Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
The Downside of YOU self-publishing
It will cost you money.
YOU will need experts to help you and they cost money.
YOU will have to sell your own books and there is no easy of doing so.
You must become your own publicist. Look at Facebook and the number of books that people are encouraged to read and the feedback on those. You are effectively joining a Reading Group with the hope of slipping in your book in the hope it will be read. Have you time to read all the recommended books? It’s ONLY one way of advertising but a little time-consuming.
Book retailers need to give more credence to self-published authors. The book market is changing but progress is very slow. In short, choose the self-publishing/Indie publishing route with careful thought.
You can create a Podcast and invite your friends and family to spread the word. It too is time-consuming.
The Advantages of self-publishing
You will have your book within a short period. As I’ve said, going through a traditional publisher takes a long time. Self-publishing is a much quicker route.
Importantly, YOU retain control of your book. YOU manage the process throughout.
Between each process of publishing your own book, there is time to save money for the next stage!
✓ Overall you should save money.
✓ You control who sells your book.
✓ You are also able to sell on a ‘Sale or Return’ basis.
✓ You choose how many books you want printed. Print on Demand can offer a means to print a small number (expensive) or a larger number and will give you prices for each.
I’ve given you an overview; some hard facts. It is not an easy route to take. Ask yourself if chasing publishers, agents or trying to self-publish is worth it? My answer is YES. If you enjoy writing and you feel you can write a book people will want to read, then go ahead and fight to get published.
Here at Hoxa Harrier Books, we offer a Referral service to the specialists you need. Our focus is on Dorset, West Hampshire initially but we would hope to add to our database. We do charge but a very small amount for our referral service, but Hoxa Harrier Books is not set up to make a large profit from our Referral service. Our focus is mainly on selling our books. However, what we offer should save you money.
Listed below are the various professionals you will require to ensure you can self-publish your book.
I have spoken to each of those listed and several have provided me with their cost-bands. Our focus is on Dorset and west Hampshire.
Let me take you through the steps you need to know if you plan to buy-in to a self-publishing package or self-publish on your own.
Word-processing
First, do you have someone to word-process your manuscript, or can you do it yourself competently set out in a way that is easy to manage when it comes to your book being typeset ready for publication. Very few people are willing to copy-type from a hand-written script. It is easier to record what you write on a device and have a relative or friend word-process it for you.
A word of warning, in the publishing world, Microsoft’s WORD package is preferred.
Note: We are currently seeking people to word-process scripts qualified to at least NVQ Level 3.
ISBNs
Please note having an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is necessary to have your book go through the registration process and it ensures booksellers and libraries can order your book.
Editing: We can provide you with a first-line Editing service to check the flow of your book; the strength of your characters, continuity of date-spans, and more. We provide feed-back.
It is advisable when writing a novel to have a white board available with a flow-chart of who’s who, dates and plot-lines. If someone in your family is able to follow your flow-chart and do a critical first-read, it will save you money. However, ideally, seeking editorial help is a necessity and worth paying for. As a writer, you won’t necessarily see problems with a plotline for instance. Here at Hoxa Harrier, we can help edit your book. Prices are calculated on the number of pages.
Proof-reading
This service ideally should be provided by a qualified Proof-reader who will go through your book checking for spelling, wrongly used tenses and grammatical errors. A qualified proof-reader should be willing to go through your script, line-by-line, rather than using the Review or Editor application on a computer programme. We have two proof-readers who are experienced in copy-editorial, and they will go through what you have written. We have also linked with a qualified certificated Proof-reader.
It is important to note that those applications do not pick up repeated or missed words or issues regarding your character. I read one of Ben Elton’s books years back and in the final part of the book, he brought alive one of his characters who had died earlier in the book! Please note that some Proof-readers will be to edit your book too.
Graphics
There are many images out there and many are royalty free. Shuttercock is one of several to search. A good designer will know of others or create what you’d like. High resolution images are required to create the covers of your book but if you submit your own photos, because they may not reach the required resolution for printing-purposes.
It is difficult to provide a price for graphics until it is known what is required.
Publishers
The publisher will send you a pdf proof of your book for acceptance or amendments. An approximate timescale of 10 – 15 days and you will have your book.
Finally, your book has been sent to you. You love it and want to pass a copy to all your family members. You want to sell it. Now comes the hardest part as you will need to market your book.
Selling your book
When your book is registered, you will have access to the top UK major wholesaler so your book can be accessed by booksellers. It is wise to list the genre of the book to enable easier access. A bookshop will be able to order your book for a customer but how will anyone know about your book?
Access to retailers such as Amazon, Waterstones or Bookshop.org (the latter like self-published books) sounds the perfect route. Beware, Amazon will list you IF you have paid to publish your book through them, otherwise they charge a monthly fee to list your book. Also note, that on Amazon, unless your potential reader knows the title of your book, they are unlikely to find it easily among the thousands of books listed. Bookshop.org claim to welcome self-published books but won’t deal with books that have to be specialised orders.
In short, self-published books created by you (or through a self-publishing company), require YOU to get your name out there and get feedback from readers. You will have to learn how to market your book.
Finally, your book has been sent to you. You love it and want to pass a copy to all your family members. You want to sell it. Now comes the hardest part as you will need to market your book.
Marketing
One look on Linked-in, it is obvious there are marketing professionals out there. Expensive and finding one to help you sell your books, is not easy. It is not a profit-making avenue for them.
I came across one company who advertises an all-in marketing package that includes getting you into the Literary Review pages of newspapers. But ask yourself which newspaper(s)? A local or national? If the latter, which one, and where would the reader get access to your book?
Marketing is a nightmare and requires you to have a gregarious personality – one that is not afraid to push for every opportunity to ensure people see your book.
If your book has been registered, it will be found on the wholesaler bookshops list, but someone would have to know about your book to order it! There is no guarantee your book will be on the bookshelves anywhere. However, the same applies to the traditional publishers marketing your books (although they have more money to market). Why? Because bookshops know their local market and will order accordingly.
At Hoxa Harrier Books, we are currently considering accepting a limited number of books to display on our site. This means we may be able to do some marketing for other writers in the near future, but you cannot rely on just one bookseller being able to sell your books. Almost certainly, you will need to consider strategies to get your name out there to draw people to where to find your book.
My Facebook page and YouTube will provide more information on traditional publishers, new development on self-publishing and you will be invited to join my page once you have contacted me through the Hoxa Harrier Books enquiry for authors form.
Get in Touch
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any of the services I provide.