Free tools, tips and links from SPR on writing and selling your book
Print on Demand vs. Print Run Publishing
Print on demand makes sense for the vast majority of self-published writers – especially fiction writers. The average sales for a self-published book of fiction is 30 copies, and that might be generous. If you sell 100 copies or over, you’ve done very well. 500 is extraordinary and anything over 1000 is in the stratosphere. That’s the plain truth: if your book is not in bookstores, it’s much harder to unload copies of your book.
It’s a very tactile experience picking up a book, leafing through it, and finally making a decision to buy the book. A book is an […]
Creating a self-publishing imprint can reduce the stigma of self-releasing your own book. Instead of having your book on one of the major self-publishing sites (Lulu, AuthorHouse), you can instead choose to print up your books independently under your own company brand. Alternately, you could use a major self-publisher like Lulu to handle the printing and processing of your book and create your own separate imprint – possibly with its own website and list of authors. A self-publishing imprint really depends on how it’s marketed: as an independent entity or part of a larger self-publishing site.
Self-publishing seems to be a place that is tailor made for scam artists. The combination of money changing hands and people desperate to see their name in print can lead to writers being taken advantage of. On forums you can read about people gleefully saying, “I got published!” only to find out that they were contacted by a site like Publish American saying that they’ll put out a book. Publish America – one of the least scrupulous self-publishers – begins correspondence using words like “Congratulations!!!” knowing full-well that this will dupe people into thinking they’ve been selected by a traditional […]
Getting book reviews is one of the harder parts of self-publishing – and truth be told getting a lot of book reviews by no means guarantees book sales (unless it’s an Oprah review, which isn’t going to happen). However, it can be gratifying, so long as the reviews are good, and instructive if they’re not. It’s important to keep in mind that even if you publish a book with a traditional small press it will likely be up to you to bring in reviews and interviews, so it is a good skill set to have for any writer.
Is there a difference between vanity publishing and self-publishing? Yes and no. Sometimes vanity publishing and self-publishing are interchangeable – especially when self-publishing is discussed with derision. The concept of vanity publishing – that an author is so vain that he or she must release a book despite it not finding a publisher – should be discarded. Because the publishing industry is so competitive and so driven by the market, there are plenty of books that don’t get bought by publishing houses but have every right to find readers. At the same time, the basic definition of the vanity press […]
Most people think of self-publishing as a last resort. And truth be told: it is. It would be much easier to have a mainstream publisher cover all the costs of printing, distribution, and marketing of a book. However, there are cases where even having a mainstream publisher can be problematic – such as getting limited marketing help or never making any royalties. Here are the pros and cons of self-publishing versus publishing a book with a traditional publisher.
One of the major issues with self-publishing is the quality of the book design. A great number of self-published books make it glaringly obvious that the book has been self-published. This is significant because it can lead to a book being ignored by reviewers or prospective buyers. The cliché “You can’t judge a book by its cover” never took into account self-published titles.