Learn How to Self-Publish a Non-Fiction Book

 

Have You Read Enough About Publishing to Become Thoroughly Confused?

Transform Your Manuscript into a Finished Book

Many people want to publish a book. An often cited survey from the Jenkins Group says that 80% of people want to write a book. But most people start reading about what it takes to get published and become discouraged.

If you want to use a book to promote your expertise, you are not alone. If you:

• Have access to a defined target market.
• Have one or more completed manuscripts.
• Are committed to seeing your name on the cover of a book.

You've probably determined that authoring a book can do great things for your bottom line. So you go forth on your publishing journey...

I'm Going to Write the Next Bestseller!

Most people figure that they'll write a best seller and get on Oprah. Unfortunately, the publishing world is not quite that simple. Publishing through a big traditional publishing house has advantages and disadvantages. In fact, if you've looked into it at all, you may have become a bit discouraged. After all, when you publish through a traditional publisher:

• It is hard to get accepted by an agent, and even if you have an agent, it is hard to get accepted by a publisher.
• You earn very little money on each book you sell. In fact, the advance is probably all the money you will ever see.
• You lose control over the layout and design of your book. If you don't like the way the book looks when it is packaged, you don't have much recourse.
• You lose the rights to your book and must take care to be able to get those rights back from the publisher when the book goes out of print (and hopefully before the publisher goes out of business).
• You suffer with a very slow time-to-market. It can take as long as two years for your title to become commercially available.

Okay, What About Self-Publishing?

After learning how long it takes and how little money you make going the traditional route, you think "I'll publish myself!" But that road can be a bit confusing too.

For your next book you decide to publish the book yourself. You do a search for "publish a book" in Google and you see all these ads that say things like "Self Publishing Made Easy." Wow that sounds great; they'll do everything for you.

But what's really happened is you've signed up with what's called a "subsidy" or "vanity" press.

Yes, you can get the book out quickly, but now you are responsible for the quality of the book. You have to figure out how your book will be edited, how the interior will be laid out, and how the cover will be designed.

Publishing through a subsidy publisher has a few other disadvantages as well:

• It is expensive. You pay a lot to get every book published and pay nickel-and-dime charges that add up quickly for supporting services that have questionable value.
• The subsidy press gives you higher royalties than a traditional publisher, but they still take a good chunk of the earnings.
• If you do take advantage of their layout and design offerings, you are often stuck with a canned, unappealing design.
• Finally, the book market associates your book with the other authors who used the same publisher and were careless with the quality of their books. This quality stigma is a big reason many people avoid vanity presses.

Okay so now you are really confused. What's left?

The Self-Publishing Option

If you have bad experiences with traditional publishing and subsidy publishing, at this point, you might decide to just do everything yourself.

After all, if you are going to have to take responsibility for the quality and promotion of your books, you may as well go all the way. The bad news is that learning what you need to know to self-publish a book can be challenging. It can take time you just don't have.

• Although the Internet has plenty of information on self-publishing, you have to weed through the information that does not apply to your situation. Plus, you may decide to self publishing using new print on demand (POD) printing technology. This area of publishing is newer, so it is not as well covered as other publishing methods.
• Plus unless you happen to be a graphic artist with high-quality desktop publishing software, you need to learn where and how to outsource layout and design work. This too requires research time and experience.

What you really need is a way to cut through the information overload and smoothly integrate self-publishing into your business.

Imagine how you would feel if:

• your book were on the shelves many months before traditionally-published competing books that cover the same time-sensitive topics?
• you had your own company imprint on the books you publish?
• you could hand a copy of your book to customers and prospects, rather than just a business card?
• your customers told you how your book helped them?
• readers of your book started calling your business when they need help in your area of expertise?
• you could make ten dollars on every book you sell, rather than twenty cents?
• you had full control over the layout and design of your book?
• you could update the cover or internals of your book at any time to correct errors or add clarity?
• you had total control over when your book is published and when it goes out of print?

Thanks to advances in desktop publishing software and print-on-demand (POD) technologies, the publishing industry has experienced an incredible transformation over the past decade.

Book publishing is no longer the domain of big companies with big budgets. It is now possible to operate a successful publishing business out of your home office, and you don't have to give up your garage to store crates full of books!

Print On Demand Without the Subsidy Press Stigma

Despite what the subsidy press folks would have you believe, print on demand is just a printing technology. A book is printed when it is ordered. In fact, "green publishing" is now possible. With POD, books are printed only when they are sold.

In the traditional publishing model, thousands of books are printed in each run, and many of them are returned as "remainders" that are destroyed or sold to warehouse stores at pennies on the dollar. What a waste!

In fact, thanks to today's technology:

• Getting started as a publisher is affordable like never before. If you are willing to do absolutely everything yourself, you can publish your first book for less than $500, and your second for less than $200!
• POD printers have direct hooks into electronic distribution systems, so your books are available for sale as soon as you approve the proof!
• You can make corrections to your book without making thousands of pre-printed books obsolete. You just provide new content to your printer and all new buyers get the new book.
• Major online booksellers like Barnes and Noble offer your books to a worldwide audience. They can order directly from your printer, so you make money on every sale, without having to handle a single book!
• You retain control over how, when, and where your book is published, which gives you incredible flexibility. If you get a big order, you can decide to print through an offset printer to save money. You aren't tied up in legal contracts that limit your ability to reproduce your own work.

As publishers ourselves, we have used print on demand printing to produce our books. The quality is good. In fact, many huge mainstream publishers use POD to publish many of their "backlist" titles. You probably have POD books on your bookshelf and didn't even realize it.

Publishing Services for Self Publishers

Because we have gone through the publishing process ourselves, we have learned many of the pitfalls and problems associated with bringing a book into fruition. Now we are helping other people. Whether you just need a little help getting four-color covers done or you need a full "book packaging" service, we can help. Here are two keys to remember:

• You own all your rights
• You are the publisher of record because you are publishing under your own ISBN

In the publishing world, what we offer is sometimes termed "book production" or "book coaching" services.

We are not publishing your book for you; we are offering services that help you self-publish your own books. There's a big difference.

"Susan and Logical Expressions helped me create a journal that was even better than what I had envisioned. With her professionalism, knowledge, and key understanding of my audience I felt confident and assured through every step of the process. I recommend Logical Expressions to anyone who wants have an enjoyable and successful experience in creating and publishing their book."
   ~ Valery Satterwhite, Founder, International Association
       for Inner Wizards (read more testimonials)

Get Published Now

Our Self-Publishing Business Toolkit gives you everything you need to know to add publishing to your business. The toolkit includes:

• Book Registration: We help you figure out which numbers you need for your book (ISBN, LCCN, LOC) and explain how you get them.
• Book Printing: We can teach you the ropes in working with Lightning Source, the premier POD printer.

You also may want to take advantage of our book packaging services. We can help you with:

• Interior layout
• Indexing
• Book cover design

We use Adobe InDesign for all our book layout, which typographically speaking is the best tool for the job. We create a layout that reflects the look you want for your book, yet also conforms to standard publishing-industry conventions.

Are you ready to become an infopreneur and create your own publishing company? Submit our Self-Publishing Business Questionnaire with no obligation, we'll talk with you personally about your self-publishing plans and needs.

If you want to delay your move into self-publishing until you've had more time to learn about it, try our free weekly Publishize Newsletter or podcast. Every week, you'll learn more about how to become a successful author and self-publisher. Check out the newsletter archive to see the topics we have covered so far.

Get a Free 15-Minute Consultation on Your Book Project by Filling Out Our Self-Publishing Business Questionnaire

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