What Is Subsidy Publishing?

Subsidy publishing” is a form of publication in which the author pays another publisher to produce a book.

What Is Self-publishing?

“Self-publishing” is a form of publication in which the author of the book.

Do I need an ISBN Number?

ISBNs are required if you want your book to be available for online retailers, bookstores, and libraries. The Write Place can provide one for you, or we can work with an ISBN you provide.

If an author chooses to purchase an ISBN, their book will be made available for sale on sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com.

If you do not intend to sell your book and only plan to print copies to donate or give to family and friends, you may not need an ISBN.

More and more authors—including many who previously published with traditional publishers—are learning that not only is self-publishing affordable, the end product can be a professionally produced book you can be proud of.

This is because technology continues to support self-publishing. Print-on-demand resources allow authors to print and ship copies of their book as they need them. Orders can be placed at any time, and the product is not only crisp and professional, it is far more cost-effective than traditional offset printing. Social media, blogs and websites, and other digital marketing avenues have also made it easier than ever for self-published authors to market their books and interact with readers.

Do I need to get a Copyright?

No. And yes. According to the US Copyright Office, “Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” But if you want to file a lawsuit against someone for copyright infringement, you’ll need to register your work. Some writers do, and some don’t bother with the process.

It’s really important to know why you are writing a book and what you hope to achieve as a result of writing it. Someone who wants to scale their business approaches a book quite differently than someone who is using it as a tool to help clients through a process without any intention of selling the book. For the creative writer, an author who hopes to make a living as a writer will approach it differently than someone writing a family history.

It is also important to determine your target audience. Knowing who will read it (hint: it’s not everyone) and what you hope they do or experience as a result of reading it sheds light on the entire writing process.

Do I need an Agent?

Depends mostly, no—but if you suddenly find yourself faced with an offer of movie rights, or a Commercial Publisher wants to buy print rights to your work, or, if anything else happens and you’re interested in saying yes, but there are contracts involved, YOU NEED AN AGENT.

Do I need an Editor?

Unless you are a skilled professional editor and a copy-editor, yes. You need another set of eyes on your work to find both the sloppy and the dumb. And I say this as someone who has written a whole lot of fiction and a whole lot of nonfiction. You are going to make mistakes, and you are going to overlook them in your own edits.

What are the cost to self publish?

The rough cost of self-publishing a book can realistically be from “free” to $15,000. The free path requires massive “sweat equity.”

The five following aspects will affect the cost of self-publishing a book.

1. How much work the self-publisher will do themselves. Will the self-publisher design and prepare the book cover to exact specifications required by the printer selected? Will the self-publisher do their-own content editing and proofreading?
2. Price of Publishing Services. If publishing services are hired, and you overpay for someone inexperienced, the cost of the published book will increase dramatically.
3. Publishing tasks Done out of Order. This will increase the cost significantly. Certain tasks must be redone if chronological order is not followed. A good book publishing coach will save you more money and time that the cost of the coach.
4. Physical Requirements of Book. These include length of book, size of book, type of paper, type of book cover, as well as whether the book is printed in four-color, or black and white.
5. Additional Publishing Venues. Will you be publishing an e-book, Kindle, or audio book? Will you need promotional sample chapters? If these are done in proper order they will be inexpensive. When done out of order, the costs can be significant. 
6. Structure Your Book. Complete the book with front matter and back matter. This includes items such as title page, copyright page, Table of Contents, acknowledgements, preface, foreword, index, credits for images, resources, etc. A great workbook/journal resource to learn about and plan book structure is Publish Your Book Blueprint, by Deborah S. Nelson
7. Create Book Cover. Hire a good book cover designer. Keep in mind, a regular graphic arts person is not good enough. Find someone who specializes in book cover design. Go to Dream to Publish to find all publishing services by those who are fast and specialize in these services. Write a compelling synopsis for back of book.
8. Create Book Interior. Book interior needs designing, with file made according to detailed specifications by printer. Hire the wrong person for this and you could face “endless rounds” of corrections before the printer accepts. Need I say more?
9. Create Title for Printing. Once you have the book cover and interior design files you will create the title with ISBN number and upload to the printer for printing.

10. Select a Distribution Outlet. Since 80% of books are purchased online it is critical to select an online outlet. Local bookstores buy books from Books in Print primarily

Selling self-published books includes:

1. Distribution. Make your books available at Amazon Books, or other online distribution networks as well as local bookstores. Additionally, if you initiate your own publishing label and ISBN number Bowker Books, your books will be listed in Books in Print and made available at schools and libraries. Presently, there are only some 1700 brick-and-mortar bookstores in the USA.
2. Marketing: Once you have selected a distribution outlet, identify your target market and let interested readers know the books exist. This includes doing podcasts, interviews, YouTube’s, and whatever you can do to connect with fans. Since over 80% of books are sold online, this using social media is a great approach.
3. Book Reviews: Work hard to get book reviews by sending out an advance PDF copy to key reviewers. Ask people to review on Amazon Books, if your book is listed with them. Reviews help sell books.
4. Advertising: Create an ad campaign to reach potential readers in certain niche magazines, TV, radio, or online venues.
5. In-Person: Schedule book readings in your local books stores, as well as book speaking engagements to sell your books at various events. Volunteering for speaking events usually will net in quite a few book sales.