Self-Publishing
Presenters: James Mastan and Rosemary Jones
Day of Meeting: July 14, 2008
Topic: How can authors and editors connect around self-publishing today?
Speaker Bios
James Mastan, marketing consultant and self-published author.
Rosemary Jones, who for 30+ years has helped run Book Publishers Northwest, a trade organization of small and independent publishers in the Northwest
James Mastan spoke about his experience self-publishing Product Launch the Microsoft Way with the assistance of editor Robyn M Fritz. Rosemary Jones spoke about the changing realities of self-publishing over the past few decades. There was lively discussion between speakers and attendees, who included author and publisher members of Book Publishers Northwest (BPNW) as well as members of the Northwest Independent Editors Guild. These notes summarize the themes and content of the discussion.
Introduction
Robyn M Fritz: Today, self-publishing is more accessible than ever before: printing technology has advanced so that self-published books look just as good as traditionally published books; distribution/warehousing systems have changed to make small runs more affordable; the stigma around self-publishing has waned, and many authors don’t care about being published by a publishing house.
What continues to be a gatekeeper between authors and their audiences is that people don’t understand the processes of self-publishing, including editing, production, distribution possibilities, and expected costs. The myth of self-publishing is that you can’t do it yourself—but really, you can do it. (And you always had to market it yourself anyway.)
Hurdles to Publishing or Self-Publishing
1. Technology
Technology always seems to be a barrier as well as a facilitator. Robyn and Rosemary both remembered that when computers first entered traditional publishing, they caused as many problems as they solved. Computers crashed constantly (the monster desktops of the 1980s had less memory than our Flash USB sticks today). And at the beginning, functions such as searching for text had not yet been developed. The technology has changed dramatically since 1990.
Recent advances in computing and printing technology have made it possible for self-published books to rival traditionally published books in quality. Rosemary notes that at first glance, she would guess James’s book to have come from an offset press—yet it was in fact print-on-demand from Lulu.com. This marks great improvement from the days when Rosemary first judged the Benjamin Franklin Awards for design. She can no longer see at a glance which books are self-published versus traditionally published and printed.
2. Traditional publishers and agents
Agents and publishers are gatekeepers to traditional publishing, and make their own decisions what to make available to the public.
3. The myth of self-publishing
Robyn M Fritz: Today, self-publishing is more accessible than ever before: printing technology has advanced so that self-published books look just as good as traditionally published books; distribution/warehousing systems have changed to make small runs more affordable; the stigma around self-publishing has waned, and many authors don’t care about being published by a publishing house.
What continues to be a gatekeeper between authors and their audiences is that people don’t understand the processes of self=publishing, including editing, production, distribution possibilities, and expected costs. The myth of self-publishing is that you can’t do it yourself—but really, you can do it. (And you always had to market it yourself anyway.)
4. Lack of knowledge
Many authors lack knowledge about how to find an editor how to judge an editor’s capabilities when to engage an editor what to expect regarding time, technology, cost.
Reasons to Self-Publish (or Not)
In many situations, self-publishing makes good business sense, even for manuscripts that could instead be sold to New York publishers.
Examples:
Some writers have the vision for what they want for their book, and don’t need that traditional publishing relationship—James Mastan knew what he wanted in his book and why, and where he was going with it.
It will be a tool for his consulting business as well as proof of his capabilities. Rosemary Jones, on the other hand, likes having her books published by other people who take on her manuscript and work with it from a business perspective: “I like publishing other people’s work, but for my work I like having that person who is purchasing my work to do the editing.”
Franz (author and BPNW member) noted one downside to increase in self-publishing is that although the quality is very good now, and some books may be beautiful, there are more and more bad books coming out. Groups like the Editors Guild and BPNW can work to convince people that an editor is a worthwhile and important part of the publishing process.
Book Publishers Northwest (BPNW) “a professional trade organization representing the Northwest book publishing community since 1975” (BPNW website), is a resource for authors who choose to self-publish.
Rosemary Jones: BPNW is where, for $97 a year, you get group therapy re: publishing problems and Q&A forums re: solutions. Many members are authors who have published one or several of their own works; others are small publishers with 5–20 titles.
The Self-Publishing Process
Robyn M Fritz edited and managed James Mastan’s self-published book, Product Launch the Microsoft Way, which was released shortly before the July 14, 2008, meeting. James shared his goals and learning experiences along the way.
Goal: Produce a book as a tool to show what he can do. Having left Microsoft and started his own marketing consulting company, he needed to communicate his skillset and credibility, as well as train new marketing people in his company.
Hurdle 1: He had no idea where to find an editor, or how to judge editing credibility.
Learned: Publishing houses and agents were no help. Posting on the Guild brought four responses.
Robyn stood out because of her educational background (MBA, plus attended the same university the author had). She clinched it by being knowledgeable, polite, and professional.
Hurdle 2: He had no idea what the process would be or how long it would take.
Learned: James said he should have hired Robyn a year and a half before writing the book.
Education needed: When is the right time to engage an editor.
Hurdle 3: Technology – awareness of graphics and word processing/publishing program compatibilities.
Learned: PowerPoint doesn’t function well with publishing programs. Find out what software you need to use, and who knows how to use it well.
Hurdle 4: Cost. James said he had had wildly unrealistic expectations about cost, time, and his own writing ability.
What he’d do differently:
Engage Robyn (his editor) earlier in the process
Quality-check the layout person selected (and technology compatibility)
Produce his project in smaller chunks: he tried to fit everything into one book, and with hindsight, that was not necessary nor desirable
Have different expectations
James Mastan published his book on Lulu.com. It is now available for sale on Amazon.com. Costs: $100 for online selling ability; $30 for Library of Congress number; free uploading of book and cover.
What Editors Need to Know
1. The current state of self-publishing
Rosemary Jones: Self-publishing is a better option now than it ever has been. The cost is slightly less than before, but the visual quality is dramatically improved. Self-published books no longer look amateur. Knowledgeable authors are producing really beautiful books.
And there is a huge sea change coming. Booksellers and publishers are beginning to take the self-published market much more seriously:
Tor and other publishers have picked up previously self-published books.
Some authors self-publish quality books and market them effectively, such as three volumes about Mr. Darcy’s life before Elizabeth Bennet, marketed directly to Jane Austen societies, sold thousands. In that case, the frontend investment was not in printing costs but most likely $510K into editing, graphic design, layout design and marketing. Next, Simon & Schuster picked up the paperback self-published book to bring out in hardback.
Publishers are as desperate as anyone to figure out the changing market.
Independent bookstores are shrinking. (Elliott Bay Book Co. depends on Third Place Books, and Third Place is supported by an owner whose fortune comes from malls that are anchored by the bookstores. Cody’s in Berkeley and Tattered Cover in Denver have closed.)
Chain stores sell only by the numbers. In those chain sales, published authors have changed their names in order to break through again—Megan Lindholm was pegged as a midlist author, changed name to Robin Hobb and has been selling well since. Mike Resnick changed his name but continued writing a previous series under the new name.
Direct market via the web sells books without a bookstore.
Money barrier for self-publishing has dropped considerably. With Lulu.com, for $130 you can upload your book, get an ISBN and listed in Books in Print, and get it in a distribution chain. These processes alone used to take months in traditional publishing. Also, people do buy books on the Web.
James Mastan: You can also stock your book online with Borders and Barnes & Noble.
2. Issues and opportunities in self-publishing
Rosemary Jones: Publishers are shrinking staff and hiring freelancers project by project. Freelance publishing teams (publisher, editor, designer, layout, printing) don’t have to be in the same physical location. Freelance teams connect with each other via networking: client connected to publisher via board membership, editor was close friend of someone at publisher, designer was daughter of a man editor/publisher knew well, connections from chatting at a trade show.
Syncing of technology is important, but doable.
One person cannot function as both editor and layout, because you can’t see both types of issues—grammar or typos in text versus height in picas of running heads, extra white space, or off centering of text.
In self-publishing, each member of the team needs to know their own strengths, and know what role they are playing, what aspect of the project they are following.
Robyn M Fritz: I agree—for overview and layout of a book, you need fresh eyes. The editor can’t do it.
Yet often, with self-publishing, there is no typesetter, so editors end up acting as designers and typesetters as well as editors—the editor is entirely responsible for the final product, and there have been no separate eyes on the text.
3. Opportunities in ebook publishing
Rosemary Jones: Ebook publishers are people who need editors badly. Editing will become more and more important to these publishers (who publish only online, only ebooks). They publish at a rapid rate (612 books per month), can hire editors anywhere in the country, and their sales will depend on quality, so they will come to value editing. I think the online publishing model will become more professional over time, with Wild Rose being an example.
The Wild Rose Press, an ebook publisher of romance novels, seems to value editing. Rosemary had a friend who had a good experience editing for them.
Another online press, Book Strand, has poor editing, perhaps because they pay $100-$150 per manuscript.
A member said she considered editing for iUniverse, but the pay was so poor, it wasn’t worth it.
4. Connecting with authors
Robyn M Fritz: Self-publishing is about art and spirit as well as business, and it would be useful for editors to understand authors’ desires to express themselves and connect with people.
What Authors Need to Know
Rosemary Jones: An editor is not a business consultant. It’s good to know BPNW is a resource for authors to learn about the process.
Participant (apologies: notetaker did not get the name): If an editor gets a “raw” author who doesn’t seem to know the process and commitment required, that’s a time to send the author to BPNW for education, rather than the editor doing the educating (especially if the editor is not highly involved in self-publishing themselves). BPNW also has links to other resources, such as seminars and books about self- publishing, and links to Pub U, a 3day everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-publishing workshop at the Independent Book Publishers Association.
Celeste (author, member of BPNW): Self-publishing authors need to know their marketing plan from beginning to end. BPNW is the place to learn what you need to know before it’s too late—about including ISBN numbers on your cover, about bookstores’ rights to return books in perpetuity, etc.
Negotiating Costs in Self-Publishing
James Mastan: Prefers project-based pricing. He generally works on a project cost in his consulting business: I will do these things, it will cost this much. He found it difficult that the hours kept expanding with no cap, especially when the issues around layout came up.
Rosemary Jones: Is used to quoting project prices for her editing as well as publishing services. In her head she calculates a per hour rate and how long it should take, but she always gives a project rate to her client. She notes that this means quoting a high lump sum up front to a client, but she doesn’t want to get into projects with clients who aren’t serious. If a client has a great idea and has put their life into writing it, but they balk at a $5000 price tag? “I like to work for people looking at [self-publishing a book] as a commitment to a continuing business, and to do it in a businesslike manner.” Rosemary quotes an upfront price with a detailed contract showing what will be done. As soon as the project goes off the map, then she starts charging her hourly rate. She also always gets 50% (25% minimum) up front.
Mi Ae Lipe (Guild member): Doesn’t like project caps because there are so many factors involved in publishing books. But she does include details, warnings, and assurances in contracts, without capping the total cost.
Consensus: There are a lot of issues and costs associated with publishing that most authors have no idea about. Authors can get bowled over with sticker shock, but editors can offer an initial free consultation and/or BPNW as a resource for education about the process. Authors who are initially surprised/shocked often come around to recognizing the benefits.
Connecting Editors with Authors
Word of mouth, networking
Other self-published books.
David (author, BPNW member) was there with his line of self-published books Haiku for _________ [dogs, baseball, etc.]. He notes that his previous books have acknowledgments for designers, printers, etc. and somehow he’s missed acknowledging his editor, but will do so from now on. More and more authors, he says, will ask others who was their agent, or editor, or designer. He also says that he knows his editor’s sense of humor, favorite authors, favorite chocolate, but has never seen her face. They’ve never met.
Websites
Rosemary noted a good website is a good tool, with links to clients, samples, portfolios. Social networking online, like LinkedIn, etc, is also useful.
Communication
Rosemary Jones noted: It’s all communication. Every book [she has been involved with] has been completely different—the hope is that everybody is happy at the end of the day.
Tip: Roll with the punches, keep lines of communication open, and treat [your involvement in publishing] like a business.
Meeting organizers and facilitators: Robyn M Fritz and Karalynn Ott, steering committee members
Notetaker: Kyra Freestar
Location: Hugo House