Path To Publication

June 28, 2018

A bit more about ISBN numbers

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A bit more about ISBN numbers

I should like to say a bit more about ISBN numbers, though let us be clear that a book can be published without an ISBN, which stands for International Standard Book Number.

However, if you are aiming to publish and want people to find your books, I strongly recommend buying your own ISBNs and allocating them to your book(s). An ISBN is a cataloguing tool that many libraries and public search facilities insist on. Once allocated to a book, an ISBN lasts a lifetime, ensuring that a book need never get lost.

I think the best way to elucidate on the workings of ISBNs (they are not complicated, but the way they work together can be) is to take examples from my own publishing choices. So, briefly, I publish on Amazon, to their internal market only (that is, within the Amazon group of companies only).

I also publish with IngramSpark, which gives me a UK base for sourcing copies of my books at affordable prices. I find that if I rely solely on sourcing books through Amazon alone, they may come from the US, in which case the costs of postage are prohibitive and the waiting times are frustrating.

The key to making this work, is to have no overlaps in the markets among your different distributors. So therefore, I publish on the Amazon internal market only – I avoid their extended distribution option – and publish with Ingram Spark, with the result that IngramSpark are my source for all copies outwith the Amazon network. No overlaps.

In this scheme, I use two ISBNs – which we can purchase singly, or in batches of ten – and allocate the numbers as follows:-

First ISBN – is for the paperback POD on both Amazon and on Ingram Spark.

Second ISBN – is for the e-book available outside the Amazon network though Ingram Spark.

To be clear, Amazon, always allocates a unique ASIN number to all e-books they publish in their kindle format on their platforms. There is no other option for Amazon e-books. But Amazon does allow publishers to use their own ISBNs for their print on demand paperbacks. Which is the same ISBN used for POD books on all other platforms, in my case, Ingram Spark.

I can run Ingram Spark and Amazon alongside each other because I opt for restricted distribution of Amazon products to the Amazon group of companies only, where the other distributors have no remit to venture. For sales outwith Amazon, Ingram Spark is my preferred distributor.

My next post will be my last before the long vacation, when I shall be taking time off to be with family. Thanks so much for reading, commenting and sharing.

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June 26, 2018

A few more thoughts about book cover design

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A few more thoughts about book cover design.

Given the importance of every book cover, here I offer a few more thoughts about book cover design

There are programmes available free on the web – so much is free to use on the web to assist indie publishers – for anyone who wants to design book covers. The wealth of experience grows more sophisticated and user friendly every day. There are tutorials and lots of free on-line help – as well as some excellent books! – to get us started with book cover design.

But, speaking as someone who loves to write, has a busy life and lots to do, I decided early to outsource many aspects of book cover design. I rely on a wonderful designer who not only has done many fabulous book covers, but who works incredibly fast and has an incredible grasp of detail.

There is a lot to think about, when considering book cover design. As my first book has a certain look and feel, and since my first three books are a sort-of series that hang together, we decided early on to try and emulate that in the later covers. Which gave my designer something to work with.

If you are coming to the market with your first book, think about design, style, the unique ‘fingerprint’ you want your book to have, and what it says about the genre and content. To make a cover that is distinctive, that stands out from all the other books of its type in the market, and yet which fits in with the broad conventions of that genre – I hesitate to offer examples, in case that causes offence to some readers – might be a challenge, but has to be attempted. A quick glance through book covers in different genres will show that there are distinctive differences. (Tudor epics have often featured a woman in period dress with her head enigmatically missing. Recently, heads have been reinstated…)

First find an excellent image, which works well as a thumbnail – the size of an image typically viewed for on-line sales – and which has the image the right way round. (If landscape, with the image at the right-hand-side). The search for a good image is time consuming but actually a lot of fun. You’ll know if it works for you when you see it.

Thanks for reading

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June 24, 2018

Basic elements of book cover design

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Basic elements of book cover design. 

Briefly, a book cover will have the following elements:-

~ a publisher name. As an indie publisher, you may want to have your own publishing name, one which reflects the genre and content of your book. If you are thinking of publishing more than one book, or a series of books, you should definitely invent for yourself a publishing name that is meaningful to you.

~ A publisher logo. If you look on the back of books, you will see many publishers have logos. Be inventive, or thoughtful, about initials, images, ideas. Get out your felt-tips or design tools and find an image or logo that works with your publishing name.

~ A price stated in a given currency.

~ Space for an ISBN number, assuming you will be getting some ISBNs of your own and allocating these to your books, which I recommend. If you are investing in your own ISBNs, and wish to have your book available in paperback and also as an e-book, you will need two ISBNs, one for the paperback (usually but not always sourced as a print-on-demand or POD paperback) and another for the e-book. That is the theory. More often, virtual platforms allocate a unique ID number to e-books published on their platforms. They can also allocate free ISBNs to POD books, but if they do so, then they become your publisher, so beware of that. 

~ Blurb for the back cover. Read up about blurbs, and recon on having about three hundred words, with a headline grabber of about twenty-five words, and a catchy race through the plot which will sell the book to your readers. (Not a synopsis: a sales pitch.)

~ Metadata and BISAC codes – which can be researched on-line. These are categories that you think most closely correlate to the subject matter of your book, so that it can be catalogued and found easily anywhere. It helps indexers if you use metadata and if you are careful with your chosen categories. I use a process of elimination: Take the whole list – which is finite – and delete all that definitely don’t apply, then refine the list further. Be careful to use categories that have a broad appeal.

~ The size of your book and the width of its spine will depend on your personal preference, the type of book you have written, and the number of pages in the finished book.

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June 21, 2018

Basic requirements for book publishing

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Basic Requirements for Book Publishing (continued)

Turning to the points I made in my previous post before we can think of publishing, we need a decent enough book that we want to publish. By which I mean, we must accepted that a published book moves away from our sphere of influence and ends up as semi-public property.

My first book, Trapped is the story of my life with cerebral palsy, and, as such, publishing it was a huge leap of faith into the unknown. Would it be savaged by the critics? Would I die beneath a barrage of criticism and coruscating comment? The answers, as it turned out, were no, thankfully. But fears such as these need to be considered, then quietly put to one side as we prepare to launch our book on the unsuspecting public.

A good editor – or whizz editing skills – is as essential to a good book as a good story. And if we decide that publication is our eventual aim, it might take ten years to reach that goal. So there is, really, not a lot of hurry when we are setting out to publish our work. It helps if our intentions grow more and more solid, as we take the time to look around for a good editor: someone who understands us, agrees with our motivation and helps us to reach our goals. That said, at all times we have to retain ownership of the writing and editing of our work.

Once a book has been written, polished, edited, re-written and proofed, it will eventually be ready to be typeset (the word we use when referring to a print book) and formatted (the process of producing a book in an e-file, such as mobi files). So ask your contacts if they can recommend a good typesetter. Perhaps your reading research will have given you a few ideas, a few contacts you might email and obtain quotes from. As in any other creative endeavour, follow your hunches, and double check everything.

Thanks for reading.

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June 19, 2018

What we need when we publish our own books

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What we need when we publish our own books

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)   The Reader

What follows is a brief summary of points to be remembered when we are publishing our own books.  And I suppose the most obvious question to start with is, are we going to publish with only one platform – we all know, I think, which platform I am alluding to here – or are we going to go with multiple platforms?

The basic requirements for an indie publisher are:-

~ A decent enough book which we want to publish. By which I mean, a book that we are prepared to write, publish and let go into the public domain. If we can’t handle the thought that, once published, our book ceases to be our private concern, the chances are, it is not ready to publish yet.

~ A good, empathic editor who can find the flaws in your manuscript – it’s safe to assume that an independent editor will find some room for improvements which we will then be pleased to work on.

~ A wonderful typesetter and formatter to take our manuscript and turn it into something resembling a wonderful book.

~ A wonderful book cover designer. Unless we would like to do this for ourselves. There are some good programmes available that make this possible.

~ A look, design or set of ideas that we can give to our book, so that it stands out from the crowd.  Photos, images, such as those available from Shutterstock, are a useful archive of ideas to look through. Consider landscape, portrait, thumbnail images…

~ ISBN numbers to give our books a unique ID number. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. A book does not need an ISBN to be published, but if it has one, it will always be easier to find, than if it is published on multiple platforms, each allocating the book an e-ID number or the publishers own ISBN.

~ A little cash to make the dream a reality, and to help us decide which of the tasks of publishing we will do for ourselves and which we are happy to delegate. No point feeling overwhelmed before we even begin.

~ A love of passwords and on-line accounts, because there will be a few to set up.

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June 16, 2018

What I have learned about publishing independently

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What I have learned about publishing independently.

There are several things we need to decide, when making up our minds whether to self-publish. My next series of blog posts will attempt to summarise what I have learned about publishing independently.

There are a series of basic questions that need to be answered before we even think of publishing a book.

~ Have we got the time to do some research – aka read some books about publishing – that will help us decide what our priorities are, for example, whether we want to outsource cover design and formatting, and if so, how much we are prepared to invest in this? The cost of services on offer to prospective publishers is as variable as weather on a spring day, so reading about and researching the various options is vital.

~ Do we have a regular income that will support the initial outlay of publishing? Unless we are able to source the expenses of editing, proofing, ISBNs, typesetting, formatting, imagery and cover design at low cost, some of these will crop up. Yes, some platforms allow authors to publish for free, but it is really vital, when learning about costs, to appreciate what that means. For example, if we publish on major virtual platforms for free, the platform will usually allocate to our e-books the equivalent of an e-ISBN number, which means that effectively, the platform becomes our publisher of that e-book.

~ The financial implications of publishing are not always obvious at the outset, so it is vital to be aware that the cost of services that are offered to would-be publishers can vary from several hundred to several thousand pounds. Do research the markets and options carefully.

~ Do we have time to write and edit endlessly, until we have a good enough book? There is no-one else out there setting our publishing deadlines or chivvying us up to get stuff sorted and sent. We become our own diary keepers and deadline setters.

~ Are we interested in writing, publishing and promoting? Because if we are going to be publishing, we need a good enough product, which means that writing and editing will come to the fore. Thereafter, promotion will be part of what we do, which will, of necessity, eat into our writing time. But each of these has its part to play. So decide which, at any given time, is your priority, and don’t beat yourself up if you can’t do it all, all the time.

Thanks so much for reading.

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June 14, 2018

Publishing my third book

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Publishing my third book

I am what is known in the trade, apparently, as a hybrid author. That is to say, I have a book published with a mainstream publisher, and I am also published independently. (It’s interesting what you learn when talking to other publishers at book fairs.)

My third book, Making Miracles is set for publication this month, June 2018. I am so looking forward to having it finished; and excited that a project that has taken about a decade to materialise is finally happening: I finally decided that I might as well get on with it, and publish this summer. Being an independent publisher means we have to get used to setting our own deadlines.

Previously, I have written a series of blog posts, called rather optimistically, How to get published,which focussed almost entirely on the rigours of finding a publishing deal with a mainstream publisher. At that time (2016) I wrote very little about publishing independently, because I still had too much to learn to offer anything worthwhile in the way of suggestions or opinions. Though I have since learned a great deal from publishing independently and am – retrospectively – grateful for the steep learning curves and cul-de-sacs, there is never an end to what we can learn about indie publishing. Grasping the basics has been immensely worthwhile.

In the next series of blog posts, I will be considering some of what I have learned about publishing independently: it’s advantages, pitfalls, and some of the more intricate necessities that are apt to be overlooked in the rush to get published.

Thank you so much for reading.

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June 5, 2018

Writing versus editing

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Writing versus Editing

Is writing more important, or is editing the crux of the matter?

Clearly, editing is writing, but, semantics aside, I’m wondering whether the creative aspects of producing a longer work of fiction are more important than the nuts and bolts of getting the syntax and grammar correct?

These two aspects of writing seem to me to be equally important. There is little point having creative flights of fancy if the editor’s imperative is forced to lie idle – a work of 200,000 words is probably going to need pruning; and, as many authors have reminded us, we have to have the courage to edit even those passages that we delight in, if they have no place in keeping the story alive.

Being at the editing stage, I suspect that judicious read-throughs are vital to what becomes a finished article. And, what is more, editing allows us to look beyond a mere word count and bring to light new angles that might otherwise be lost under the weight of our creative obscurantism. Judicious editing is creativity’s best friend. Bosom buddy, indispensable side-kick, major domo, maitre d’. Without editing, even my most brilliant moments would be languishing…

So that’s that, then. Sorted… except that, without the creative impulse, no-one would be mad enough to spend years of their life writing something longer than a shopping list without some hope of validation, would they??

Which brings the matter full circle.

 

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May 31, 2018

The creative imperatives of writing

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The creative imperatives of writing

 

What matters, when we are writing? What aspects can an author not do without?

A handful of good ideas is a great start, but there is also the requirement to edit, endlessly read and work through a text, ironing out inconsistencies, tangles and plot holes. But apart from the obvious – and often very trying – aspects of working with words, what other less obvious parts of the craft are necessary?

These are my latest discoveries, always subject to change.

~ the ability to envision ourselves writing regularly for the rest of our lives. Typically, I shun the regularity of a three-hour-a-day habit; or even worse, a five-thousand-word-a-day requirement as  ‘shackling my creative flow’. However, I have recently come to appreciate that a regular writing habit offers our characters room to evolve and expand – revealing more of their character traits, their ideas, even their conversational quirks – over time. Since with a regular habit, we take our writing seriously for at least part of every work day – say, Monday to Friday – our work has room and time to expand fully. Given a regular commitment of time and engagement, our writing becomes deeper and more rewarding.

~ the confidence to take writing seriously, so that, even when we are very busy, our writing purpose is honoured for at least some time every day. It might be writing blog posts, or editing a single paragraph of text – or even deciding, after hours of tinkering, that the paragraph in question will have to go – but that kind of self-belief grows wings, and can weather any storm of external busyness.

~ The confidence to finish what we started. No piece of writing, no matter how good, will see the light of day if it remains unfinished. To push past the curse of the soggy middle, to ignore the word-count and push to the finish, no matter how ragged it may be, is, I would say, the single most important part of writing anything – apart from starting, that is. (And actually, finishing is a great deal harder than starting, but don’t tell…)

Speaking as an author who seems to get busier every day, the greatest creative spur I have yet found is the refusal to be beaten; with which the above strategies help me, every day.

Thanks for reading this.

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March 3, 2018

The unbearable insecurity of writers

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The unbearable insecurity of writers

Lots of those we call great authors – okay, almost all the authors I know or have read about – suffer from an insecurity, a question they ask themselves all the time: Is my work any good? Have they done themselves and their characters justice, this time? Such is the unbearable insecurity of writers that even famous and very successful authors suffer from angst and mental health problems.

And to the general public who read books, or who simply watch the show from the side-lines, the answer is – of someone like Stephen King or Marian Keyes or Lee Child – “Of course they are good enough. They sell millions of books. What more do they expect? Perfection?”

Writerly insecurity looks a bit like – and is often mistaken for – an ego needing a good massage, but, I believe the reason for the endless quest for reassurance is more subtle.

When we first set pen to paper – okay, when we sit in front of our PCs with a new file open – we have the whole field of possibility open to us, rather like a child’s first day at primary school. We can write literally anything; excuse the pun. But as a story takes shape and the characters show us where to go, as words and plots are tied down, increasingly there arises the question, is this where I am meant to take this story? What if there is a much better line to follow out there, that I have missed? What if all I have written is but a poor reflection of what I should be writing?

And to that, I can offer only the age-old adages that, “What’s for you won’t go by you..” or “If it’s meant to happen, it will,” or “All things work out for the best…” which may be scant comfort, a bit too much like the superstitions that our forebears relied on, but what else can we do? There is no way to know definitively whether what we have is the best finished article we can make; and, we can always console ourselves that a finished book – or even a half-finished book – is probably better than no book at all.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

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