Category Archives: Self-Publishing

The proofs are back and we are excited. This is a first for us. It really puts it there that we are publishing a book, not just talking about it. The text proofs are printed on the final paper and … Continue reading →

Bent Crow Press has a special offer for fans of this unconventional career guide. (This offer updated as of May 3, 2005)

Order the book now and get a signed copy of the book with an inscription of your choice for only $19.95 – no shipping charges or sales tax in the continental US.
 

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The text and cover files for Danger Quicksand – Have A Nice Day went off to Publishers’ Graphics this afternoon and we all gave a huge sigh of relief. Gretchen and I have been doing round after round of final proofreading for the past few days and we were very happy to see it all end.

Putting any large document together requires great attention to detail and this book, at 220 pages, is the largest document I have designed on my own. It required eleven different fonts and several graphic images.

Once the editing was done, I had to create two PDF files which contained all of the fonts and graphic elements for the text of the book and for the cover. These are large files, 8 megabytes for the cover and 4 megabytes for the text.

I chose Publishers’ Graphics for the printing job after reviewing quotes, references, and samples again for all three printers. All three quotations and other responses were comparable, but Publisher’s Graphics had quoted the exact paper I wanted and their customer reference was doing exactly what I wanted to do. They also had the simplest requirements for submitting files. They told me to send PDF files.

In the final analysis, I learned a lot from being a buyer on this cycle. When your competition is very good, you get a competitive edge when you quote exactly what the customer asks for and you make it simple to do business with you.

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I realized today that I have been writing about self-publishing without
sharing some of the key factors that went into my decision to self-publish
in the first place. Although I like breaking new ground, I am primarily
inspired by the chance to make money doing so. Pioneering for the sake
of getting there first does not pay the bills. Traditional publishing offers little or nothing for the first-time author. The new model of self-publishing is a lot more author-friendly.

Writing is a creative act. Publishing is a business. To paraphrase Dan Poynter, a publisher is the one who puts up the money and takes the risk.The publisher assembles the book for the printer, gets it printed, and then markets it, hoping to make back more money than has been spent to produce the book. In short, the publisher is the investor.

When you invest in something, you want a sure thing at the lowest possible cost, with a high rate of return, and you are prepared to cut your losses as soon as it looks like your investment is not going to fly.

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