Spiderwize's Self Publishing Blog

Do you have a manuscript collecting dust (maybe electronic dust)? If you have in the past submitted your manuscript to mainstream publishers or if your manuscript would only appeal to a niche market then self publishing your manuscript may be the route to take. But before you take the plunge and go the self publishing route we have some tips below:

1. Spelling / Grammar: Is your book ready for the general public to read? Make sure that your manuscript has been thoroughly proofread. It is highly advisable that you get someone else to proofread your manuscript. It is so important to make a good impression to the reader. If your reader starts finding spelling and grammatical errors it can be a real turn-off and seriously damage the potential of your book being taken seriously.
2. Copyright and defamation of character: Before you publish a book it is imperative that you own or have permission to publish all of the contents that are contained in your manuscript. This also includes images. As the author you need to make sure your book does not contain anything libellous that someone might take offence to. You may wish to read our blog Avoiding Defamation of Character. Remember when you are self publishing in most cases it will be up to you the author to make sure your book does not break any copyrights or contains anything libellous against an individual or groups.
3. Storyline / narrative: You may wish to get a trusted friend to read your manuscript and ask for comments to the storyline / narrative. This can help to iron out any confusing or hard to read sections of your manuscript. This is also a good test to see someone’s response to your work though remember as you are getting a friend to read your work you may not receive the same response from the general public.
4. Distribution: It is a good idea to get an idea now what type of availability to the general market you want your book to have. Do you only want to sell your own copies or do you want your book to be available for sale on retail websites? Deciding this now will help you to find the right publishing service that is suitable for your needs.

I hope the above will be of some help to you self publishing your manuscript. If you think there are any other useful steps that should be included then we welcome you to add comments below.

Top image by: markhillary

Self publishing is what we’re all about here, of course, so I thought I’d use today’s blog to add a few more tips as to how to give your book the best possible chance of success out there in the big wide world.

One good tip is to make sure that your book includes all the things that are vital to any professional publication, such as an ISBN number and so forth, as well as a barcode on the back of the cover. Speaking of the cover, this is something that is also very important and something that tends to trip many self publishers up. The cover is the public face of your work, and if it looks bland, boring and unprofessional, it doesn’t matter how good the contents are, because chances are no one will pick it up to find out. It may cost be a bit more, but getting a professional in cover design to create the cover for your work will give your book perhaps its biggest chance of gaining an audience.

Another tip is that, if you are self publishing in real rather than just electronic form, use a genuine book manufacturer to print your tome. Trying to use the local print shop to deliver a professional product is, trust me on this, only going to end in disaster and probably lots and lots of yelling.

p.s. Taking care of the little things is a big part of success.

Continuing on from yesterday’s blog post, I thought I’d add a few more tips for those of you into the whole self publishing game (hey, when you’re on a roll, it’s best just to go with it, after all).

Serious self publishers need to start thinking about the marketing of their book probably before they’ve even starting putting pen to paper (or “turning on Word” perhaps, the former makes me sound about 80 years old, doesn’t it?). You need to find the market for your potential book and then work out how exactly you are going to target them. Let’s face it, there may well be a potentially sizeable readership for your work, but if you can’t find a way for them to even realise your book actually exists, it’s not going to do you a great deal of good in the long term. Make a list of which associations, catalogues, newsletters, and magazines you could target in order to market your book to the right people. Look through your personal and professional contacts and see if you can identify anyone who could possibly help you with the process.

Another important tip is to find the right title for your book. It might sound simple and obvious, but you could have written the greatest book ever (self) published and yet if you call it something incredibly dull chances are no one will pick it up and find that out. The title needs to be snappy, to the point and interesting without being too clever.

p.s. When it comes to self publishing, it’s all about marketing.

Going the self publishing route is an appealing idea, especially in these days when self published books can actually end up on bestseller lists. That does not mean that it is an easy route to take, however, and if you really expect to become a success by going down that road, there are some vital tips to follow to avoid your work becoming just another self published book that no one reads.

The first thing you need when considering self publishing is knowledge. Self publishing is a business like any other, and needs to be approached as such. You need to do your research – read books, go to seminars and learn from those who already have experience in the field. Another good idea is to check out what kind of books have already been self published and what has worked and what hasn’t. It’s also important not to follow the crowd too much – if there are hundreds of books on a particular subject or topic, the last thing you want your work to be is just another on top of a very large pile – at least unless you are absolutely confident that you can really bring something sparkling and new to the genre.

One of the most important tips is to write a book that other people are actually going to want to read. If you’re just writing for your own vanity, so be it, but if you expect to be popular, your life story is unlikely to hold much appeal to the wider reading public.

p.s. Self publishing your book requires a lot of thought in order to be a success.

Self publishing fully by yourself (Do-It-Yourself) can be interpreted as the author taking charge of working out each process of their book production. From finding their printer, getting an ISBN number, formatting the inside, designing their book cover to book distribution. Some may call this fully Self Publishing.

Below we have listed some of the main items (an overview) you will need to be aware of when you are self publishing fully by yourself. This is not a comprehensive list but will give you some pointers.

Editing
If you decide that your work requires someone to edit your manuscript then the first course of action would be to ask friends or writing contacts of anyone they can recommend. Also, you can search for an editor on Google, but make sure you pay close attention to the editor’s credentials. Whoever you choose to edit / proofread your book, make sure they have the skills / experience / qualifications.

ISBN
First you will need to decide if you require an ISBN number. For more info read our Does my book require an ISBN number guide. Only publishers can purchase ISBN numbers from the ISBN agency. So for you to purchase the ISBN number you will need to set yourself up as a publisher. This means you need to think of an imprint name you want your book to be published under. You will need to purchase yourself an ISBN number from your local ISBN agency. Each country has its own agency. If you are located in the UK you will need to purchase a minimum block of 10 ISBN numbers from Nielsen. Their website: http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/

Printer
It is a good idea to find the printer you are going to use early in the self publishing process. This is because the printer you decide to go with may have their own formatting rules and specifications that your book will need to have. By finding this out now before you format your book interior and design your book cover will help to save delays and extra cost in the future.

Formatting
There are many aspects of your book to think about when your book is being formatted. You will need to make sure your formatting includes any setting that your printer requires. You could format your book yourself but we always recommend getting an experienced formatter to do this for you.

Cover design
As with formatting, we would recommend that you hire a designer to do this for you (preferably someone experienced in cover design). The designer will need to make sure that they include any settings that your printer requires which will include setting the correct bleeds at the edges of the cover. You will also need to make sure that your back cover includes a barcode of your ISBN number (if you book requires one).

Print ready files
You will need to check with your printers which formats they will accept the print-ready files in. In most cases this is in PDF format but some printers will also accept files in design program formats including Adobe Indesign. When saving to your printer’s preferred format (your cover designer and interior formatter should be able to help you with this – that is, if you outsourced) make sure the files are saved with any needed settings.

Book distribution
If you are looking for comprehensive distribution where someone else takes care of this for you, then you may wish to see which printers offer this service. There are a couple of POD (print-on-demand) printers that may offer authors that are self publishing a distribution service. Other alternatives are to find a third party book distributor who will stock your book and send out copies when there are orders – though this could be a disadvantage if your book is POD as you may have to supply the distributor with a number of printed copies.

Spiderwize Publishing

Thinking of Self Publishing? We have created a all in one self publishing package.

Deciding if you should self publish a book or try to find a main line publisher can be a confusing one. Please see below an excerpt from our “Guide to Self Publishing” which will help you to decide what method of publishing to choose.

Is Self Publishing right for me?

This depends on what you hope to achieve from publishing your book. What are your expectations?

If you are expecting the publisher to take charge of your book, pay you an advance fee before the book is published, take charge of marketing your book; sell/promote your book to distributors / bookstores, then clearly the traditional way of publishing your book is what you are looking for.

If you have never tried submitting your book to a traditional publisher and feel your book would be marketable to a wide audience, then we encourage you to submit your book to the most suitable publisher. Traditional publishers will always have more marketing clout. Please be aware that most publishers will not accept book submissions direct from authors. You will probably need to use an agent. A list of mainline publishers and agents can be found in the latest copy of The Artists’ and Writers’ Year Book, which you can obtain through most bookstores, and certainly from Amazon. A word of warning, however: finding a mainline or traditional publisher that is willing to consider your book is like searching for a needle in a haystack – which is why finding a reputable agent is probably the best route to choose. An agent will know which publishers are most likely to look at your book, in terms of genre or category. The Artists’ and Writers’ Year Book also has a section on how to present your manuscript.

Seeking a mainline publisher (or even an agent) can be an exhausting process, and requires commitment, perseverance and a firm belief on the author’s part that his or her book is genuinely saleable. In days gone by traditional publishers placed as much emphasis on the quality of the writing or narrative, whereas in today’s world with its economic pressures, saleability is the main factor for most mainline publishers. In other words, will the book sell, and to whom? (What constitutes the target audience?)

If your book is repeatedly rejected by mainline publishers, that does not mean it is not a good book, and that it does not deserve to be published. That is where self publishing comes in and it has happened more than once that a self-published book is eventually discovered by a mainline publisher who publishes it with successful sales. Some best sellers began as self published books.

If your target audience is made up of your own family and circle of friends, then self publishing is the most logical route to follow. The book is made available to order either from on-line bookstores, through bricks-and-mortar bookstores (if it has an ISBN number), or from stocks that you have purchased at the author’s discount from the printer / publisher.

Top image by Eleaf