6 Steps to Start Your #Publishing Company & Printing Books

Have you ever wanted to have a book in print, or your own publishing company? With the self publishing revolution of the past decade, it's now possible. This summer, I was bitten by the bug (or should I say book!) and took a slight diversion from historical fiction into the art world - though many of you know I'm an artist as well as a writer.  I’m very excited by my new project of producing The Creative Zone: An Adult Coloring Book Inspired by Stained Glass. Publication date is very soon, so I will keep you posted!These steps are by no means a comprehensive list, but it will give you an overview of what it will entail.Please note I am referring to sole proprietorship. If you want a more complex business set up such as a corporation, then you’ll want to take advice from a lawyer and an accountant before you move forward.

1. Choose a Name for Your Publishing Company

If you want to sell your books solely though Amazon or elsewhere online, you can simply publish your books through Create Space or another Print On Demand (POD) company - see Number 4 below. However if you want to get your books into a bookstore, you will not be taken seriously without your own publishing company. Common wisdom is also that the name should not just be an extension of your own name e.g. Mary Smith Press. A name distinctive from your own or the title of the book will look more professional.I chose D Street Press which has a local connotation for me. You will of course need to search online to see if your name is already being used.

2. Get a Domain Name

Aside from a general online search, one of the best ways of finding whether a name is being used, is by searching for the domain name. Because after all you will want to register the domain name yourself. Even if you don’t yet have a website, or have a website in a different name, it makes sense to snag a domain for your new press. I do this through GoDaddy. They are very reputable for hosting domains, and I’ve also had good customer service with them. But I have also read that they have a poor reputation when it comes to site hosting, so look elsewhere for that.

3. Register Your Fictitious Business Name with the County Clerk

Once you have the name, checked it’s not in use and registered the domain, you will need to register with your County Clerk’s office that you are doing business as (DBA) your fictitious name. In my county, this was a very simple process of filling out a one page form and paying the  $40 filing fee. You will also need to put a notice in a local paper for four consecutive weeks , but the County Clerks office will give you names and contact details of places to contact. Note that the smaller the paper, the less the fee will be. Mine cost $30 for the four week submission.If you are unclear on the rules in your county, then check with your local Small Business Association (SBA)

4. Choose a Printer

OK - now we’re getting closer to the book! Although there are numerous POD Companies out there, the two main contenders are Ingram Spark and CreateSpace. The latter is Amazon’s POD company.Quality wise they are close, but Ingram Spark have a slightly better quality reputation (this is always a subject choice). If you want to just go with online sales through Amazon, then Create Space is the simplest choice and I understand they will give you a little more handholding too. However, if you also want your books in Barnes and Noble, Libraries and numerous other distributors, then Ingram Spark is the one to choose. Another reason -  and for me it was the decisive reason - is that you will not be picked up by bookstores if you are published by Create Space. Call it snobbery over self publishing or what have you, but this is generally speaking the state of play at the moment.

5. Buy ISBN Numbers

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is the long string number code (13 numbers in the US) that the book is recognized by all over the world. If you work with Create Space, you can buy one of their ISBN’s for $10, but that can only be used through Create Space. It is in effect ‘their ‘ number.If you want to ‘go all the way’ then you need to buy an ISBN yourself. In the US, this can only be done through a company called Bowker. Go to the site MyIdentifiers.com. FYI In Canada, ISBN’s are issued for free! However in the US, it is most cost effective to buy 10 at a time, which is a hefty $295 (I was lucky to buy mine on sale for $250), but to only buy one costs $125, so …..

6. Submit Materials

Once you’ve chosen the POD company you want, then you have to jump through a few hoops filling out forms and making sure your files are up to their specifications. So be sure to look at all of these specs. before you set up your book in whatever Desk Top Publishing software you use. (I used Pages). The current top of the line software for this is InDesign from Adobe. But it’s a chunk of money to rent (not buy) as Adobe now have all their software  - Photoshop, Illustrator & ID though a monthly licensing fee. But you can even do your layout in Word. Once you have done that, then you will need to approve an e-copy and to be prudent have them send you a hardcopy to proof.After that is all good to go, the the POD will submit your work to Amazon , Barnes and Noble etc, and you are published!!As I said, this is a somewhat bare bones guide and by no means answers all the questions you will have before you start on this publishing journey. But there are many good sites to get info from. Here are three of my favorites:TheBookDesigner.com Joel Friedlander runs this site and is a veritable fountain of information on the subject. An excellent resource. He also sells templates in Word for book layout at a very reasonable cost to take some of the headache out of that part of the process.TheCreativePenn.com is another excellent site run by Joanna Penn. This is really a fantastic site for writers in general.JaneFriedman.com also covers loads of self publishing stuff in her blogs and her writers resource page is the most comprehensive I’ve seen.To add a couple more, Kristen Joy’s site TheBookNinja.com is great for finding out about webinars on publishing - many of which are free and packed with great info. Creativindie.com from Derek Murphy is another good one. He’s great at giving freebies too.If you have any other good resources you’d like to add to this list please leave them in the comments.So has anyone chosen POD as an option? What difficulties have you come across? What other vital points do you feel need including in this list?

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To e- or not to e- That is the Question (orig. post Feb 9th)

To e- or not to e- that is the question: Whether 'tis Nobler for the novel to sufferThe trends and whims of publishing world fortune,Or to e-Book, instead of a Sea of Submissions,And by virtual means, end them… To e-publish or not? Strictly speaking it’s to self-publish or not that’s the question. The rules and the game itself have changed and now as novelists, we’re faced with the decision as to whether to seek the recognition and validation of a traditional publisher rather than choosing to self-publish. The stigma of so-called vanity publishing has not been eliminated completely, but between Smashwords, Amazon’s KDP, Createspace, Lulu, Bookbaby and other organisations, it’s easy to self publish whether it is an eBook, or hardcopies printed on demand (POD). Millions of people have already jumped at the opportunity, preferring the option to traditional publishing. So if you choose to dive in, it will be a crowded pool.There have been a number of publicly noted success stories – Amanda Hocking, for example. She’s a 27 year old novelist, from a small town in Minnesota, who tried the traditional route, had about 50 rejection letters from agents, and finally decided to self publish back in 2008. She also looked at Wal-Mart and where her work could fit in. Not in the James Patterson thriller market, but in paranormal romance – fantasy stories –vampires, witches etc- with a love story thrown in. She has now joined the ranks of Stieg Larsson and only 10 other authors who’ve sold 1million books for Amazon’s Kindle. She’s been picked up by St Martin’s Press, and has her first print book, Switched, published. The movie rights have also been optioned.In the interview I read through NPR, Amanda emphasizes she was prepared to put in the hard work. I got the impression she was talking not so much about rewrites and edits, but self –promotion, as well as handling what was, initially, essentially running a small business. Not quite what you had in mind? – Earning the $2M perhaps, but all the marketing that would go with it? – Not so much, I imagine.The reality is, that even if one decides (or should I say, is lucky enough) to be able to go the traditional publishing route, then unless you’re an exception, you’ll be asked to do just that – get a website, write a blog, have a social network presence. In essence brand yourself, not just your work. Times are economically hard, but also the publishing industry has changed dramatically over the past 20 years in the way books are marketed. As artists, it might seem loathsome, but the good side of this change is that more people are reading books than ever before. And that surely has to be a good thing.For myself I’m in the middle of the rejection letter phase for, my first novel Radio Echo. I wouldn’t have considered self-publishing until very recently, but I’m now reconsidering it as an option. What changed for me is that in the submission guidelines for the agents I applied to, some asked for details of self published work - where, in what form, and what the sales been. Mainstream publishers are clearing coming round to embracing indie publishers. It helps them see if you have a marketable product, which let's face it is ultimately what they’re interested in.So we’ll see. You can write a good novel or rewrite until your hand falls off, but it doesn’t guarantee a publishing contract. People’s tastes are varied enough to warrant a huge range of work, and trends come and go. As a writer do you want your work read? Presumably yes. So the question is, in what circumstances and at what cost?It’s not the 20^th century anymore. It Time to get real kids. BTW a great resource for self publishing and self marketing is Joanna Penn's website:  http://www.thecreativepenn.com/She has a great blog, a wonderful series of podcasts and is a huge resource for writers in general, especially those considering self publishing. COMMENTS from previous site:CommentsfrancescaWed, 08 Feb 2012 07:38:10I'd say go for it - not only can you gauge your readership and its response, but you also have the chance to be involved in your own promotion - like it or not, these days marketing is everything. You might also consider having Radio Echo  translated into Italian so that you can market it in Italy too, just a thought.AK AndrewWed, 08 Feb 2012 09:54:23Good point about gauging the readership Francesca. And what a brilliant idea having it translated into Italian -I shall definitely look into that.Mille grazieBeckyWed, 08 Feb 2012 10:29:44Not being in the enviable position yet of having my novel finished so that I can send it out, I'm still hoping to go the traditional route. But I don't think I'd rule out self-publishing if it came to it. I think it's interesting that Amanda Hocking, even after all her success self-publishing, eventually went to a publisher when one was offered. But your comments about agents asking you if you'd had success self-publishing is valid too. Maybe we all need to be more open to whatever avenues get the work out there.A.K.Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:24:03I think that's a really good point you make about Amanda Hocking ,Becky. I suppose at that point it might have felt like someone was taking the weight off her shoulders, but I suspect the validation aspect we've discussed before must have come into play. She is also (now) someone with a 'story' worth putting money in to publicize too. So I will continue to go the traditional route, but may consider (at some point) self -publishing along side it. The two can happen simultaneously.Thanks so much for your comment.Jenny ReeveWed, 15 Feb 2012 21:51:29I enjoyed reading this, it certainly gave me an insight into self publication. I did not know that we could self publish. I think I must be naive, I thought that he ereader was just an electronic book, boring and lacking the feel of a 'real' book. I will have to look into the real concept of it I think.