the recent stellar sales records of David Chilton's The Wealthy Barber, Jean Pare's Company's Coming cookbooks and James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy, there's still a stigma that dogs self-publishing. As well, some specialty books can't find a publishing house because they appeal to a very specific market or they're potentially controversial. Ann Thompson's new self-published book on the history of abortion in British Columbia, for example, was rejected by several publishers. The prejudices against self-publishing are gradually eroding.
WHO SHOULD SELF PUBLISH?
Successful self-publishing depends on knowing what you want from the process and what you hope to accomplish. To this end, most writers seem to fall into one of two camps-those who hope to make money versus those primarily concerned with sharing their written experience.
For this latter group, self-publishing can be the perfect venue for getting personal memoirs, family cookbooks, travel diaries or small editions of poetry into print. When my husband's father died, for example, we decided to print a small memorial booklet of the poetry he'd written over the course of his life. Admittedly, the verse was the sentimental, rhyming variety, but we supplemented it with photos and had an artist do some recognizable drawings for the text. When the book was printed, we gave it away to his father's colleagues and friends. Jay and his mother even drove to the various small rural towns where his dad had done business, dropping off free copies at the local libraries. In the end, that book was a success-Jay's mom felt we'd honoured her husband and many elderly friends were touched to receive a copy.
Most writers who consider self-publishing fall into the second fame-and-fortune group. They're hoping to reap a financial reward for their efforts. If this is your sole goal, be forewarned it can easily backfire and end up costing you money. It's been said that writing is a calling; publishing is a business. So if you think your only responsibility is to write a decent manuscript, think again. The key to successful self-publishing is to do your homework ahead of time-that means figuring out what you hope to accomplish, discovering the options available and finding out what the entire process entails. Read books, take a workshop, talk to people in the business! In their book How to Self-Publish and Make Money, Marion Crook and Nancy Wise write, "Set your goals very early so that you will waste neither time, money nor effort on your publishing project.";
It's particularly important to know what you're getting for your money. You can, as I did, shoulder the entire responsibility of laying out the book, getting printer quotes, handling storage, arranging shipping, etc. However, if you go with one of the numerous business that will facilitate self-publishing these days, they generally offer several levels of service, depending on how much assistance (for editing, proof-reading, cover design, marketing, promotion, etc.) you require, the quality of the final product and the number of copies you want to order. As facilitator Jo Blackmore of Granville Island Publishing reminds writers, "Publishing your own book is expensive, but you get what you pay for.";
OPTIONS
If you choose to publish your own work, there are several choices with widely different results. In almost all cases the author is in charge-deciding cover art, layout options, number of copies, etc. With the exception of vanity presses, the author retains copyright and sets the book price.
Do-It-Yourself: My expertise is limited to the go-it-alone approach. That's worked well for me, mostly because I had lots of previous experience with editing stories, laying out pages, taking professional photographs, getting quotes from printers, etc. If you haven't, I'd strongly suggest the wisdom of doing some comparative shopping for a company that will help you through the process. If you're doing it all yourself, it's also critically important that you understand and respect the book industry standards if you hope to sell your books.
Self-publishing companies: These companies offer a wide variety of services and range from desktop publishers that take your manuscript to the printer-ready stage to self publishers (sometimes referred to as "book packagers";) that may also offer promotion and marketing services. These people will help you get your manuscript through the editorial/proof-reading process, give you options for page and cover layout, and then print your book on a traditional printing press. For quantities of fewer than 500 books, digital printing may be less expensive. Some professional book printers offer in-house production services, as well. See what the various options are, then make some calls. Ask for references. Patty Osborne of Vancouver Desktop Publishing strongly encourages writers to shop around--"check out the prices and promises.";
Print-on-demand (POD): These firms offer various "packages"; for print-ready manuscripts-they handle some degree of administrative/legal tasks, offer some promotion and publicity and fulfill on-demand orders. Most charge extra for layout, editorial services, cover design and art work, if they offer those services at all. The advantage of a POD firm is that you don't have to "buy in"; for a specific print run since they print books as the demand occurs and you can always make page revisions. However, it's important to note that there is a discernable difference in the quality for digitally printed books. The covers are printed on a colour laser printer rather than a printing press-and that's a difference that booksellers spot immediately. Print-on-demand books have yet to gain wide acceptance in the literary world.
Vanity Press: These companies deliver a number of books featuring your name, all for a set price. Vanity presses have a very negative reputation since there is generally no editorial service-hence, very little quality control. It's important to know that these companies usually keep copyright on a book. Most booksellers and libraries will not accept vanity press books.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
Whether you're publishing independently or hoping to sell your manuscript to a trade publisher, you need to be market savvy if you hope to sell books. This means getting clear about your audience-exactly who is going to buy your book, why will they buy it (over others like it) and what do they expect to pay. Talk to booksellers and librarians (when they're not swamped) and find out what their clients are looking for in a good book in your intended field. What's a reasonable price for such a book? Are there similar books that would serve as competition? Why do they choose one book over another?
For an instant education in book smarts, try this exercise: go into the kind of bookstore (or library) that deals with the type of book you hope to publish. Look through the offerings and make two piles of books-those you really like and those that don't appeal. Then take a closer look at the books that drew you to them and take notes as you analyze what attracted you. Was it the text? The layout? The illustrations? The typeface? Covers are a crucial sales factor so pay special attention to what works and what doesn't. Compare pricing. Write down who published the books you like-that's your wish list if you're hoping to go the traditional publishing route. Now do the same thing for your rejection pile. What didn't work? I suspect that you'll probably learn more from this second pile, than from the first! All this information will help when it comes time to evaluate and design your own book.
SETTING HIGH STANDARDS
"If a book has errors, it's a dead giveaway that it's self-published,"; says Jo Blackmore. "Authors have to realize that they simply can't do their own editing or proof-reading. We hire these folks to give writers advice that's in their best interest, even if it's not what they want to hear--it's part of the growth process. If an author is not willing to take it, either they should publish the book themselves or do the vanity press route."; Tough words, but true.
FIGURING COSTS
Figuring out your budget is probably one of the most difficult but important tasks. You may have already invested hundreds of hours in writing the book, but you'll need to shell out money for editing, proof-reading, book design, page layout, cover design, great illustrations or maps, permissions and legalities, printing and shipping, free review copies and postage, publicity, marketing, book storage, office expenses, etc. So read up on the financial end of the business before you commit any money. I strongly recommend the aforementioned How to Self-Publish and Make Money. Even if you don't make a detailed business plan, at least you won't be blind-sided by unexpected costs.
Getting an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), barcode and CIP listing for your book seems like a major hurdle for most new authors-but that's a relatively easy matter of contacting the National Library and filling out forms. The tougher decision is how many books to print. To answer that question, you need to assess your market before your make a print run decision. It's always tempting to order more books to lower your per-book cost, but if you are new to the self-publishing game, you'd be wise to start small. Generally, the advice is not to print more than you can sell in a year's time. I began with a thousand copies of Build Your Own Underwater Robot and happily reprinted annually. That didn't tie up all my funds or my storage space and allowed me to correct a few errors each time. Now that I know what to expect from sales, I print double or triple that number and re-order less often. The trade off is reduced per/book price, but greater storage hassles.
Pricing your book right is also an important decision. First establish your costs, then divide total cost by the number of books being printed-the result is your per/book cost price. Then multiply that number by a factor of 2.5 (some companies use a factor of 4 or 5) for a suggested retail price. Just remember the price has to be realistic and in line with others of the genre. It also needs to accommodate the standard trade discounts for bookstores, libraries or distributors, so learn those percentages. When I was ready to price THE TOTEM POLES OF STANLEY PARK, I opted to set the price low enough ($9.95) to attract volume sales from the 3.3 million tourists that visit the totem poles each year. I also was aware that my competition was a bigger book at $16.95. To make a profit, I had to go with a significant print run, so I took an educated gamble, borrowed a chunk of money, set aside a large portion of a basement storeroom and printed 10,000! I know now it was a good decision, although I had second thoughts the night our basement flooded...but that's another story.
MARKETING, PUBLICITY AND SALES
It seems to me that there are two kinds of payback for publishing a book. One is the invaluable boost to one's professional reputation and self image that comes from being a published author. The second payback is the profit from successful sales. Although "a good story well told"; is important, of course, the reality of this second payback is all about promotion and marketing. This is when the self-published author needs to kick into high gear.
"When your book is published, you're only half done with the work,"; Jo Blackmore advises her authors. "Save some energy and save some money for PR."; Nancy Wise agrees. "Writers underestimate how much work is involved beyond the writing and publishing end of the business. They complain that it's going to cost them money to mail out free review copies and to hire a publicist, but that's what they have to do if they want to move their book."; All authors need to develop an understanding of how to promote and market and sell books. Fortunately, there are books to help you learn the standard book trade discounts, return policy options and invoicing procedures. Whether you hire a distributor or choose to do the work yourself, your goal is to come across as a professional. Other books can teach you how to get radio or TV promo interviews, send out press releases or schedule reading tours. This is crucial info and activity for year one of your book's release, but you'll also need to develop a long-term marketing plan if your objective is on-going sales.
As Nancy Wise says, "Self publishing is not for the faint of heart or light of wallet...but it sure is an interesting business."; In my experience, self-publishing is a huge learning opportunity that ultimately teaches you to be a better writer, to assess your audience and promote your work more effectively and to understand the work of those in the trade-from editors and layout artists to publishers and booksellers. "However you look at it,"; say Alan Twigg, "self-publishing represents, on a statistical level, a gradual democratization of publishing. Look back one lifetime and there were only about five gatekeepers, all in Toronto, who decided what books were published in Canada. Self-publishing doesn't work for fiction. You might as well not do it. But it's increasingly viable if you know what the heck you're doing."; Alaskan mystery writer Sue Henry concurs. "Don't encourage anyone writing mysteries to self publish. In fiction, it's generally understood that people who can't get published, self-publish.";
Also See:
HOW TO SELF PUBLISH AND MAKE MONEY: Writing, Publishing and Selling Your Book in Canada, by Marion Crook & Nancy Wise. Sandhill Publishing/Crook Publishing 1997, ISBN 0-920923-10-0
Courses:
Check out self-publishing workshops at any writing conference-or request one!
Photographer and editor Vickie Jensen has learned valuable lessons as both a published and self-published author. Her self-publishing history goes back three decades to the days of typewriters and glue pots when she and her anthropologist husband, Jay Powell, were writing language and culture schoolbooks for Aboriginal bands in B.C. and Washington State. "Self-publishing was the logical choice for these books,"; she says, "because we wanted the copyright to reside with the bands, the texts were only for local use and we wanted them in the schools as soon as possible."; Although they produced some 40 schoolbooks in various languages, these were not considered "proper"; published works for Powell's career as an academic at UBC. "Our work with native elders was personally rewarding and highly satisfying,"; says Jensen, "and we knew those books were successful. They were some of the first attempts at Aboriginal language preservation. They looked like "real"; schoolbooks and they featured local native teachers, elders and students.";
Jensen has since published with Douglas & McIntyre, University of Washington Press and Harbour Publishing on subjects ranging from totem pole carving to maritime women. As a "real"; author, all her books earned back their advances and one went from hardcover to paperback, but Jensen has nonetheless formed her own company, Westcoast Words, to self-publish books, including one on underwater robots that has generated $10,000 worth of earnings every year for the past five years and sold nearly 7,000 copies.
Last year she self-published The Totem Poles of Stanley Park and sold 4,000 copies in the first five months. Here Vicki Jensen offers some practical advise on the pros and cons of self-publishing, a burgeoning field that BC BookWorld publisher Alan Twigg refers to as "independent publishing";.
DEALING WITH THE STIGMA OF SELF PUBLISHING
Self-publishing is an old and honourable tradition, boasting luminaries such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and Beatrix Potter, but despite the recent stellar sales records of David Chilton's The Wealthy Barber, Jean Pare's Company's Coming cookbooks and James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy, there's still a stigma that dogs self-publishing. As well, some specialty books can't find a publishing house because they appeal to a very specific market or they're potentially controversial. Ann Thompson's new self-published book on the history of abortion in British Columbia, for example, was rejected by several publishers. The prejudices against self-publishing are gradually eroding.
WHO SHOULD SELF PUBLISH?
Successful self-publishing depends on knowing what you want from the process and what you hope to accomplish. To this end, most writers seem to fall into one of two camps-those who hope to make money versus those primarily concerned with sharing their written experience.
For this latter group, self-publishing can be the perfect venue for getting personal memoirs, family cookbooks, travel diaries or small editions of poetry into print. When my husband's father died, for example, we decided to print a small memorial booklet of the poetry he'd written over the course of his life. Admittedly, the verse was the sentimental, rhyming variety, but we supplemented it with photos and had an artist do some recognizable drawings for the text. When the book was printed, we gave it away to his father's colleagues and friends. Jay and his mother even drove to the various small rural towns where his dad had done business, dropping off free copies at the local libraries. In the end, that book was a success-Jay's mom felt we'd honoured her husband and many elderly friends were touched to receive a copy.
Most writers who consider self-publishing fall into the second fame-and-fortune group. They're hoping to reap a financial reward for their efforts. If this is your sole goal, be forewarned it can easily backfire and end up costing you money. It's been said that writing is a calling; publishing is a business. So if you think your only responsibility is to write a decent manuscript, think again. The key to successful self-publishing is to do your homework ahead of time-that means figuring out what you hope to accomplish, discovering the options available and finding out what the entire process entails. Read books, take a workshop, talk to people in the business! In their book How to Self-Publish and Make Money, Marion Crook and Nancy Wise write, "Set your goals very early so that you will waste neither time, money nor effort on your publishing project.";
It's particularly important to know what you're getting for your money. You can, as I did, shoulder the entire responsibility of laying out the book, getting printer quotes, handling storage, arranging shipping, etc. However, if you go with one of the numerous business that will facilitate self-publishing these days, they generally offer several levels of service, depending on how much assistance (for editing, proof-reading, cover design, marketing, promotion, etc.) you require, the quality of the final product and the number of copies you want to order. As facilitator Jo Blackmore of Granville Island Publishing reminds writers, "Publishing your own book is expensive, but you get what you pay for.";
OPTIONS
If you choose to publish your own work, there are several choices with widely different results. In almost all cases the author is in charge-deciding cover art, layout options, number of copies, etc. With the exception of vanity presses, the author retains copyright and sets the book price.
Do-It-Yourself: My expertise is limited to the go-it-alone approach. That's worked well for me, mostly because I had lots of previous experience with editing stories, laying out pages, taking professional photographs, getting quotes from printers, etc. If you haven't, I'd strongly suggest the wisdom of doing some comparative shopping for a company that will help you through the process. If you're doing it all yourself, it's also critically important that you understand and respect the book industry standards if you hope to sell your books.
Self-publishing companies: These companies offer a wide variety of services and range from desktop publishers that take your manuscript to the printer-ready stage to self publishers (sometimes referred to as "book packagers";) that may also offer promotion and marketing services. These people will help you get your manuscript through the editorial/proof-reading process, give you options for page and cover layout, and then print your book on a traditional printing press. For quantities of fewer than 500 books, digital printing may be less expensive. Some professional book printers offer in-house production services, as well. See what the various options are, then make some calls. Ask for references. Patty Osborne of Vancouver Desktop Publishing strongly encourages writers to shop around--"check out the prices and promises.";
Print-on-demand (POD): These firms offer various "packages"; for print-ready manuscripts-they handle some degree of administrative/legal tasks, offer some promotion and publicity and fulfill on-demand orders. Most charge extra for layout, editorial services, cover design and art work, if they offer those services at all. The advantage of a POD firm is that you don't have to "buy in"; for a specific print run since they print books as the demand occurs and you can always make page revisions. However, it's important to note that there is a discernable difference in the quality for digitally printed books. The covers are printed on a colour laser printer rather than a printing press-and that's a difference that booksellers spot immediately. Print-on-demand books have yet to gain wide acceptance in the literary world.
Vanity Press: These companies deliver a number of books featuring your name, all for a set price. Vanity presses have a very negative reputation since there is generally no editorial service-hence, very little quality control. It's important to know that these companies usually keep copyright on a book. Most booksellers and libraries will not accept vanity press books.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
Whether you're publishing independently or hoping to sell your manuscript to a trade publisher, you need to be market savvy if you hope to sell books. This means getting clear about your audience-exactly who is going to buy your book, why will they buy it (over others like it) and what do they expect to pay. Talk to booksellers and librarians (when they're not swamped) and find out what their clients are looking for in a good book in your intended field. What's a reasonable price for such a book? Are there similar books that would serve as competition? Why do they choose one book over another?
For an instant education in book smarts, try this exercise: go into the kind of bookstore (or library) that deals with the type of book you hope to publish. Look through the offerings and make two piles of books-those you really like and those that don't appeal. Then take a closer look at the books that drew you to them and take notes as you analyze what attracted you. Was it the text? The layout? The illustrations? The typeface? Covers are a crucial sales factor so pay special attention to what works and what doesn't. Compare pricing. Write down who published the books you like-that's your wish list if you're hoping to go the traditional publishing route. Now do the same thing for your rejection pile. What didn't work? I suspect that you'll probably learn more from this second pile, than from the first! All this information will help when it comes time to evaluate and design your own book.
SETTING HIGH STANDARDS
"If a book has errors, it's a dead giveaway that it's self-published,"; says Jo Blackmore. "Authors have to realize that they simply can't do their own editing or proof-reading. We hire these folks to give writers advice that's in their best interest, even if it's not what they want to hear--it's part of the growth process. If an author is not willing to take it, either they should publish the book themselves or do the vanity press route."; Tough words, but true.
FIGURING COSTS
Figuring out your budget is probably one of the most difficult but important tasks. You may have already invested hundreds of hours in writing the book, but you'll need to shell out money for editing, proof-reading, book design, page layout, cover design, great illustrations or maps, permissions and legalities, printing and shipping, free review copies and postage, publicity, marketing, book storage, office expenses, etc. So read up on the financial end of the business before you commit any money. I strongly recommend the aforementioned How to Self-Publish and Make Money. Even if you don't make a detailed business plan, at least you won't be blind-sided by unexpected costs.
Getting an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), barcode and CIP listing for your book seems like a major hurdle for most new authors-but that's a relatively easy matter of contacting the National Library and filling out forms. The tougher decision is how many books to print. To answer that question, you need to assess your market before your make a print run decision. It's always tempting to order more books to lower your per-book cost, but if you are new to the self-publishing game, you'd be wise to start small. Generally, the advice is not to print more than you can sell in a year's time. I began with a thousand copies of Build Your Own Underwater Robot and happily reprinted annually. That didn't tie up all my funds or my storage space and allowed me to correct a few errors each time. Now that I know what to expect from sales, I print double or triple that number and re-order less often. The trade off is reduced per/book price, but greater storage hassles.
Pricing your book right is also an important decision. First establish your costs, then divide total cost by the number of books being printed-the result is your per/book cost price. Then multiply that number by a factor of 2.5 (some companies use a factor of 4 or 5) for a suggested retail price. Just remember the price has to be realistic and in line with others of the genre. It also needs to accommodate the standard trade discounts for bookstores, libraries or distributors, so learn those percentages. When I was ready to price THE TOTEM POLES OF STANLEY PARK, I opted to set the price low enough ($9.95) to attract volume sales from the 3.3 million tourists that visit the totem poles each year. I also was aware that my competition was a bigger book at $16.95. To make a profit, I had to go with a significant print run, so I took an educated gamble, borrowed a chunk of money, set aside a large portion of a basement storeroom and printed 10,000! I know now it was a good decision, although I had second thoughts the night our basement flooded...but that's another story.
MARKETING, PUBLICITY AND SALES
It seems to me that there are two kinds of payback for publishing a book. One is the invaluable boost to one's professional reputation and self image that comes from being a published author. The second payback is the profit from successful sales. Although "a good story well told"; is important, of course, the reality of this second payback is all about promotion and marketing. This is when the self-published author needs to kick into high gear.
"When your book is published, you're only half done with the work,"; Jo Blackmore advises her authors. "Save some energy and save some money for PR."; Nancy Wise agrees. "Writers underestimate how much work is involved beyond the writing and publishing end of the business. They complain that it's going to cost them money to mail out free review copies and to hire a publicist, but that's what they have to do if they want to move their book."; All authors need to develop an understanding of how to promote and market and sell books. Fortunately, there are books to help you learn the standard book trade discounts, return policy options and invoicing procedures. Whether you hire a distributor or choose to do the work yourself, your goal is to come across as a professional. Other books can teach you how to get radio or TV promo interviews, send out press releases or schedule reading tours. This is crucial info and activity for year one of your book's release, but you'll also need to develop a long-term marketing plan if your objective is on-going sales.
As Nancy Wise says, "Self publishing is not for the faint of heart or light of wallet...but it sure is an interesting business."; In my experience, self-publishing is a huge learning opportunity that ultimately teaches you to be a better writer, to assess your audience and promote your work more effectively and to understand the work of those in the trade-from editors and layout artists to publishers and booksellers. "However you look at it,"; say Alan Twigg, "self-publishing represents, on a statistical level, a gradual democratization of publishing. Look back one lifetime and there were only about five gatekeepers, all in Toronto, who decided what books were published in Canada. Self-publishing doesn't work for fiction. You might as well not do it. But it's increasingly viable if you know what the heck you're doing."; Alaskan mystery writer Sue Henry concurs. "Don't encourage anyone writing mysteries to self publish. In fiction, it's generally understood that people who can't get published, self-publish.";
Also See:
HOW TO SELF PUBLISH AND MAKE MONEY: Writing, Publishing and Selling Your Book in Canada, by Marion Crook & Nancy Wise. Sandhill Publishing/Crook Publishing 1997, ISBN 0-920923-10-0
Courses:
Check out self-publishing workshops at any writing conference-or request one!
Submitted on November 9, 2005 in By David.
