Perhaps this sounds an obvious question to somebody who has already self published, or is familiar with the industry, but for someone finding their way - perhaps an author who has written a piece of work and is contemplating financing its release - this question is appropriate. Not only is there a lot to learn about the actual process of self publishing, but there are unscrupulous operators out there waiting to pounce of those who are naive and unsuspecting.
Self publishing is a rather self-explanatory expression: it simply refers to the process by which an author, having written a body of work, publishes it themselves. In actual fact, it can be summed up in three points:
1. The author is the publisher
2. The author uses their own money to finance its publication
3. The author markets it themself
In reality, the process of self publishing a book is as follows:
The author, having produced the work for publication, obtains an ISBN (International Standard Book Number). The author then approaches a company specialising in printing books. (The author’s obtaining the ISBN is actually what makes the author a self publisher. This is the exact definition of a self publisher. Should any other person or business obtain the ISBN, then they would be regarded as the publisher).
The author pays the printing company for whatever services it offers to put the book into print, such as editing, word processing, cover design, photography, and printing and binding the book. Note that not all printing companies offer such a full range of services, so the author may approach others, such as an editor or cover designer, to complete these tasks first. They may then take the product to the printer, who should at the very least print, and probably bind, the book. The author will be handed back boxes containing whatever quantity of books they requested.
The author then sets out to sell the book, using whatever marketing means are at their disposal, usually charging at least double the cost price to recoup the cost of printing and make a profit.
The most important thing to realise is that the true definition of self publishing is when the author themself obtains the ISBN.
The reason this is so important for a potential self publisher to understand is that some businesses are set up to prey on those unfortunate enough to venture into this field without doing much research. This will be the subject for a later article, but for the moment, it will be sufficient to point out that these businesses provide the ISBN, making them, not the author, the publisher. This means that the book belongs to them, not the author. Despite now owning the book, they will charge – in fact overcharge – the author to print the book. More often than not, the quality will be awful. They also charge for marketing the book, which they usually do half-heartedly or not at all. Should the author wish to have copies of the book, they will have to pay for them. It sounds outrageous, but a lot of authors have suffered the indignity of being caught up in such a scam. In the United States, lawsuits against such firms occur daily.
Fortunately, with some research, and by always reading carefully any fine print, most authors avoid these pitfalls. They enjoy the reward of having their own self published book in print, which is often indistinguishable from that produced by a traditional publisher.
Vanity Press Distributors provides a website for self published authors to market their books. In March 2006, www.vanitypress.com.au will be available, featuring not only this article, but many others aimed at promoting and educating self publishers. Its main goal, though, is simply to sell self published books. In the meantime, email me at info@vanitypress.com if you would like more information.
Dallas Robertson
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