indie publishing Archives - Sonia Marsh

Have you thought about starting your own publishing company but don’t know how to start? I’d like to introduce you to Michele DeFilippo, owner of 1106 Design, a Phoenix-based company that assists authors in self-publishing their books. She has written a guest post to help you answer some questions.

A Guest Post by Michele DeFilippo

It happened to other bloggers and it finally happened to me: I convinced myself that if I had enough words in me to write a blog then I had enough words in me to write a book. Several months later, I self-published my first book Publish Like the Pros: A Brief Guide to Quality Self-Publishing (and an Insider’s Look at a Misunderstood Industry).

Self-publishing is not a simple process and many authors don’t know where to start. I confess: I own 1106 Design, a Phoenix-based company that assists authors in self-publishing their books, so I knew exactly where to start and I had a terrific team at hand to help me. But many authors—viewing self-publishing as very complicated—are stymied from the start by the question: Just who is the publisher?

The answer might seem obvious, but to many people it’s not. Traditional publishing companies are held in awe. They are the gatekeepers, determining who gets published and who doesn’t. Also, there are many “self-publishing companies” out there who know exactly how to capitalize on the confused author’s emotions, promising “easy” (and ultimately, expensive) solutions that are nothing more than classic bait-and-switch schemes. But authors don’t need a self-publishing company at all, so be savvy and steer clear. Remember, if you are self-publishing, YOU are the publisher!

The name you create for your independent publishing business (or “indie” publisher) is the “imprint” – the brand name under which the book is published. Having a logo created for your imprint will add a lovely professional touch to your book cover.

OK, so you’re an indie publisher; now what?

First, treat your endeavor like a business with you as the CEO and your book as your product. Your product should be the result of a lot of research. Hopefully you have researched the market potential for your book. Unfortunately, many authors write a book and then try to find a market for it. Instead, authors should determine a need in the marketplace and write a book to meet that need.

After your book is written, it needs to be polished and packaged into a high-quality product that meets industry standards and is attractive to buyers. No CEO can do this alone, and this is where your team comes in, which at a minimum, should consist of a book designer and an editor and proofreader.

A great cover and well-designed interior pages are essential to a quality product. Anything less will scream “self-published!” and surprisingly, a goal of self-publishing is to create books that don’t appear to be self-published. Your cover should deliver a compelling message and stand out from other books. The pages should be visually appealing, hold interest, and be easy on the eye. Consciously or subconsciously, these are factors that buyers consider when deciding to purchase a book. Book designers are trained professionals, and as such you should hire a book designer rather than attempt to do it yourself. In addition, your book designer can help you with your barcode, your logo and other aspects of the publishing process. Note that you can obtain your own ISBNs from Bowker (www.myidentifiers.com). Beware! Don’t allow a so-called “self-publishing company” to provide you with one of theirs!

An editor is also critical to the book’s success. Writing a book is much different than writing a blog! At a minimum, an editor will:

Check the order, flow and consistency of your material.
Ensure the content is not repetitive or redundant.
Edit for mistakes in terminology or logic.
Smooth out your writing, correct your errors, fix your typos and check your grammar.

You will also need a company to print your book. We suggest Lightning Source and CreateSpace as print-on-demand solutions, and yes, you can and should open your own account with them, putting you firmly in control. Print-on-demand services are a cost-conscious way of printing only enough books to meet current demand. You should also consider producing an eBook edition.

Once you’ve hired your team, you can think about marketing and distribution. You may wish to hire a marketing consultant; in fact, you can bring in a marketing consultant during your research stage to help you define the target market before the design process begins. Other services are available to help you along the way, such as a book title consultant, a copywriter to write your back cover copy, someone to index your book, a designer to create your press kit, and more.

Many companies offer self-publishing packages, with book design, editing, printing and other services bundled together at a reduced price. Personally, I think that being your own publisher puts you into a position of strength, where you get to choose the professionals that you want to work with. Good luck!

Michele DeFilippo owns 1106 Design, a Phoenix-based company that works with authors, publishers, business pros, coaches, consultants, speakers . . . anyone who wants a beautiful book, meticulously prepared to industry standards. After helping almost a thousand authors make their books a reality, Michele has just self-published her first book Publish Like the Pros: A Brief Guide to Quality Self-Publishing (and an Insider’s Look at a Misunderstood Industry)

Sonia Marsh says: After researching what goes into creating a professional looking book from various sources, including the book designer, Joel Friedlander, an expert in book design, I started my own publishing company, “Gutsy Publications.” I also looked at many design and formatting companies, and finally selected 1106 Design.

1106 Design did a fantastic book cover for me, ( my book cover,) a company logo and interior formatting as I could never have done such a professional job myself.

Michele DeFilippo is the author of Publish Like the Pros: A Brief Guide to Quality Self-Publishing

In case you didn’t already know, I’m a huge fan of 1106 Design. I’m so glad I discovered them for my indie-publishing needs.

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Please vote for your favorite October “My Gutsy Story.” You have until November 14th to vote, and the winner will be announced on November 15th. You can read all of them and vote here.

SCROLL DOWN ON SIDEBAR TO VOTE. Only ONE vote each.

Do you have a “My Gutsy Story” you’d like to share?

NOW is the time to submit your own “My Gutsy Story” and get published in our Anothology. Please contact sonia@soniamarsh.com for details.

To submit your own, “My Gutsy Story” you can find all the information, and our sponsors on the “My Gutsy Story” contest page. (VIDEO) Submission guidelines here.

Our first November “My Gutsy Story” is by Jerry Waxler. You can read it here.

This is a Guest post by Ali Luke from Aliventures.

Imagine my surprise when Ali Luke, a writing coach who has been featured on some of the biggest online blogs like Copyblogger and ProBlogger, and who recently spoke at Blogworld, the world’s largest social media conference, decided to send me her “My Gutsy Story.” Since Ali is a writing coach, I thought it would be helpful for writers looking to publish their work to see how Ali Luke took the plunge to indie-publish her first novel and why.

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My Gutsy Story: Publishing My First Novel

In November 2011, I released my first novel, Lycopolis.

It took a lot of time.

I spent a year drafting. And another year re-drafting. And then I edited – again and again. Along the way, I cut out tens of thousands of words.

It took a lot of money.

I wrote the bulk of the novel while studying for a part-time Masters in Creative Writing (not cheap)! I paid a wonderful professional editor to go through the whole Draft 5 manuscript. I took day courses, went to conferences, bought writing books.

Most of all, it took a lot of courage.

I put more of myself into Lycopolis than I’ve ever put into any piece of writing. I shared my work with tutors and fellow students. I wrote and rewrote and polished and gave it my very best.

Why I Self-Published

For a long time, I’d clung to an old writing dream. If you’re a writer too, it might be one that you share. I wanted to get an agent, sign a book deal, and write novels for a living – all day, every day.

The problem is, that dream started to look more and more unrealistic.

Publishing is undergoing the biggest upheaval since Gutenberg. With ebooks – and Amazon’s dominance over traditional book stores – things have been changing fast.

More and more authors are deciding to go it alone. There are plenty of good reasons why:

You’ve got full control over the finished product. I’ve seen some shocking badly formatted ebooks from big publishers who should know better – and I didn’t want to risk that happening to mine.
You get to keep considerably more of the money. Most published authors don’t make a living through writing. At 10 – 15 % per book, they’re not the ones getting rich from their hard work.
You can publish something that’s from your heart, not what’s expected to sell. If you’re writing in an unpopular genre (or across genres) then self-publishing means you can produce the book you want, not what publishers can easily pigeon-hole.

I’m no stranger to putting my writing out there. I’ve been blogging for several years – you can find my work on dozens of different websites. But publishing a novel took a lot of guts.

I thought my established readership might not like it. My blogging is pretty upbeat; Lycopolis is quite dark. (Lots of people have said they enjoyed it, and that it was still “me”!)

I worried what friends and family would think. (The ones who’ve read it so far have been enthusiastic.)

I was afraid that the reviews wouldn’t be good: that my novel would be too thoughtful for genre fans and too fast-paced for literary fiction aficionados. (I’ve had great reviews from genre readers and literary readers.)

All of my fears were ungrounded. But I could so easily have let them stop me.

If you’ve been working on a project close to your heart, don’t be afraid to let the world see. I know it takes courage. But if you don’t go forwards, you’ll never know who you might touch, who’s life you might impact.

Ali Luke is the author of Lycopolis, a supernatural-thriller/contemporary-fantasy with a good dose of geekery thrown in. You can find out all about it at www.lycopolis.co.uk (and download the first five chapters as a free sample).

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Ali Luke is a writer and writing coach, with degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing. Her work can be found on a number of large websites, including Copyblogger, ProBlogger, Men with Pens and Write to Done. She’s spoken at BlogWorld and OxonDigital, and works with individuals and groups of writers. You can get several of her short ebooks for free (including the popular How to Find Time for Your Writing) when you join her newsletter. Her novel, Lycopolis, is available on Amazon.

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Please leave your questions and comments for Ali below. Also I noticed Ali is offering a special price on all 3 of her Blogger’s Guides until December 12th. You may want to check them out on her Aliventures website.