By James L Hill (aka J. L. Hill)
Publishing companies take care of the editing, cover design, printing, marketing and distribution of books. It is all necessary to put out a good quality book. When you self publish all those jobs go to you. It might seem glamorous or a power rush to have total control, but in reality it’s a lot of work, and it gets in the way of your real job – writing.
Rarely is anything perfect the first time around. Even if you are an English Major Graduate you should still get an editor. The fact is it is easier to find other’s errors than it is to find your own. I edited my book four times before it went to print; I still found some errors. A few bad errors can turn a great book into a mediocre piece of writing.
Cover design can make or break a book. It has to convey what the book is about and make you want to read it over the hundreds of other books on the shelves. In a word, it has to captivate. I submitted a cover photo for Killer With A Heart. It is a young black man hugging a topless blonde girl while holding two pistols behind her. This gives you a good idea of what the book is about. My graphic designers added a smoky bedroom background. Together it gives the cover a mysterious atmosphere which intrigues and grabs attention.
Pegasus: A Journey To New Eden cover is a straight forward picture from NASA’s website. If anyone is wondering, it is the Heart and Soul Nebula, which I felt was befitting the story inside. I’m sure only an astronomy geek like myself, who spends hours studying Hubble’s photos would recognize it. I think it’s cool.
Printing is the easiest part of self publishing. There are several desktop publishing programs on the market to format your manuscript. They are simple and easy to use. The trick is finding someone to print it at a reasonable cost. There is, of course, the eBook option. Do take advantage of it. I do, but there is no greater feeling of accomplishment than holding a copy of your book in your hands, or the real satisfaction of autographing a copy for an appreciative reader. EBooks can’t compare with that.
That brings me to marketing and distribution. You can write an amazing story, wrap it in an eye-popping cover, have a million copies printed and boxed, but unless your brother-in-law owns a bookstore – on a very busy street – in a major city, your book isn’t going anywhere.
Major publishing houses employ an army of marketing people to write ads for newspapers, radio, and TV. They have the money to afford to run those ads. Newspaper ads cost about two thousand dollars for an inch of space in a national paper. That’s two thousand dollars for one inch for one day that is expensive real estate to be sure. You cannot accomplish anything running one ad; try a week, maybe a month to see results. Radio and TV isn’t any cheaper, especially when you factor in production cost.
Getting your book reviewed in a major paper is tough. I have a good friend I approached at our local paper. He told me the paper only reviewed books from known publishers. Luckily there is the internet, and people willing to do reviews and interviews of self-published authors. Finding them is time consuming but worth it. That’s how I ended up here, writing this blog, trying to help you navigate the perils of self publishing.
Would I do it again? Yes. Would I do things differently? Of course, live and learn, try not to make the same mistakes twice. I thought it would be great to get a publisher, a nice advance, I spend my time writing. Now I want a publisher to handle all the other things without charging me, so I can spend my time writing.
Publishing companies take care of the editing, cover design, printing, marketing and distribution of books. It is all necessary to put out a good quality book. When you self publish all those jobs go to you. It might seem glamorous or a power rush to have total control, but in reality it’s a lot of work, and it gets in the way of your real job – writing.
Rarely is anything perfect the first time around. Even if you are an English Major Graduate you should still get an editor. The fact is it is easier to find other’s errors than it is to find your own. I edited my book four times before it went to print; I still found some errors. A few bad errors can turn a great book into a mediocre piece of writing.
Cover design can make or break a book. It has to convey what the book is about and make you want to read it over the hundreds of other books on the shelves. In a word, it has to captivate. I submitted a cover photo for Killer With A Heart. It is a young black man hugging a topless blonde girl while holding two pistols behind her. This gives you a good idea of what the book is about. My graphic designers added a smoky bedroom background. Together it gives the cover a mysterious atmosphere which intrigues and grabs attention.
Pegasus: A Journey To New Eden cover is a straight forward picture from NASA’s website. If anyone is wondering, it is the Heart and Soul Nebula, which I felt was befitting the story inside. I’m sure only an astronomy geek like myself, who spends hours studying Hubble’s photos would recognize it. I think it’s cool.
Printing is the easiest part of self publishing. There are several desktop publishing programs on the market to format your manuscript. They are simple and easy to use. The trick is finding someone to print it at a reasonable cost. There is, of course, the eBook option. Do take advantage of it. I do, but there is no greater feeling of accomplishment than holding a copy of your book in your hands, or the real satisfaction of autographing a copy for an appreciative reader. EBooks can’t compare with that.
That brings me to marketing and distribution. You can write an amazing story, wrap it in an eye-popping cover, have a million copies printed and boxed, but unless your brother-in-law owns a bookstore – on a very busy street – in a major city, your book isn’t going anywhere.
Major publishing houses employ an army of marketing people to write ads for newspapers, radio, and TV. They have the money to afford to run those ads. Newspaper ads cost about two thousand dollars for an inch of space in a national paper. That’s two thousand dollars for one inch for one day that is expensive real estate to be sure. You cannot accomplish anything running one ad; try a week, maybe a month to see results. Radio and TV isn’t any cheaper, especially when you factor in production cost.
Getting your book reviewed in a major paper is tough. I have a good friend I approached at our local paper. He told me the paper only reviewed books from known publishers. Luckily there is the internet, and people willing to do reviews and interviews of self-published authors. Finding them is time consuming but worth it. That’s how I ended up here, writing this blog, trying to help you navigate the perils of self publishing.
Would I do it again? Yes. Would I do things differently? Of course, live and learn, try not to make the same mistakes twice. I thought it would be great to get a publisher, a nice advance, I spend my time writing. Now I want a publisher to handle all the other things without charging me, so I can spend my time writing.
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