It isn’t an uncommon story these days. Small, independent
publishers pop up, put out some books, and then disappear. I’d watched it
happen to an author whose blog I follow. Her first book was well received and
while she was working on the sequel, her publisher folded. It was difficult
news for her and her readers. Luckily, she’d found a new publishing home for
both books. What a relief!
When I was nearing completion of my sequel to DREAM GIRL, I
got the unfortunate news that my publisher would no longer be
publishing fiction. After I worked through my shock and disappointment, I
rallied by researching my options. Thinking as a writer, reader, and librarian,
here’s what I decided to do:
Once I decided to finish the book and publish it myself, my first
step was to see what kind of affordable print options might be out there. I had
originally imagined that I would use a local printer whose work I was familiar
with and admired, but ultimately, I decided to go with IngramSpark. The
deciding factor, for me, is that IngramSpark has distribution. By publishing my
book with them, I’d have access to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Ingram itself
and more. (As a librarian whose library uses Ingram to order our collection,
that was pretty important.) By “access to” these venues, I mean that Ingram
handles fulfillment. Someone places their order, Ingram prints and ships it and
I don’t have to do a thing. Distribution is probably the most important thing
beyond having a good product so if you’re thinking of self-publishing, don’t
forget to think about how readers can get your book.
After I saw that Ingram has an affordable print and
distribution plan, the next thing I did was buy my ISBN and barcode from
Bowker.com I did some research to make
sure Bowker was reputable before I actually purchased my ISBN and barcode.
 |
| Great book with a sequel due out Fall 2017! |
Those steps out of the way, I hustled to finish the
manuscript. Let’s face it, that’s the hardest work of all. Once I got through
my first few drafts, I needed to find an editor. For this project, I wanted two
editors. One was my very good author friend, Monica R. Sholar,
who read and enjoyed the first book. For the second, I
wanted someone who didn’t know me well personally and hadn’t read DREAM GIRL.
Technically, all books in a series are supposed to stand on their own, so I
wanted to make sure someone who didn’t have any recollections of the first book
would be able to enjoy it too. I was delighted to learn that Michigan YA author,
Ava Jae, also does affordable freelance editing. I read
her book, BEYOND THE RED, liked her writing style, and thought she’d be a good
match for my
manuscript.
Each editor challenged me in a different way and both had
great insights that helped me go back and refine the story. In this case, two
editorial voices was the right amount. Their changes overlapped in many
instances, but there were some big differences as well. Drawing on the
expertise of each, I was able to improve the plot, dialogue, descriptions and
became very familiar with my particular bad writing habits. The guidance of a
good editor is priceless!
 |
| This cover still makes me smile. |
Before I dove into edits, I decided to get a cover designer.
The cover is extremely important to me, and is easily my favorite part of the
publishing process. (Or at least a close second to writing the acknowledgments!)
It is absolutely necessary that my covers are high quality, professional, compare
to the types of covers on similar titles, and make me happy. Luckily, I worked
in advertising for a few years. During that time, I made great friends in the
graphic design and proofreading departments. I had worked with one of those
friends, Ken Suminski, on my bookmark and the cover for my digital short story,
SICK DAY. (He’s available to do freelance design work, such as book covers,
logo design, and promotional materials for reasonable rates. If you want to see
what he can do for you, he can be contacted at k.suminski
(at) comcast (dot) net Put “design referral from Sarah” in the subject.) With my
cover in Ken’s capable hands, I went back to editing with my comments from
Monica and Ava. I finished my edits shortly after Ken finished the final
version of the cover. But there was still more work to be done!
With a shiny new cover
that I loved, I was ready to share it with the world! But just like book
distribution, I was worried about reaching a broader audience. I decided to
book a cover reveal with a blog I’d used to promote DREAM GIRL, YA Bound BookTours. We set the date for April 19 and I was ready for the next steps of
preparing the manuscript: proofreading and print formatting.
For proofreading, I
chose another of my advertising connections who had also helped me with DREAM
GIRL. For interior formatting, I turned to another Michigan author, MelissaStorm, who is also the owner of Novel Publicity. Melissa highly recommended the work of Mallory Rock, who does cover designs as well as formatting.
In preparation for the
final steps of production, I registered as an LLC. I admit, this was a daunting
prospect for me, but it turned out to be incredibly easy and painless. I asked
a few author friends for guidance and then came across this site of extremely
helpful videos. I printed the LLC form, watched the video, and filled it
out. (Not scary at all!) For added peace of mind, I got a P.O.
box to go with my LLC. If you get a P.O. box, I recommend shopping around. The
prices vary widely. I discovered that a small P.O. box for one year in one city
cost $108, while the same sized box in another city, just a few miles away,
cost $52 per year.
At the time of
writing, I currently have the manuscript with my proofreader and will be
sending it on to Mallory once proofreading is complete.
Next steps will be
finding book reviewers, booking a blog tour, and working on promotion before
diving into my next WIP. A writer’s work is never done!
Although I’m not
completely through the process yet, I can attest that self-publishing can be an
affordable option. There is a lot to think about and deal with when publishing
your own book. While it can definitely feel overwhelming and even scary, it’s
also exciting and satisfying to guide your own story from idea to finished
product. Just as only you can tell the story in your heart, only you can decide
the right way to get that story into the hands of readers. Enjoy the journey,
and no matter what, keep writing!
No comments:
Post a Comment