Release Your Writing
Book Publishing, Your Way
♦ Helen Gallagher
Author of Computer Ease
Virtual Bookworm page
Copyright, Helen Gallagher
5 x 8
12 pt
bookman old style
Cover design & collage by Peg Miller
Table of Contents
A Changing Publishing Industry 11
The Business of Being a Writer 137
Book Marketing and Promotion 138
Attract a publisher if you can, but if not, don’t wait your life away….
Publish your book yourself.
Introduction
Whether you’re a writer just starting out or you’re finishing a book, you can get your work published.
You know the long road to publishing success: attract an agent who has time and connections to place your book with a publisher, and follow the slow journey to publication. But there is another way: publish it yourself!
This book explores traditional publishing and offers strategies for success with self-publishing, putting you in control of the process.
But what about the writing itself, and managing computer files, and formatting a book for publication? How does an author handle marketing and promotion? We’ll take you there too. Release Your Writing walks you through the whole process, not just publishing options, and is based on extensive research publishing my own books as well as advising clients on the best route to successful and timely publication.
Why self-publish? Perhaps …
You want your work to be seen. No one can read what’s in your desk drawer.
You want to help people with what you’ve learned, and share your expertise.
You have a collection of essays or stories you’d like to sell.
You want a book for professional reasons, as an adjunct to your business.
You’ve studied the markets and you know you aren’t likely to attract a major publisher…
Then self-publishing might be perfect for you.
When I wrote Computer Ease, to celebrate my tenth business anniversary, I wanted it on the market for the December 2005 holiday sales season. Working back from that deadline, I had to get on the publisher’s schedule for early October. August and September were consumed by all the important final revisions plus editing, cover design and the book’s front and back matter. My
publisher, Virtual Bookworm, Inc., took care of the rest. Computer Ease is still enjoying life, as “the book that won’t beep, crash, or call you a dummy.” Bringing it to life and enjoying book-signing parties is a marvelous reward for the effort. Computer Ease was chosen by Forbes Book Club, won a non-fiction award from Illinois Women’s Press Association, and still sells well... because I believed in the project, and I got it out there.
Release Your Writing presumes no strong computer skills and recognizes not everyone writes with a computer. Yet technology does lend a hand if you compose and edit your work via computer and need to format a manuscript for publication. You’ll learn techniques for manuscript management and revision. Even advanced computer users will find time-saving techniques, formatting tricks, ways to polish documents, and manage the business of writing.
Release Your Writing moves you toward getting your work published, whether a benevolent agent/publisher relationship is around the corner, or you have the time and money to fund the publishing process. Most of all, it offers you a strategy for preparing your manuscript and getting your book published through print-on-demand (POD), a technology becoming more and more embraced by the book industry. Authors are learning they can realize success with their book, control the process and keep the profits.
So let’s get started on publishing your book, your way.
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art 1
Getting Published
Chapter 1
A Changing Publishing Industry
Publishing as an industry has grown by almost 17 percent per year since 2005, and net revenues for all books are projected to top $40.4 billion by 2010, according to The Book Industry Study Group in New York. A few companies, just five or six, control over 80 percent of the industry. Most books in bookstores come from those few firms. Only one to two percent of unsolicited submissions are purchased for publication.
That’s why self-publishing and print-on-demand (POD) are projected to show continued growth and why they’ve gained acceptance as valid publishing choices.
Let’s take a brief look at traditional publishing methods, before we launch into publishing your way.
For traditional publishing, an agent is considered essential to present your manuscript to publishers and negotiate the best deal. That’s what they do best. In return, most agents earn about a 15 percent fee on your advance and future sales. Publishers prefer to work through agents because of their expertise, so most won’t even look at unagented manuscripts.