Quotation for the Week of September 30

"We have met the enemy and he is us."
-- Pogo

Print Publishing in a Nutshell and More

Now, I left off here, (click there, to catch up) and this post will cover some of the basics of print publishing, with a little bit about ebooks thrown in.

ISBNs

If you decide to self-publish on your own, you’ll have to buy your own ISBNs. Every book has one and a different one is assigned for books in each format. This means print (hardcover and paperback), audio and ebooks each get a separate ISBN. In the U.S., ISBNs are assigned by R.R. Bowker. You can also get them in the U.S. at www.myidentifiers.com. Unless you think you’re going to be as prolific as Isaac Asimov or plan to write a 10-book series really soon, I’d start off buying a set of 10 ISBNs, to keep the costs down. However, you can buy them in sets of 100, if you’re ambitious and think you can use them. They’re cheaper in bulk.

ISBNs are currently not required on Amazon ebooks for Kindle. However, be advised that some distributors do require them on ebooks, which is another reason why you’ll want to purchase them in bulk if you plan to write more than one book. In any case, buying one ISBN simply isn’t cost-effective, so buy them in sets of 10 or 100.

Library of Congress PCNs

This isn’t required, but if you publish under your own imprint, I would obtain an LOC PCN for each book you publish. You can read about the program here.

Setting your book’s price

If you’re self-publishing under your own imprint, you’re entirely responsible for setting your book’s suggested retail price. This involves more than just looking at what other authors are charging for their books and setting your price somewhere in the same neighborhood. First, you need to know how much it costs to produce a copy of the book. (LSI provides a formula for determining this.) Once you’ve determined your production cost per book, then considered the market price for books similar to yours, you need to factor in a wholesale discount of 55 – 60%. The difference between the discounted price and the cost of the book is your profit per sale. Therefore, be sure the discounted price ends up being higher than the production cost of one copy of your book.

Or to put in terms of an equation:

Wholesale price (55 - 60% of suggested retail price) - Cost of producing book = author’s profit

Having set your price with the wholesale discount in mind, any profits from sales made through wholesalers such as Ingram (which owns LSI) and Baker & Taylor will be paid entirely to you.

If you use Lulu or CreateSpace, they’ll provide a formula for determining the suggested retail price. Each author services company has a slightly different approach for doing this. However, you exercise the most control over the process by publishing under a trade name through a POD publisher like LSI.

When it comes to creating a print cover, an author services company can create it for you for a fee or you can hire a freelancer who’ll create it. The latter is the cheaper option. The freelancer will have to know and follow the author service company’s specs.

When you self-publish under a trade name through LSI, you create a cover template for the graphic artist. You need to know the page count of the PDF text file to be uploaded, the ISBN and suggested retail price before you do this, so these details can be incorporated into the cover.

Returnability

As a POD published author and a self-published author, the biggest hurdle you will face to getting your product placed in bookstores is the infeasibility of allowing your books to be returned for a complete refund if they aren’t sold. Not to mention the penalty the publisher gets socked with for shipping those books back. Unfortunately, this is what booksellers continue to insist upon and what traditional publishers continue to grant them. Authors continue to suffer financially as a result of this.

At one time, this obstacle seemed almost insurmountable. Authors were doing things like selling books out of the trunks of their cars direct to consumers. Setting up signings at book fairs, festivals and other venues, going to individual bookstores and arranging events where and when they could. These methods, although they can bear fruit with enough time and effort, are a lot of work, time consuming, and not terribly cost-effective. However, clever authors can find ways to use the Internet to sell print books online. A much less labor-intensive and time-saving approach.

Now, ebooks are being touted as the way to quick success as a published author. However, this approach overlooks the fact that many people of all ages still prefer print books or have no access to ereaders. It also overlooks the fact that Amazon is enlisting authors in the Kindle Select program, in which they’re giving away books and flooding the market, thus bringing down the prices and increasing competition among authors, while filling Jeff Bezos’ pockets with money. Most of this money probably isn’t being spent on Amazon’s midlist authors or its A-list authors, either. This is the irony that everyone seems to be missing.

There are better ways to keep complete control over your work and distribute it. Publishing and distributing your work through multiple channels is one way. This is something I continue to do. Crowdsourcing is another method. Christa Faust is doing a Kickstarter project called Butch Fatale, Dyke Dick that's taken off like a house afire.

I, myself, am starting to see results from my own efforts. To wit: The Sam McRae Mystery Project.

And here are some links of possible interest:

25 Reasons to Self-Publish, Part 1

Why Every Entrepreneur Should Self-Publish a Book

Has anyone caught the secret word that's used over and over? :)

That's right. The publishing world is in turmoil, but things are fine for you-know-who.

"Don't panic. All is well. For me, that is."

Are free ebooks killing the market?

How can I say this nicely? I can't.

Quotation for the Week of September 23

"Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal."
-- Albert Camus


 

Writing Better: Lessons From Jury Duty

A guest post by Rick Holton

I recently served as a juror in Boston's Suffolk Superior Court. While I was there, I realized that much of what I was experiencing provided valuable lessons we could apply to improving our writing and making it more effective. Six points stood out.

Be Positive 

On the first day, before anyone had been selected for a jury, a judge came to address us. He started by saying that he knew what a total drag it was for us to be there, which he then repeated about ten more times in the next five minutes. This did nothing to make anyone want to devote a day, much less a week, to helping the Commonwealth.

At the very least, he could have subordinated the negative thought: "Although some of you may not want to be here, there are many advantages..." This way, the positive thought is in the main clause and therefore receives the main emphasis.

Say Where You're Going

The lawyers clearly stated up front what they were trying to prove. The reason for doing this was so that we could listen to their arguments and, they hoped, reach the same conclusion. When writing for a neutral audience, always state your conclusion first. That way, they'll be able to follow you more easily.

Build an Argument 

The four expert witnesses in this case brought forward a large amount of detailed evidence. Had the lawyers let it go at that, without summarizing their positions, the jurors would have been hopelessly lost.

Instead the lawyers built an argument. They took the evidence and arranged it from most important to least important, to show us how it supported their position. In business writing, similarly, it's not enough to just pile up facts. In order to persuade our readers, we have to organize the facts into an argument.

Be Specific

Between closing arguments and deliberations, the judge gave a charge to the jury. In it, she spelled out in detail what factors we should consider, how they interrelated, and what might, in this case, constitute "reasonable doubt." These instructions were invaluable and kept us on the path to a conclusion. Otherwise, we could have spent days arguing about things that had little to do with the outcome.

In business, it is equally important to be specific. If you want someone, for example, to review something you've written, ask them specific questions: How can I make my argument in paragraph three hold together better? How could I make the tone a little less stern? That way, you'll get information you can use. Otherwise, the response will be some version of "It looks OK to me."

Collaborate

In order to reach a verdict, we had to work together. We all had different points of view, and we each presented our arguments and supported them with evidence. At the same time, we had to pay close attention to other people's points of view, since this was a dialogue that was meant to lead to a conclusion we could all support.

At one stage, we decided that each member of the jury should argue persuasively for the other side, a useful exercise that helped give us each a broader view of the case. To emphasize the fact that we had to work together, we were, of course, locked into the jury room.

In the business world, one also has to collaborate, and before we write anything, we should, if we can, seek input from the experts, wholly apart from whether they write better than we do. Or, if we have a large writing project with several authors, we should work together to create a unified argument with a consistent tone.

Show Appreciation

Three days after the trial, I was most astonished to receive a letter from the judge, thanking me for my jury service. It was a form letter, yes, but at least it started "Dear Mr. Holton" rather than "Dear Juror," which would have instantly negated any good effect. It also struck me as completely sincere.

If someone helps you on a business project, whether it involves written communications or not, it is always effective to thank them. In fact, leader-development guru Tom Harvey says that showing sincere appreciation has positive effects on leaders, workers and organizations. (For further information, see his blog post.)

Rick Holton is owner of The Holton Group, which specializes in business writing and consulting.