Self-publishing? Starting a small press? Want to get published? Some things you should know.

1. Cost: To publish a trade paperback, think at least $12,000 Canadian ($8,500USA). This will go towards design, editing, printing, promotional, and business costs. The printing costs per book decreases quickly as volume goes up, as most of the cost goes towards press et-up. After that, it's mainly the cost of paper. 1,000 240-page books cost me $5,000CDN ($3,700USA), which is $5/book. A print run of 5,000 books would cost about $10,000(Oh, you do the math), which is $2/book. A large run (20,000 books) would cost $22,000, a little over one dollar per book (Canadian). That said, print only as many as you know you can sell. I only had $5,000 when I started publishing Emails from (Over?) the Edge. It was a royal pain in the butt to have so little money, and it definitely limited my ability to follow through with all my promotion and distribution ideas.

2. Know where your information is coming from: Many of the books and other sources of information about self-publishing are produced by people who make money from self-publishers. Either they're distributors who specialize in self-published books, or they run businesses that offer all the services they think self-publishers need. Many of these books and information sources provide very good information, and are essential to a successful publishing venture. However, it is important to realize that they have had very positive experiences with self-publishing, and it is in their interests to encourage people to self-publish. Read their material with a grain of salt. There are no books about self-publishing written by the thousands of people who lost all their money through self-publishing ventures. That said, I used The Self-Publisher's Manual, The Complete Self-Publisher's Guide, and How to Self-Publish and Make Money. They were excelent reference tools. If there were a book entitled How I Ended Up Living in a Cardboard Box, Alone and Cold, Because of Self-Publishing, I'd recommend it too, just for balance.

3. Beware the vultures! There are many companies and "vanity presses" that feed off of naïve self-publishers. Beware of anything that sounds too good, or anybody who wants money. There are good, honest companies that provide sound, helpful services to self-publishers, and there are rip-off artists who will take copious amounts of your money. Always ask around. Check in with reputable sources. Do your homework.

4. Professional design and editing: If you want to sell through bookstores, it is essential that your book meets or exceeds the quality of the books you find in bookstores. This means a well-edited, well-designed book, inside and outside. Having a book that the average reader thinks is fine is not enough. Design "glitches" will stick in the teeth of people in the bookselling industry, meaning they won't want to carry, review, or distribute your book. Get a professional copy editor and book designer (or a graphic artist who works within the print industry). Again, do your homework. Your professional graphic artist friend might do a better job than the "book designer" you found on the Internet. It all depends on skill, experience, and style. When hiring a professional copy-editor, find one who comes recommended by third parties. Just because someone decides to hire himself or herself out for $30-$50/hour to design or edit books does not mean they're good at what they do.

5. Yes, there really is a stigma about self-publishers: There is a stigma within the publishing and the media towards self-publishers, and maybe for good reason. Anybody can self-publish a book, and sometimes terrible books are self-published, books that don't even meet basic standards. Also, self-published books usually don't receive wide distribution or review, as there are so many hurdles to overcome. Why review a book that won't get distributed? Why distribute a book that won't get reviewed? Many publications and radio/television shows won't look at self-published books until they have a reason to. The self-publishing stigma can be overcome, but it will take creativity, determination, and an understanding of why the stigma exists.

6. Distribution = headache: Book distribution is so convoluted that it would be silly to go into detail here to explain. To sum up: 60,000 books are published each year. Each book is a unique item. All books are returnable. Booksellers usually buy at a standard industry rate of 40% off the cover price. Bookstores return all unsold books to the publisher or distributor. Distributors return all unsold books to the publisher. Bookstores will only buy from a source when they KNOW they can return unsold books. Very few bookstores will buy from a small press directly. You can sometimes sell directly to local independent bookstores, but all chains, and all bookstores outside of your area will only buy through a distributor. Some of the online bookstores, like Amazon.com, offer programs that WILL take on small presses directly. They also pay much quicker than the rest of the industry. Distributors and wholesalers both get books into bookstores. Distributors help market the books and take about 20% of the cover price. Wholesalers simply warehouse and ship the book, and take 10-15% of the cover price. Distributors are more selective than wholesalers, and must be approached well before the book prints (possibly a year), as they plan their catalogues far in advance.

7. Self-publishing = More money per book? A good contract with a publisher will give you 10-15% of the cover price in royalties. This might not sound like a lot, but consider this: On average, distributors and wholesalers will take 60% of the cover price (of which they keep 20%). From your 40%, subtract the cost of printing, warehousing, shipping, and promoting your book (plus the money you spent on editing and design). Pretty soon you're down to 20-30%… and no publishing company helping you sell them!

On the other hand, books you sell in person or through the mail may bring you 70-80% of the cover price. Take into account how you want to sell your books. Also, know that it takes months to get paid for books that sell through bookstores. If you sell 100 books in January, your distributor will probably issue a cheque at the end of April... Or, they should. Some are notorious for slow payment. My favorite book wholesaler/distributor is Bookpeople in Oakland, and their distribution wing, Words Distribution. They're great people, and are loved and respected by both publishers and booksellers.

8. Timing: It is very difficult for a first time publisher to recreate the "timing" needed to give a book a good jump-start. Not completely impossible, but very, very, difficult. The timing works like this: 1) Getting early "Galley" reviews from galley reviewers or public figures, to be clipped and used as selling copy on the front and back cover. 2) Finding a distributor, months before the book prints, so they can put you in their catalogue many months before the publication date. 3) Printing the book 3-4 months before the publication date so you can send it off to book reviewers. 4) Using the new reviews as part of your industry sales campaign (getting the bookstores to stock your book). If you do your homework very well, you can pull this off… but it's more likely you will find yourself in self-publishing catch 22s. Reviewers may be hesitant to review a book that isn't in bookstores, bookstores may be hesitant to buy your book if it hasn't received many reviews. For a first time publisher it is best to give yourself a year to build up distribution and sales.

9. Rejection: Don't self-publish to avoid the rejection you may encounter while approaching trade publishers. You will deal with just as much rejection while self-publishing. Distributors may reject you. Reviewers may reject you. Bookstores may reject you… 60,000 books a year means people in the industry have little time to read books.

10. Ideal self-publishing situations: Self-publishing usually works best with niche market oriented or regional books. Example: You're involved in bible-based alternative therapy. You're also involved with the accompanying world of seminars, church groups, workshops, accreditation, and newsletters. You might be in a better position to distribute/market your book than any publisher, as you know all about the market, and the publisher knows nothing about the market. Another example: You write a book about local hiking. As it only needs to get to local stores, you can do much of the legwork yourself. Many bookstores have special sections for local material and will take them on consignment. You can also approach outdoor stores, tourism stores, and many other businesses that might want to sell a book on local hikes. These stores will have very different buying practices than bookstores, and may be happy to buy straight from you.

Sadly, poetry and literature are some of the most difficult books to sell through bookstores. Most bookstores simply aren't in a position to take on self-published books. They just aren't. Bookselling is tough. Notice how many bookstores are going out of business? Have some sympathy. Bookstores can only buy books if they are sure they can return them if they don't sell. That's why they usually buy all their books from reliable distributors and large publishers. They also want to keep their accounting simple, and want to deal with as few distributors as possible. Most distributors find that they can't make money off a one-time publisher, even if the book does well, as entering into a new business relationship takes an investment of time. Again, all this can be overcome. Just ask yourself: Is your passion writing or publishing? If it's publishing, then go for it. If it's writing, think twice.

11. About publishers: The most valuable thing a publisher has is relationships; hundreds, possibly thousands of relationships with people who work very hard at what they do and are flooded by more books than they possibly know what to do with. Any given publisher exists because they have won the trust of people at every level of the publishing/bookselling industry. Most people within this industry won't have time to look at books by authors/publishers they have never heard of. They're simply too busy trying to get through even a portion of the books that were sent to them by people they like and trust. New publishers do make their way into the industry, but usually it's because they show a commitment to publishing, and the first several books they publish have the misfortune of blazing a difficult trail. Publishing industry people are still prone to having their attention caught by a self-published book, but being "good" is probably not enough. Being the only expert in a particular field that represents a definable market will help. Being a famous person will help. Having a good book, even a very good and unique and innovative book, is not a good enough reason, because few people are going to have time to glance at it, because they are all flooded with so many books.

12. Selling books yourself: I've sold the majority of my books myself, mainly at readings and performances. Each time I sell a book myself, I get all the money. If you're in a position to sell lots of books yourself, self-publishing might be a great way to go. Heck, if you perform enough, you might want to forget about the whole bookstore thing altogether, which would make the whole process a lot easier, and possibly cheaper.

13. Homework, homework, and more homework: Do your homework before you decide to self-publish, and all the way through the publishing process. Identify your target market. Make contacts within that market. Ask people if they think there's a need for a book like yours. Ask how they typically get such materials. Contact the sources they mention and ask how they get their books/materials. Ask if they buy from self-publishers, or if they only work with distributors. Contact the distributor and ask if they would buy from a self-publisher. Don't wing it.

If you've read over the above information, and still have questions, email me. I'll see what I can do. I also recommend buying copies of my book, Emails from (Over?) the Edge for yourself and all your friends and family.