Ask Me Help Desk - Wanting to Self Publish. Where do I go?

I am really wanting to publish my book. I want to keep all the rights to my book, I want to choose my cover (I already know what I want on it), and I would like to be able to take care of my prices but that one isn't a must have cause I've heard most companies are pretty good about that one.

But a friend told me that if I want all that it is best to self publish. I found a place called Outskirt, which didn't seem bad, until I found out that I got to spend like $500 to be able to get all I want, that's a little pricey considering I am unemployed. Anyone know of any good self publishing companies I can go through (and get all those things) for around $200?

Hi, BiWiccanAndProud!

You already know me. I also hope that things are going well for you! I asked that your question be moved to the Writing forum topic area so that it will be more likely to be noticed and addressed by Wondergirl.

She's an excellent and established writer who has had works that have been published. As such, her opinion and advice is as good as gold and second to none in that regard!

Hopefully, she'll be along sometime soon to address your concerns. If not, then I will notify her about your post.

Thanks!

To be honest, self publishing is only for the extremely tough and determined. It's expensive, and while there is a potential higher profit than going through commercial publishing, it is a huge undertaking.

As an example, I know two people who have recently self-published. One had ended up with a book that is literally unreadable. It has the most horrible typesetting, and the punctuation is scattered all over the page. Very few of the full stops land at the end of sentences. Even her friends and relatives are unlikely to buy it.

The other one has already published seven successful novels, and decided to self publish this one. She spent a lot of money on independent editing, cover design etc, and has spent the last 18 months getting it into large chains of bookshops and websites like Amazon. She has already made more money than on her other novels, but said she doesn't think the hassle was worth it.

Are there any companies to go through that I can get what I want?

BWAP, here is a really good site for new writer, may be of some help.
Authonomy Home Page Good luck

Clough PMed me to throw in my two cents. I have some questions first:

1. Why do you want to self-publish?
2. How many copies do you want to have printed? Two? Ten? Fifty? A thousand?
3. Has the ms. been proofread and edited? That is, is it ready to be published?
4. Will you market your book with hopes of making a profit?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Clough PMed me to throw in my two cents. I have some questions first:

1. Why do you want to self-publish?
2. How many copies do you want to have printed? two? ten? fifty? a thousand?
3. Has the ms. been proofread and edited? That is, is it ready to be published?
4. Will you market your book with hopes of making a profit?

1. I have wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl, I haven't finished any novels but I figured I could start things out with a poetry book
2. I haven't really thought of about it, just enough to spread around my town for now. Maybe 50 to start with and then if it is popular enough get more printed.
3. I have a couple friends proof reading it for me and giving me opinions and advice on my poems.
4. I would like to make a profit, but like I said I'd like to make sure people like it before trying to really market it and selling a bunch. Mainly cause I've heard from several people that poetry books don't sell too well.

I love the notion that poetry is easier than novels. Well, bad poetry might be. Good poetry takes just as much work and sweat as a full length novel,

Printing 50 books will be expensive. You can consider it a labour of love and give them to friends and family, but you won't make money on them.

Don't get friends to give you opinions. They like you, so if there is something there that is terrible, they won't come out and tell you. There are a lot of writing forums and websites where you'll get a more objective opinion. Failing that, get someone who doesn't like you much to read it, that way you'll get a more honest opinion.

You're right, there are very few poetry books which make money.

An alternative might be to make a novella out of an unfinished novel and then look for an e-publisher. E-publishers will take much shorter works, and as the costs are much lower, they are more willing to take a chance on an unknown author. Also, you get to keep a much larger percentage of sales.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BiWiccanAndProud

1. I have wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl, I haven't finished any novels but I figured I could start things out with a poetry book

So you just want to see your work in print, even if you have to pay to have it done?

Quote:

2. I haven't really thought of about it, just enough to spread around my town for now. Maybe 50 to start with and then if it is popular enough get more printed.

With the quality product that desktop publishing offers nowadays, you probably could crank out a small book of poetry using your computer and printer. You could even add graphics with each poem on each page or on facing pages. If you don't care about the order of the poems, this would be a lot easier than setting things up with a certain page order. You could use heavy paper or buy sturdy binders for the cover.

Consider this: Years ago, as a special project, a small group of us made attractive devotional booklets for our congregation. The cover was purple (the color of penance in religious lingo), we had a title and graphic on the front, and 40 families (40 = number of days in Lent) wrote devotions for it that I typed up on my electric typewriter. We added taped-on graphics to the master and arranged the pages in a certain order for the booklet. We photocopied all the devotions on the front and back of each page, then used a long office stapler to secure the pages inside each cover. The result was durable and very attractive. Since this was 25 years ago when desktop publishing didn't exist, the total cost was greater than it would be now. It is so much easier now with a computer, a color printer, and Word to vary the print size, add bold or italics, etc. and create a quality product at a low cost.

You can also go to an area bindery that will help you create a cover at a reasonable cost per book. This, of course, would be pricier than a do-it-yourself cover.

Quote:

3. I have a couple friends proof reading it for me and giving me opinions and advice on my poems.

Be sure the poems are perfect with spelling and appearance. If you're going to go to all the "trouble" and cost to create a book of them, you don't want to end up with mistakes.

Quote:

4. I would like to make a profit, but like I said I'd like to make sure people like it before trying to really market it and selling a bunch. Mainly cause I've heard from several people that poetry books don't sell too well.

No, they don't. I know that from 30 years as a librarian -- the poetry section is the least used and read. If my library bought twenty poetry books a year, that was considered a lot. Your friends and relatives will want a copy of your poetry book, and if you make an attractive one with cool poems inside, the word will spread and others will want a copy.

I didn't think about self binding books. I do have my poems in a particular order. The poetry book is called the Three Roses of Life and the poems are sorted between 3 roses (white/society, red/love, black/depressing). The book is almost 100 pages long. I do have people reading my book who can with an objective mind set, my old drama teacher who is an ex english teacher is reading it and sends me a opinion on two poems a day.