Be Your Own Publisher Intro Santa Fe July 09

1SF Complex Santa Fe, New Mexico July 28, 2009

“Be Your Own Publisher”Self-publishing in the Digital Age

Tom Johnsont o m @ j t j o h n s o n . c o m

Institute for Analytic JournalismIndie Publishing West

Santa Fe, New Mexico

2 © J.T.Johnson 2009

What we’re aiming for today

Changes in publishing biz Pros and cons of digital self-publishing

(DSP) or Publish-on-Demand What you need to know to self-publish

What “manufacturer” needs from you Planning your project Computing programs & file types Working with specialized contractors

Major online Print-on-Demand (P-o-D) houses

Melissa Leith Ash: “The Gypsy In Spanish Red”


State of publishing in America

Are there more or fewer publishers in the U.S. today?


State of publishing #1

Are there more or fewer publishers in the U.S. today?

130,477 active publishers in 2008 Number of “active publishers” up 27% Total number of publishers continues to

increase Virtually all of increase is in

<$50m/year “small publisher category.

Source: BookExpo America -- Book Industry TRENDS 2009http://www.slideshare.net/bisg/bookexpo-america-book-industry-trends-2009

http://www.slideshare.net/bisg/bookexpo-america-book-industry-trends-2009










Industry Sector Growth?

“Sectors” are a big factor in publishing. Which is growing? Which declined in 2008?


Industry Sector Growth?

“Sectors” are a big factor in publishing. Which is growing? Which declined in 2008?












Overall Trends in Publishing

What are the trends in the overall publishing industry?

Up? Down? Little change?


Adult tradebooks?












The Status Quo?

Amazon announced the second iteration of its Kindle electronic reading device in February

The next day, HarperCollins announced it would close its Collins division to substantially reduce head count and limit the number of books it acquires to publish.

http://tbm.thebigmoney.com/articles/saga/2009/03/04/kindle-revolution

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI?ie=UTF8&tag=thebicom04-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B00154JDAI

http://tbm.thebigmoney.com/articles/saga/2009/03/04/kindle-revolution


The Status Quo?

Backlist is slowing because traffic at the bookstore chains is slowing

When a book is hot, most sales don't take place in bookstores. They're at Costco, newsstands, grocery stores and other non-book book outlets.

For bookstores, most books are shelf-occupying rent-takers

For publishers (i.e. manufactures), books represent upfront investment that may or may not be recovered


Major changes in publishing biz

Ten publishers accounted for more than 80% of annual book publishing revenue.

Top 10 book printers were responsible for more than half of all book manufacturing revenue.

In 2003, 34% of adult hardcover books were returned to publishers compared with 28% in 1993.



Traditional costs going up

Staff cutbacks less editing, design, marketing/promotion/sales staff

Readers being more eclectic in terms of medium, i.e. E-books, book in Iphone, mixing multiple forms – sometimes I-o-P, sometimes digital of same book



<57% of the U.S. population now reads even one book per year; 4% decline in a decade.

Percentage of adult Americans who regularly read literature — novels, short stories, plays and poetry — fell from almost 57% in 1982 to 46.7%; a loss of 20 million potential readers


Your Role in Changing Info Environment?

A cultural and economic power shift from centralized institutions to individual

Ergo, great decision-making and process control for the individual

With greater authority comes greater responsibility for determining YOUR author/publisher fate.


Pros of digital self-publishing

Low initial $$$ investment (but takes time to write and format and, possibly, learn the system)

You have TOTAL control over creation, editing and design

YOU control print run and PRICE! YOU set the royalty YOU can make corrections at any time Get listed on Amazon.com, Border.com, Barnes &

Noble.com and in European databases A successful P-o-D book can get picked up by

traditional publisher. (If so, what’s your negotiating position?)


Cons of digital self-publishing

Editors and copy editors are always necessary You will have to hire them, although P-o-D house can

usually help you find someone

Designers are always helpful; perhaps necessary depending on your experience

YOU will be responsible for all PR, marketing and promotion. Again, P-o-D publisher can suggest contractors


Navigating the publishing world

Your Book

ProjectPlanning

ContentCreation

Promotion/Marketing

Manufacture

Design/Format

Pricing

Distribution

Accounting


Navigating the publishing world

Your Book

Accounting

Distribution

Promotion/Marketing

Manufacture

Pricing

Design/Format

ContentCreation

ProjectPlanning


Needed to P-o-D

You provide Computer and

software Word processing app PDF “printer”

Content Design

Cover, MSS ISBN number Formatted MSS saved

as PDF Evaluate your skills;

develop process plan

Book mfgr provides Online access with

step-by-step process Printing Binding Database submission Fulfillment Accounting


Desktop Publishing Tools

Learning Curve/Complexity/Quality

Price

~$0

~$50

~$200

∞

WordProcessing

programs

•MS Publisher•PagePlus

Open Source•Scribus

•Adobe InDesign

Latest version retail: $200

Older version discount: $45-75


Lulu.com web site


Lulu.com

Author chooses basic layout from templates downloaded from Lulu.com

Author “flows” text from wp file into page layout

Author chooses binding style

Author chooses cover art

Author sets price for I-o-P and online version


Lulu.com

Book purchased via Lulu.com or Amazon.com

Lulu.com does fulfillment (printing and mailing)

Lulu.com posts your financials online

What does it cost you?

$0


Lulu by the numbers

A Step by Step Guide to the Lulu Publishing Process - http://www.lulu.com/en/help/wizard_tutorial

http://www.lulu.com/en/help/wizard_tutorial


Lulu #1 – Step-by-Step



Lulu #2 – Overview of steps



Lulu #3 – Project Options



Lulu.com Trim Sizes


Lulu Binding Types


Lulu #4 – Price Setting A



Lulu #4 – Price Setting B



Lulu #5 – Lulu Review page



Lulu Points of Advantage and Caution

Double check with designer on size and placing of ISBN & barcode

Always order a “trial” or “proof” version(s) of your book to check color, font, paper and inking, etc.

Double check graphics DPI settings Color should NOT be RGB; instead CMYK

(Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)


Some online book publishers

booksandtales.com/pod/index.php

www.foxacre.com/bookpage/bodaddress.htm

www.selfpublishingsearch.com

www.parapublishing.com

www.bookmarket.com

www.createspace.com/ (Amazon)

www.iuniverse.com

www.instantpublisher.com

www.trafford.com

http://www.foxacre.com/bookpage/bodaddress.htm

http://www.selfpublishingsearch.com/

http://www.parapublishing.com/

http://www.bookmarket.com/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.iuniverse.com/

http://www.instantpublisher.com/

http://www.trafford.com/


P-o-D/Self-publishing resources

The Self-Publishing Manual By Dan Poynter Read on Google.com/books\

Print on demand Book Publishingby Morris Rosenthal - 184 pages

The complete guide to self-publishingBy Tom Ross


Next steps

Day-long seminar in Santa Fe Tom Johnson & Anita Quintana Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009 – 9:15 a.m.-5 p.m. St. John’s United Methodist Church

Cordova @ Old Pecos Trail Materials & lunch - $150 Register: indiepubwest.com

Tom Johnson – Planning and [email protected] or 505.473.9646

Anita Quintana – Planning, Design, [email protected] or 505.988.1902

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“Be Your Own Publisher” Gracias

Tom JohnsonInstitute for Analytic Journalism

Indie Publishing WestSanta Fe, New Mexico

Education

Be Your Own Publisher Intro Santa Fe July 09