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Write, Publish and Market Your Book – Part 3 – Publishing

Posted on 02. Jun, 2011 by Faye Bond in Blog, Bond Global Enterprises, Books, Publishing

Write, Publish and Market Your Book – Part 3

Publishing Your Book – Traditional Publishing Houses, Print On Demand and self-publishing

In Part 1, we looked at the benefits of writing, publishing and marketing your book and in Part 2 talked about the many ways of writing your book

In Part 3 we will look at traditional publishing houses, print on demand and self publishing

Traditional Publishing Houses
When an author signs an agreement to have their book published by a traditional book publishing company, that company buys the rights to an author’s manuscript. The author also agrees not to produce another book that may compete with the work that has been sold to the publisher. The publishing company also have the right to change the manuscript, sometimes in consultation with the author and sometimes not.

The author receives an advance on royalties. These monies help to support the author while they are writing their manuscript. Unless you are a well-known author these advances can be very low.

Once the author has finished their manuscript the process from here to publishing can take as long as 2 years. There could be numerous changes, alterations, proofreadings, copy editing etc before the book is ready for printing. A set number of changes should be agreed to between both parties and who is going to pay for them.

There are many traditional publishing houses today and finding the right one that fits your needs can be difficult. They range from low-cost to high-cost, some with little or no marketing packages to very good marketing packages. But and with a big but they can cost the author thousands of dollars. First of all you have to have your manuscript accepted and as all aspiring authors know that is not easy.

Online Publishing Companies
With the latest online technology there are many online publishing companies who can format, print and publish books using a printing method called print-on-demand (POD).  This technology allows books to be printed where they are ordered. The publishing companies and the author do not have to have large print-runs and pay costly storage for the book.

A huge plus to the print-on-demand technique is that the rights to the book belong to the author. The cost to the author can range from low-medium cost in using an online POD publisher the book will look professional and polished. You will not be able to tell the difference between mainstream or print-on-demand technology.

Print-on-demand technology allows the author to easily market their book to a wider audience and using places like Amazon.com you can have your physical book listed as well as you can get your book converted so that readers can purchase your book and read it electronically. The best online packages that you can purchase through an online POD service offer pre-publishing, publishing and promotional services. They have a quick publishing timeframe and can give authors value for money. As long as the book’s content is for the general public your book will be accepted.

Self-Publishing
Self publishing using print-on-demand technology is an easy and inexpensive way to get your manuscript into a professional looking book. The author owns the rights to the book and can be converted so that it can be read electronically. The process can take as little as 3-6 weeks.

In a simple way you start off by choosing your size of book, format your word manuscript to fit that size and convert the word doc into a PDF. Create some art for your cover design and covert that into PDF. Upload both PDF documents to the print-on-demand publisher of your choice. These files are reviewed. You then make the necessary corrections and re-upload, files are then re-reviewed. Order your proof, wait for proof to arrive, check and double-check the proof. Review, upload, order proof, review again and accept. As with the online print-on-demand publishers if your content is for a general audience, your book will be accepted.

Put your book on Amazon and other online retailers so that you can start the marketing process. Amazon do their own marketing for items on their website.

Part 4 would have shown you the differences between traditional publishing houses, online print-on-demand publishers and self-publishing.

Faye Bond

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