The unheard words of new writers...

ContenTs:
Intro Why (pt2) Promotion (pt3) Manuscript (pt4) How to? (pt5)

Unheardwords editorial 19^th Mar to 20^th May 2005

Self-Publish and be Damned (introduction)

Have you ever thought about self-publishing?
You're not alone.
In this five-part editorial we explore some of the pathways to modern self-publishing.

As anyone who’s tried will tell you, it’s a hard slog to get noticed by an established Publisher. Authorhouse.co.uk - a provider of self-publishing, marketing and promotional services - says that 98 percent of unsolicited manuscripts submitted to Publishers are rejected.

Of course, an essential ingredient is a good manuscript (a novel, collection of short stories or poetry or ...) but even then this is no guarantee. Good can often be in the eye of the beholder. Plenty of not-so-good books are published-in-print, and sometimes fashion, the Media, trendy or topical subject matter or even sheer weight of marketing can take as big a hand in the process. It isn’t always about the quality of the writing, sometimes it’s what you're writing about that matters.

Given the hardships that can accompany the formal publishing route, it isn’t surprising that many people think about self-publishing along the way. Today especially, in the electronic information age, the options and opportunities to 'self-publish and be damned' appear much greater and even easier.

Until recently, a long-running advert in a weekend newspaper
proclaimed, ‘Want To Be A Writer?’, and went on to describe the
merits of becoming the proud owner / publisher of your own treasured
work.

This was one of the faces of conventional self-publishing. You took a prepared manuscript, had it typeset and printed. Took delivery of the 2 to 300 bound copies of your book; found somewhere dry and safe for storage; and began to send and sell each precious copy in the neighbourhood of friends and family, that was your local market.

In the twenty first century, there are a variety of electronic means of preparing your work and making it available to acquaintances and customers near and far. However, beyond the domain of the self - that is to say, preparing your own work - the pathways to ePublishing, even in this information age, can be littered with barriers akin to those of conventional self-publishing.

"Overcoming the Barriers to ePublishing Yourself"
Some of the important questions to ask and answer are:

b) How do you get your work to publication quality? (and how will you get your raw word processed file into a final publishable form?)

rules

Are you simply interested in getting your message out there (non-ISBN, blogs, the web and websites)?

d) As an unknown author; how will you promote your publication? And, perhaps the most important question;

a) Why do you want your work to be published?

In the next part of this editorial (soon to be published) we will explore this question.

Comment, Answers, Feedback WriteIn or email editor@unheardwords.com (editor@unheardwords.com)

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Editorial - 01^st Apr 2005

Self-Publish and be Damned (Why publish - part two)

Have you ever thought about self-publishing?
You're not alone. In the second part of this special editorial
we will explore the important question -

WHY do you want to be published?

This is perhaps the most important question because self-publishing and vanity publishing can be quite closely linked. And, being clear from the start, about your reasons for wanting to have your work published, could save you a lot of time, money and soul searching later.

If in conventional terms the Publisher or literary agent acts as an objective filter; separating out the good, from the bad, and the bad from the utterly un-publishable; there is a chance that by choosing to remove the filter you are simply elevating yourself to the status of judge and jury over your own work.

And, why not; with all the means at our disposal these days, what’s wrong with getting your unique message Out There, alongside all the others. Surely, one of those new media channels to the lucrative pool of potential readers belongs to you?

In truth, there isn’t anything wrong with this approach, but just how much are you prepared to pay to set-up and use that new media channel? For most people a practical obstacle that will stand in their way is money (be that cash or time). Getting your message out there will come with a price tag, so before you set out to tell the world about the life according to YOU, it’s worth

- creating
    -a little space
        - in which to think things through.

What is the purpose of publishing your work?

  Do you have something great to tell the world?

  Is there something you think will benefit, enlighten
   and enrich people’s lives?

  Must you simply be heard?

  Do you think that what you’ve got to say will have people
   queuing around the block and make you a lot of money?

  Is your work so great that it would be a shame for you
   to deny readers the opportunity to consume it?

  Is it ego driven?

  Are you seeking fame and fortune through your art?

All of these may be valid reasons – what’s important is knowing YOUR
reason(s). WHY?  Because, this reason will provide a clue and should help you to determine a suitable route to publishing.

Take the following two scenarios drawn from real life:

Scenario one: Growing impatient to see your work in print

I decided to self publish because I grew increasingly
disheartened by the rejections I received from Publishers
(over a 12 month period) and grew impatient to see my work
in print. I revised and edited my own manuscript to bring
it up to publishable quality; contracted a printer both to
do the book cover design and print the book. The print run
was small, around 250 copies and I handled sale and
distribution myself – managing to sell around 200 copies
locally. It had been my aim to shift all 250 copies but
I’ve conceded failure on that score and this means I
won’t break even after all the publishing costs. Doing
it this way has given me great control over my book but
sometimes I wish I’d been a bit more patient and awaited
a Publisher.

Scenario two: Publishing’s all that matters

I just go ahead and publish. Sometimes I blog it,
literally. Sometimes I find a suitable website and submit
to get published that way. I’ve even had a word processed
document up on a site so that it could be downloaded. The
plus side is that it’s cheap and that you spend more of
your time writing new stuff, than repeatedly putting the
finishing touches to something that you wrote months ago.
This is 2004 and somehow having piles of printed books on
shelves and in warehouses, wasting transport dollars and
the earth’s resources isn’t meant to be a good idea anymore,
is it? I don’t understand how the top awards are all for
published in print or self-published in print books. Where
are the awards for published in blogs or on site? I’m just
interested in having what I write published, all of the
formalities and standards (ISBN for example) would be a
distraction to me.

These scenarios give two views on self-publishing.
In the first, our writer is frustrated and driven by urgency to have her work published. At the outset she sees an obvious market out there and is prepared to go it alone. Later she realises that although costly, it isn’t actually the production and printing of the book that’s the hard part. It’s the promotion, sale and distribution that’s hardest – the market you see is not the same as the one that actually exists. And eventually, she concedes that if she can’t cover her costs it may not have been worthwhile going ahead.

Our second writer is less concerned with the conventions; he appears at ease with the new online means of publishing and doesn’t crave to see his work in print. He places his emphasis on reaching the audience and hints at carefully selecting the outlets used in order to reach his readership. It does appear to be a low cost approach, and it may well reach an audience. Clearly, the satisfaction for this author is in the writing and the instant ability to publish.

You can perhaps take four things from this brief exploration:

1. The reason you publish (ego, interest, entertainment, information, profit) can be related to;

2. The way you choose to publish (in print, home made in print, print-on-demand, ebook, online) as allowed or constrained by;

3. The means you have available (energy, time and money) to reach;

4. Your desired audience (and goal)

In summary, no matter how great the drive to self-publish YOUR work; it is achieving your aim in publishing that matters. Keep in mind the many ways and means that are available; it doesn’t always have to be about money or result in a conventionally bound printed book.

In the next part of this editorial we will explore the questions raised by but left curiously unanswered in the introduction (smile).

Comment, Answers, Feedback WriteIn or email editor@unheardwords.com (editor@unheardwords.com)

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Editorial - 21^st Apr 2005

Self-Publish and be Damned (Make your book known - part three)

Have you ever thought about self-publishing?
You're not alone. In the third part of this special editorial
we'll tackle another important question -

As an unknown author; how will you promote your publication?

This is almost as important as ‘purpose’ (covered in part two) because it’s one of the things that’s easily forgotten in the heady passions of self-publishing.

It can be time consuming and cost you some of your hard earned to get your work published – you know that. But, what happens once it has been published. There they are, 200 books, sitting in four boxes in the hall or virtually, your bio and blurb awaiting clicks from internet users in general and potential readers and consumers, in particular.

But, you are not that well known author, celebrity documentary maker or better known as the partner of that never out of the news hip-pop star. You are Miss or Mr Unknown Jones. And, you have a great book to tell and sell, but no unique hook to bait the casual reader. If your work doesn’t get read, will self-publishing still have been such a great idea? Think once, twice and thrice about this.

Think about ways and means and audience again. Think about the gap between your writing and the reader. How will you promote your work? How good will you be at promoting your work? What help will you need to promote your work?

If you have access to a good local market for your style of writing, then you may have no problem shifting copies like ice cream on a hot sunny day. You’re also unlikely to need an ISBN (this will be covered later). If you’re looking to sell beyond friends and family, you’re going to need to do something extraordinary to get your work noticed, talked about and read. You may need to create a reputation before you ever get to self-publishing big time. You may need to explore your market(s) and options carefully, well in advance. You may need to build some good relationships with people who are prepared to promote on your behalf. Find that little space you created earlier (part two) and think things through.

Three Practical Ideas

The Family Market
Many people think of friends and family as their first audience, that’s ok. But, as well as buying or receiving your book, you’d do well to have them agree to promote or recommend your book to others. Promotion is time consuming and you’re an author – the more you can delegate the work of promotion to others, the lighter the load on you.

Communities of Interest
Sometimes there may be an audience for your work that you’ve never considered. It may be possible to cross associate the theme or subject matter of your book with an existing community of interest – in which case you can use websites, online forums, journals, etc. to help you in your promotion efforts. For example:

someone recently wrote to me about a novel they were preparing
for publication; the book was semi-autobiographical and in it the
principle character (42 year old female), decides to completely change
her life, which involved major disruption for her family, take on of a
new career and even, leaving her country behind.

In addition to a general audience, this novel would have a potential appeal to: women facing major family / career decisions; people with families planning to emigrate; and those aged between 39 and 51 in the throws of mid-life crisis. Any reasonable means of reaching these groups to promote your work, would therefore be worth considering.

Readership by Association
Are there existing books that compliment or tackle similar themes or issues to your own. If you can identify some such then perhaps building your own ‘those who enjoyed these, will also enjoy this’ is a good idea. This enables association between you, as a less well known author and known authors and their work.

Build or discard these three, either way you're sure to come up with more of your own. Do some research; find places, spaces, and faces both physical and virtual that will be able to help you get the word out. It can be done, all I’m saying is think about promotion alongside or ahead of the actual publication – not as an after thought.

Next up we really will return to question b) (as framed in the introduction) and as yet, left curiously unanswered (smile).

Comment, Answers, Feedback WriteIn or email editor@unheardwords.com (editor@unheardwords.com)

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Editorial - 6^th May 2005

Self-Publish and be Damned (Prepare to publish - part four)

Have you ever thought about self-publishing?
You’re not alone. In part four we’ll explore preparing
your work for publication, the question being:

b) How do you get your work to publication quality?

Preparing your manuscript

Achieving “Publication Quality” means producing a manuscript that is ready to go to print, this could be: online as a web page; in portable document format as an ebook (see later); or literally, in print form.

Put yourself in the position of the reader. You don’t access, acquire or purchase a publication because you’ve always fancied becoming a secondary editor. You do not expect to have to figure out what the author meant; to have to correct spelling and punctuation; or to put up with poorly reproduced text or graphics.

Your content needs to be sound (coherent, logical); the punctuation needs to work as intended; the ‘look and feel’ (typesetting or layout) need to compliment the publication.

In short, your manuscript should comprise content that’s fit for publication and this, at least, means the best you can make it, before it’s published.

To achieve this you could:

1. Do-it-yourself (DIY)
Work through your manuscript systematically, first in ‘sense making’ mode, and second in ‘typo and correction’ mode. Make sure you allow plenty of time for this, it’s likely to take several iterations in each of the modes. And, you should allow extra time to accommodate periods between bouts of editing your own work – what appears great just after you wrote it, can look lousy in the morning (or a few weeks on). Remember TIME.

For a complex work, such as a novel, you may also need to read it for coherence, clarity and consistency (the ‘3Cs’). This involves approaching the manuscript in a different way from the general reader. Instead of reading sequentially, the intention is to hop and skip about through the text, following through plot lines; tracing the development of characters and relationships; paying attention to your timeline and the sequencing of events. This will take More time.

2. Use the services of a professional editor
This will be costly but if you get the right person for the job it will undoubtedly be worth it. An editor should be able to pick up things you never knew you’d meant to write and much more besides. This is what they do for a living, and the objectivity they can bring will be invaluable.
Cost: upwards of 150 UKP per 20,000 words.

3. Combined DIY and copy editing services
Do what you can with your manuscript in terms of sense, meaning and the 3Cs, and then have a copy editor review it. Copy editing is less rigorous than ‘professional editing’, and generally involves someone reviewing your manuscript (or a part of it) to correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.

As you may only employ the services of a copy-editor on parts of your manuscript, this may represent a less expensive approach than professional editing. Even so, it’s yet another level of commitment to the cause.
Cost: upwards of 50 UKP per 10,000 words.

Other Options
                      you could consider when preparing your manuscript for publication, include:

  Manuscript appraisal – 'provides you with a comprehensive
  report about your work and whether or not it is considered
  suitable for publication' ( thewordstory );

  web design and page layout (web);

  Layout of your own work using desktop publishing software
  (electronic document layout);

  the design of a distinctive cover page (book);

  typesetting, font and paper selection (in print);

  selection of graphics and preparation of pictures, photographs
   or diagrams.

The list could go on. Simply put, do what you can yourself. Where this isn’t possible, for example physical printing, select your supplier carefully and spend your money wisely. If you have the option, consider professional editing or finishing services.

THE format of your manuscript
Most new writers will simply be familiar with writing and putting together collections of poems, stories, chapters or essays, and formatting them for local printing.

In the context of preparing a publication, you need to remember that the raw text or content (including pictures / diagrams) needs to be viewed as separate from the final printed or displayed version. For example: you may prepare text that is later edited or proof-read by someone else; or you may prepare text that needs to be interpreted (say, by a printer) before it can be printed, displayed or published.

It is important to know what stage in the self-publishing chain you’ve reached and who or what you’re preparing your manuscript for. It would be pointless spending time pre-formatting your document, as if it is to be locally printed, only to find that this formatting becomes a hindrance to the next party in the chain.

As an example, the following are typical requirements for work to be submitted to a journal publisher (pre-typesettng):

  .Do not format any of your text

  .Use double line spacing

  .Ensure left margins are at least 1 and a half inches wide

  .Do not auto justify text, but leave right margins ragged

  .Use the same standard font and point size (preferable 10 point) for all text

  .Be consistent in the method used to indicate levels of heading

  .All art work should be contained as a single package

Remember, be mindful of the stages of publication, only do what you need to in the write-up and preparation of your content, find out the requirements or guidelines governing the submission of your manuscript to any third party (such as a printer) you'll be using.

Mini tips: Selecting Editing Services
Saving you time or getting an independent check of your manuscript are both good reasons for spending money on these services, but remember the common sense that you apply when buying any product or service. Choose your provider carefully. Get full details of the service being offered to you and what you can expect to receive in the end. If possible, speak to a current or former customer – where they happy with the service they received?

It Is Assumed That Your Text Is On PC
This assumes your work has already been typed up using a word processing package, and stored as one or more files on a personal computer. It is of course possible to have your work typed up. The cost of doing this could be in the region of 250 UKP (450 USD, 350 EUR) per 100,000 words. You could also have it scanned in (if in type written form) for conversion to a standard file format (i.e. mybook.doc). The simple message is, if you can, do it yourself.

Cost Summary (UKP=UK pounds, USD=US Dollar, EUR=Euro)
Using the services of a professional editor
Cost: upwards of 150 UKP (or 275 USD, 200 EUR) per 20,000 words.

Combined DIY and copy editing services
Cost: upwards of 50 UKP (90 USD, 70 EUR) per 10,000 words.

Converting typed text to electronic text
Cost: upwards of 250 UKP (450 USD, 350 EUR) per 100,000 words.

From Manuscript to Publication

Eventually, you will be in a position to move on to publication. At this stage you will need to have a manuscript that is ready for print / publishing. Remember the advice given above – ensure you understand the guidelines set out by your Printer or Self-Publisher.

If you intend to publish in print, then your printer will be able to accept a wide range of electronic document formats (such as mybook.doc, mybook.rft, etc.).

Publishing directly on the web will require re-formatting of your text in hyper-text mark-up language (HTML). This is not as complex as it sounds and the basics can be quite easily picked up: the following sites may help:

W3 School Dave's HTML NCSA HTML Dog

Another way of publishing via the web is to make your file or files available for download via a website. Again, this uses a simple piece of HTML code (the 'Anchor' tag). Again the sites listed above may be of assistance.

To publish in the form of an eBook (electronic book) in a widely useable form, consider using the portable document format (pdf). This format allows: a protected final form document to be created. This means a document that will look and print the same way independent of the PC or Printer used by the person acquiring or downloading the file.

Pdf makes the file more available to potential readers because the software they require is widely available. The software that allows pdf’s to be read (such as Adobe Acrobat Reader) is free-of-charge and available to download. Pdf files can be made less revisable than plain word processed files, their form is more final. The software required to create pdf files varies in quality and price but entry-level solutions can be purchased at relatively low cost.

Next time, in the final part of this special editorial we'll address the last, but not least, question (smile).

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Editorial - 20^th May 2005

Self-Publish and be Damned (How to publish - part five)

Have you ever thought about self-publishing?
You’re not alone. In the final part of this special editorial
we explore what forms your publication might take:

c) What approach will you take to publication of your work?

Do you need or intend to comply with the rules –
your book on general sale (and ISBNs)?

Publishing For The Masses

If you plan to sell your book through major high street or internet booksellers, you will need an ISBN (international standards book number). The ISBN is a product code acquired by a publisher; the party (perhaps you) who will bear the costs of publishing the book.

The location of the publisher, where their national office is (or you are) based, will determine the national agency that will be responsible for issuing the ISBN. Acquiring an ISBN (usually a block of at least ten numbers) in the UK costs around 80 UKP (ISBN Agency). But, rules vary from country to country, in Canada, for example, ISBNs are issued free of charge.

Publishers using an ISBN have certain obligations, such as making a limited number of printed copied of any publication available to the public via selected libraries. Take a look at any commercially available publication to see where the ISBN information is typically printed – this number also tends to be incorporated into a bar code which typically appears on the back page of the book's cover.

To get your book out there and on sale you can use one or more of the online booksellers or self-publishing companies. These services or outlets will offer various options for assisting you in bringing your manuscript to retail (see part four). Likewise, the service charge or proportion of the income per book sold that's retained by the service provider will vary. But, the likelihood is that your book will end up retailing for between 20 and 35 percent more than a book of comparable length and genre, produced by a conventional publisher.

The routes to print publication, from manuscript to book on-sale, can be summarised as follows:

From Manuscript

.to Printer
This is a do-it-yourself (DIY) option, where alongside your manuscript you determine how cover art-work and other finishing touches will be arrange, and strike a deal directly with a Printer. This could be very suitable if you have the time and want total control of your project (and all rights to your material). It could also be the most cost effective, as long as you shop around. Remember, in this way, you are also taking on arrangement for promotion and sale of your book; though options for on-line and limited high street selling will still be open to you.

.to Self-Publishing Service Provider
These organisations will offer a range of services from preparation of your manuscript, through to printing and retailing of your book. You pay, they do. You need to get quotes from different providers and workout if what’s being offered is valuable and represents a real improvement over DIY.

.to Vanity or Subsidised Self-Publisher
These organisations will publish on your behalf, with you paying them to do so. Beware of this option. It could lead to you losing control of your project after putting a lot of work in. Your book may certainly be published, but it may feel much less like your book at the end of the process, even though you have effectively paid to have it published.

Both paid-for options above, will offer some sort of marketing and retailing service, though these are not always very effective in reality. So, even if you pay you still need to think long and hard about how you’ll promote (see part three).

Others Ways and Means and Considerations
There are a number of online self-publishers and other options available. Shop around, and be mindful of what the terms of any contract you are asked to sign mean. Ideally, you will retain copyright and all other rights to the reproduction of your work (unless someone intends to pay you a fair fee for certain rights to publish your work). Think carefully if you are being asked to grant certain rights to a third party company or self-publisher.

Remember also, that you may have to spend 500 UKP (925 USD, 700 EUR) or more producing your book and having a limited number of copies printed. Stack up the costs and ask; can I recoup the money I intend to spend on this project? What value can I get from my published book over time, if I don’t manage to achieve major sales within the first year of publication?

Useful Links:
ISBN Agency UK
Publish and be damned
go-publish-yourself
Lulu

Mini tips: How’s the ISBN used?
The ISBN is used by libraries and booksellers for the purpose of cataloguing a book – identifying the origin of the publisher, the publisher, the title and edition.

Copyright Law - check out the copyright law for the markets you intend to publish in. Copyright protection of published material can usually be registered for a small fee. You can also afford some protection by ensuring you have an independently verifiable record of being the first person to produce or publish a piece of writing, but country and state rules may vary, so it’s best to know where you stand.

c) What approach will you take to publication of your work? (2)

Are you simply interested in getting your message out there
(non-ISBN, blogs, websites)?

Simply Publishing

The answer to this question relates back (part two) to your purpose. Find that space, we created earlier
- and have another think, if you’re still unsure.

Simply getting your message out there has a lot going for it:

because of its immediacy, it can be the most creative;

because it’s likely to require fewer steps, it should be less complicated;

because you can play a much bigger part, with greater control

and finally,
because it’s likely to cost less.

Simple Self-Publishing in Print
Many of the considerations covered previous (parts 1 – 4) will apply, the difference being that if you have a ready-made audience or a local market, there may be no need to spend hundreds on a high quality print finish. You should need no ISBN and hopefully, can rely on family, friends and acquaintances for distribution; which may present few problems, especially if your readers are mainly interested in what you have to say. This method could give you total control from manuscript to sale, including much more freedom to set the price-per-book.

Simple Self-Publishing on the Internet
You can choose many different forms

Unmoderated
from those you write and release immediately - un-moderated forums and blogs;

Submit for Publication
to those you submit to be considered for publication on an existing web-site (www.unheardwords.co.uk, for example). Incidentally, this could equally apply to in print magazines and journals.

Self-published Online
or an approach that leads you to launching your very own website. Many writers do this as a means of strengthening their profile, providing their (potential) readers with a back story and presenting excerpts from their work. The technical know-how to build a site can seem daunting at first (some references to helpful sites on this are given in part four). Alternatively, like many things nowadays, there are a range of 'getting started' hosting packages, and it is possible to purchase (everything you need to launch and maintain a simple site) a professional service, for between 5 – 10 UKP per month.

Any of these methods could prove highly rewarding and meet your purpose just as well as having your book in conventional print.

My final message to you: once you’ve decided to publish, you will find yourself in an expanding world of possibilities. It’s definitely possible to get your message out there: it’s the how, how much, where and why that you need to decide.

I certainly encourage you to explore the possibilities and wish you luck, in your endeavours to self-publish (smile).

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