Successful self publishing is a lot more than just converting a MS Word document to PDF.
Respected Web designer Mark Boulton of the UK has a great post on why he chose to self publish his new Web design book rather than going with a traditional publisher.
He makes a very important point about self publishing:
Luckily, I’ve got a good team around me – a designer, a project manager, a proof-reader, and an editor to shape the book (that was particularly helpful early on).
You can’t do this on your own…if you want to have any chance of producing a book that anyone wants to buy and read. The part about having an editor is especially important. Of course, we also think that having a good book designer is particularly important, too. And that part about having a project manager? It should come as no surprise that most authors are not very good at managing projects and deadlines. Editing, project management, proofreading, and book design are all functions normally provided by a publisher (along with distribution & marketing). If you’re going to self publish successfully, then you have to take on those tasks. And you have to be willing to absorb the costs of those functions.
About the financial aspects, Mark says
the financial potential of just one PDF book far outweighs the traditional process (if you have an audience that is).
The key to that statement is the audience. I’ve been following Mark’s blog for a number of years and he always has good insights. He has established authority in his niche. A problem that many authors have is that they wait to establish their Web presence until after their book is published, or at least not until they have a book contract. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to build an audience online. Authors need to start on that long before they start writing that book, particularly in non-fiction.
I have just found your blog and it is a wonderful insight into the book cover design process. I agree with you when you write that a self-publishing author cannot go it alone. I have some of my team but not all.
Editors are a tricky one to find. It seems that authors being published by established houses have lots of problems with them, let alone little aspiring independent people like me.
Then there is book cover design. Such an important aspect of a book’s success in a bookstore (I am reading The Book Thief now because the cover grabbed me first) and that quality is something that self-published books often lack. I don’t anticipate getting into many bookstores, but I still want my book to look the very best it can. A good cover design looks good even when shrunk down as a website pic.
I am a writer – I turn the pictures and sounds in my head into words. I haven’t got the faintest idea of how to do it the other way round. So thanks for giving such insight into your design process – I find it fascinating.
Well said, Jeff. I’d go a step further and say that good, format-appropriate design can be crucial to the potential success of a self-published book. A self-published author generally has fewer opportunities to win over a reader than their “traditionally” published counterpart. They need to make a great first impression, and their book needs to be professional and appealing in every aspect.
As to the audience element — while a traditionally-published author carries the weight of industry approval, a self-published author needs to create a reader base. They can’t wait until the book is out to do this – they need to be courting that audience long before they set pen to paper.
Great post!
~ Kat
@Emma: you’re right that a good editor can be hard to find. Some freelance editors seem to be no more than proofreaders. I’m interested to hear about any good freelance editors. I’m sure there are some out there.
@Kat: Thanks. You’re absolutely right about the design role in self-publishing. I didn’t stress it too much in this post since I didn’t want the post to sound like an advertisement for our book design services. :-)
Now, having said that – a core part of our business is providing quality and, as you said so well, “format-appropriate design” to self-published authors and small presses.
I do wish that more authors understood the audience-building role better.
I’m beginning to wonder whether this audience building aspect is the quality that determines a book’s success more directly than any other factor. For the self-published author, their own ability to find their audience is the only resource they have – there are no sales reps plugging for them, no AI sheets out there being waved under the noses of distributors and bookshop owners.
However, I think it is just the same for those with publishers. So little money is available for marketing now (from what I have gleaned through friends and blogs on the subject) so it falls upon the author to be more pro-active than ever. No more “But I am a writer – I need to be at home and write.” A successful author has to be everything, publishing contract or not.
It’s daunting, but exciting too. Never before have we had such exciting resources to be able to do that!
@Kat – I agree about the first impression, definitely. Some self-publishers argue that a book cover is less important when traditional bookshop distribution is an unlikely sales channel, but I disagree with that. And besides, I want something into which I am putting so much time and effort (and love!) to look as beautiful as possible.
I am always trying to convince our authors to get started with their marketing before the book is published. Generating buzz ahead of time is crucial to better sales and early reviews.
Thank you for underscoring that point!