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10 Simple Tips on How to Publish a Book
by Bob Burnham
The publishing world wants you to
think
publishing a book is tricky and full of pit holes to fall into. Not
true! These simple 10 simple tips will help you publish your book
quickly and easily, and the end result will be a professional product
you can be proud of.
Tip #1 The first task to self-publishing is actually making a book out
of your manuscript.
Here are just some of the decisions that go into transforming a
manuscript into a book:
• Cover design
• Internal artwork and layout
• Font, for example, Times New Roman or Arial
• Type of binding, for example, spiral, ring, stitched,
perfect, etc.
• Hardcover or softcover
• Book size (standard book size is 5.5" by 8.5")
• Type of paper book is printed on
• Color or black and white
• Number of pages. It is generally easier for consumers to
justify a book purchase if the book is over 100 pages.
While your printer can help you with a majority of these decisions by
offering suggestions and examples it is helpful to go to a printer with
a good idea of exactly how you want your book to look. Visit bookstores
and find books that you want to model.
Tip #2 Understand the difference between publishers and printers.
POD Publishers
Unlike POD printers, POD publishers may take care of the extra costs of
designing a book cover, editing your book, and obtaining an ISBN
number. They can be a good option if you need less than 50 books
because the price is generally lower than what you would pay for a POD
printer. However, make sure that you read your contract carefully and
that you fully investigate the POD publisher that you are considering.
Some publishers require exclusive rights to your book.
POD Printers
POD printers are just that, printers. They do not invest in your
product. They simply manufacture it. The cost can be a bit expensive
and generally ranges from $5 to $10 per book, depending on your book's
specifics. POD printers can be a good and cost effective option if your
book is nearing the end of its life yet you still have the occasional
order trickling in. This way you can order one book at a time and it
eliminates the possible expense of having to keep an inventory on hand.
The print quality is usually good. Again, as with any company, read
your contract carefully and make sure to investigate the company.
Digital Printers PQN, Print Quality Needed
This is a good option for the author that needs fewer than 2500 copies.
It is cost effective, the print quality is good, and it normally takes
less than two weeks to print.
Offset Printers.
When you need more than 2500 books, your best choice is offset
printing. The cost will equate to about $1.25 per book for about 3000
books. However, the more books that you print, the less expensive your
cost will be.
Tip #3 Don't forget about distribution
The next thing that you will need to handle as a self-publisher is the
task of distribution. It may actually be to your benefit to hire a
distributor; however, most distributors take 65% of the profit. A
distributor's main purpose is to "sell" your book to bookstores and
specialty stores.
Distributors also are able to sell your book to larger chain stores
like Borders and Barnes and Noble. This can be to your benefit because
it means that your exposure is much larger than sticking with smaller
booksellers and specialty stores.
Tip #4 How are your customers going to order and pay for their books?
Order
Decide how you are going to take orders by phone, fax, email, webstore,
snail mail, or all of the above. Do you accept credit cards? How will
you ship? How will you take returns, if at all? Mail order purchasing
is an easy and efficient process once you have established a routine.
However, shipping individual books can be expensive. Will you charge
for shipping? Where will you store the books?
Tip #5 What are you going to call your publishing company?
The first thing that you will need to do, once your book is written, is
to start your own publishing company. To accomplish this you will first
need to decide on a name for your company. Experts recommend against
placing your name in the title of the company because it makes you look
like a beginner. Additionally, do you really want your name listed as
both the author and the publisher?
Tip #6 How much are you going to charge? Pricing Your Book
Before you begin promotion, determine how much to charge for your book.
The general rule of thumb is to charge 8 times what it cost you to
produce it. Therefore, if it cost you $5 to produce the book, you'll
charge $40. However, you want to consider your market and how much
they'll be willing to pay for your book. It could be more or less than
$40.
Tip #7 ISBN numbers. An ISBN number is not a requirement to sell a book
yourself but it will make it easier to record your book with
booksellers and it is a formal registration process that signifies that
you are in fact a publisher. In short, it makes you look more
professional. Additionally, most booksellers like Amazon, require an
ISBN number.
Visit the ISBN website, www.isbn.org.
Fill out the application. It costs $29.95 for 10 ISBNs and I have been
told that it takes quite a long time to process, so have patience.
Tip #8 Library of Congress Number. This is a number that is assigned by
the Library of Congress to a book. It can also be referred to as the
Preassigned Control Number or PCN. Numbers are only assigned to books
that will be added to the library. You can apply for a number by
visiting www.copyright.gov.
Complete the application and then file for a number.
Tip #9 Copyright Registration. The first step in registering your book
is to print a copyright notice on your copyright page, usually the back
of your title page. Your second step is to publish your book. Last, you
will want to visit www.copyright.gov/forms/.
Tip #10. Promotion tips. There are thousands of ways you can promote
your book. Tackle them one or two at a time. If you jump in and try 10
different promotion methods/tools, things will get messy and you won't
be able to devote your full attention to each promotion method. Focus
on one or two at a time.
About the Author
Bob Burnham started his carpet cleaning business in 1976 and quickly built it to 26 locations across Canada. By the time he was 30 years old he had 600 full and part time employees and did over 6 million dollars in annual sales. Bob sold all the locations across Canada and retained only the British Columbia locations, which were expanded into Flood and Fire restoration and are still operating successfully today.
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