Morris Rosenthal has an excellent post on his Self Publishing blog about the Publication Process and Agreements. I have learned throughout this process the exact same things that Mr. Rosenthal addresses in his post. In particular, the importance of clearly outlining expectations and agreements, and how much of the self-publishing process is interdependent. I’ve outsourced a number of aspects of my book project, including:
1. Editing – several family members and friends have volunteered their time to edit and I currently have one freelance editor that I hired to go through my book. Primarily I was interested in getting an outside perspective from someone who doesn’t know me as well as my family and friends and will be able to determine if there are gaps, etc.
2. Cover Design – I tried to design my own cover, but it was pathetic. Book cover design is an art in itself and I am SO glad to have my professional graphic designer friend doing this part of the book for me!
3. Interior Design – You may remember me mentioning that I was planning to purchase the InDesign software and learn it to do my own interior design. Shortly thereafter, a friend of mine offered her services to me at a reduced rate to take over this aspect of the book for me. I am extremely grateful and relieved to not have this huge task hanging over my head!
4. Marketing – Another of my dear friends has been supporting and encouraging me in this project from the start and I recently hired her to help me with a lot of the huge responsibilities associated with marketing. Another incredible blessing!
5. Printing – Of course I knew off the bat that I couldn’t do my own printing, but it took a lot of research and connecting to determine what type of printer to use. It’s an amazing story how I developed the connection with the printer that I’m planning to use, but I’ll save that for another post!
Anyway…I definitely encourage self-publishers to read and learn from Mr. Rosenthal’s experience and expertise.
September 29th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I love to see information like this in circulation. These are all critical elements in producing a quality self-published book. And you’re right, each of these things are completely separate arts in their own right.
Editing. An author may even have professional editing experience. That’s great, but does not offer the same objective, fresh perspective that a 3rd party professional editor will, for example.
I’ve seen some authors contract all of these things out independently. Others opt for a publisher like Outskirts Press, Inc. that offers all of these services in house through completely turn-key services.
Regardless of where an author finds these services, all are essential.
September 29th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Natalie,
I can’t agree more with you. Self-Publishing simply costs money. But what you are doing by hiring a 3rd party editor and a professional book designer is you are taking a big step and showing your future readers that you are a credible author. Credibility makes up half of your author platform. The other half is building your audience. While most authors would love to simply sell the rights of their book to a publisher, this is not easily done. However, a self-published author who can sell several thousand copies of his or her book increases their chances of getting published. It’s all about credibility and audience.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Karl~
Thanks for the comment. I completely agree about the editing. I’ve done quite a bit of editing over the years, but I would never want to publish my own work without having another pair of editing eyes look over it.
Phil~
Ah yes, lots of money! But definitely worth it in the long run. I have seen so many self-published books that look self-published (read: unprofessional) that I am determined to invest the money it takes to produce an excellent product. BTW, I scanned your website and blog and it looks like another super resource – I’m looking forward to your upcoming series on utilizing Amazon.com.
October 21st, 2008 at 2:07 am
True. The best part about the whole grandeur scheme of things is that you have full control of the entirety of it all.