Keith Charteris. speaking at the Edinburgh Book Festival, has considerable experience in self-publishing - he now has a publishing house - Strident Publishing to prove it. Although Strident Publishing's interests lie in the teenage and "reluctant reader" markets, the advice Charteris offered applies equally to all those contemplating the arduous route toward a self-published book. Is the notion sanity or vanity?
There may be very good reasons to consider self-publishing - the potential market may be small, the author may want greater control over the finished product, to learn more about the business of book production (and selling!) or to use the book as a "calling card" to agents and other publishers.
Charteris own first book was published by a mainstream publisher, but he wanted more control over the process, and thus Strident Publishing was born. He urged anyone contemplating something similar to do the maths first - new technology means digital printing and print-on-demand systems reduce the initial costs considerably, although most professional publishers continue to use litho printing, with a considerable gain in overall quality.
A digitally printed book will suffer in comparison with a litho-printed equivalent. However, the limited print runs possible with digital and print-on-demand mean fewer storage problems. There are a number of commercial operations, such as blurb.com and lulu.com, who offer "packages" taking many of the problems off author's shoulders, but reducing author control in the process.
Charteris urged the employment of an external editor to work on the manuscript, as would happen in a professional publishing house. A good cover will always help to sell a book, so own photographs and plainness are probably out, and like professional editing, will have to be paid for. An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) will also be needed and purchased - authors / publishers can buy these in 10's, 100's or 1000's from Nielsen's ISBN UK Agency.
For those still in the game, apart from the printing costs themselves, distribution, possibly through a professional distributor or simply pressing copies into as many hands as possible, will be a major element in getting a book sold, and attendant postage costs have also to be considered.
Book Wholesalers may take as much as 50% of the invoice cost (not necessarily the actual cost, but taking into account any discount applied). Discounts can be anything between 30% and 70% of the cover price.
To maximise profile and potential sales on limited budget, Charteris urged establishing a website and if practicable using social networks to promote the book. As in many other areas, word of mouth remains the most effective way to increase sales, even though the word may now be electronically spread. ‘Hand-selling' in book shops can equally boost sales when the author is the person doing this.
Clearly, it's not the easiest way to get a book into the market place and in front of the public, but in an age of shrinking publisher's list and more fragmented communities, self-publishing offers opportunities for those willing to face harsh realities and carry on with what they believe in.
Copyright Bill Dunlop 2009
First published on EdinburghGuide.com 2009