I liken the creation of a book to the building of a house (except
it takes less time to build a house.) You start with a dream -
an idea percolating in the back of your mind. Then you plan, sketching
rough ideas on paper. Next comes setting the details down - adding
substance and depth to the dream. Finally, the day arrives that
you hire the builder to come in and make your dreams, ideas, and
hard work a tangible reality.
That's where self-publishing
companies come in - we all bring life to your dreams,
creating substance from your ideas, creativity, and hard won words.
Lots of terms for "hiring a company
to produce your book" float around the publishing world - and
the most common often have negative connotations - vanity press,
subsidy press, and self-publishing company.
Is there a difference in what any
of these self publishing companies do for authors?
Not really, but the words "vanity press" really insults what authors
are trying to do when they choose to self-publish their books.
Obviously, I believe strongly in the value that self-publishing
companies bring to authors, and I also understand that
many authors often choose to take another route and go into business
for themselves. For the typical self-published author, however,
a significant amount of frustration, time, and money can be saved
by using self-publishing companies.
Also known as "subsidy" presses, self-publishing
companies help those authors who prefer to hire publishing professionals
to perform the "book building" tasks for their books.
Most every author dreams of seeing
their book stacked high and deep in the big bookstores, with a
shiny logo from one of the worlds largest publishers - and we
encourage every author with this dream to try the traditional
route. You can't leave your dreams behind without giving them
a fair shot. But, we stand ready to help you bring your manuscript
to life - and remember that many self-published books eventually
became bestsellers themselves! The majority of books sell because
of the author's skill, persistence, and faith in their story.
Let's take a look at some typical
self-publishing companies, and ask the question "Are all self-publishing
companies the same?"
Self-publishing companies are only
the same in the fact that we all use almost the exact same technologies
to print books. Each company has a unique approach to the market,
and a distinct personality.
Here is what I believe is important
in choosing a company to self-publish your book.
My first is CONTRACT
- do you keep all your rights and can you terminate your agreement
at any time without penalty? The author contract should be short
and easy to understand. It should never have a "duration"
that locks you into keeping your book with the publishing house.
You should be able to leave without penalty at any time. Beware
the publisher that pays you a single dollar to have the rights
to your book for years. Our contract is right here.
The second item - RETAIL PRICE.
Can you set your own retail? Does the publisher force you into
ridiculously high retail prices? (see our page on setting your
Retail Pricing
here.) Remember, to sell in retail outlets you need to set
your book's retail price at about 2.5 X your cost... chains, big
retail outlets, and wholesalers want at least a 50% discount,
and many times you pay freight. So - if your book costs $4 to
print, you need to be able to sell it at $9.95 to pretty much
break even... which brings us to...
The third item - your BOOK
PRINTING COSTS. Your Retail is almost always a function
of your cost to print the book. If your book costs more to print,
you need to push your retail price higher just to break even.
Tied directly into this - can this publisher offer OFFSET
PRINTING (also called "traditional printing")
services? Going to a "traditional press" is the only
way to actually get a great price on a large volume of books.
None of the big self-publishers offer this advantage.
The fourth item - your AUTHOR
PROFIT. Some call it ROYALTY, we call it a NET SALES
PAYMENT. Whatever it's called - it's the amount you receive from
each book sale. Be careful of any company that gives a huge royalty
but forces unreasonable retail prices on your book. It makes no
sense to get a "50%" royalty on a book that will never sell. Also
watch for royalties that are increased by REDUCING your WHOLESALE
DISCOUNT - again, if no store will buy it, what's the point of
a royalty? Final note - on what is the royalty paid? Most often
it's paid on the NET SALE, NOT the Retail Price.
Fifth - can you actually speak with
someone who actually knows something about the book industry?
Do you have access to "decision makers" that can make things happen
for your book? How long has the person you are speaking to worked
at the company (let alone how long they've been in the publishing
industry).
Sixth - what is their business model?
Everyone is in business to make money - and that's an honorable
thing... but watch WHERE they make their money - look for hidden
charges, or charges that show up to actually create an effective
and salable book for you.
Last, but not least - CREATIVE
CONTROL - can you set your design? can you pick your
own retail price? can you set your own profit margin? do you control
the discount offered to retailers and wholesale accounts?
Let's compare the services of the
largest of the self-publishing companies: Authorhouse, iUniverse™
and Xlibris.
All of these companies are very different
in "personality" - but for the most part, they share the same
business model: Bring authors in with an aggressive price and
heavy direct marketing campaigns - then upsell each author to
achieve a sales target.
Most of the large self-publishing
companies employ telemarketing professionals to answer the phone
- so a quick test of their knowledge may be in order: ask them
how long they've worked at the company (if it's over about 8 months
you've found an unusual CSR) and if they've ever spent any time
in the traditional publishing industry.
Now, with that said, these three
have nearly 40,000 titles in print... someone is buying their
services at a furious rate! The most important thing they have
in common? Their entire business is based on moving authors through
the system as quickly as possible, and with as little human interaction
and as few real options as possible. It's all about "cookie cutter"
services and book building. Imagine if McDonalds produced books.
Click here
to see more information about various self-publishing companies.
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