AV Bible Believers Fellowship

Here's a question that I think deserves its own thread, given the number of writers we have here (both published and not):

How do you go about publishing a book?

(10-08-2010 09:27 AM)Laura Wrote: [ -> ]Here's a question that I think deserves its own thread, given the number of writers we have here (both published and not):

How do you go about publishing a book?

Well, first you have to write one.

Then you have two choices: You can mail out copies of your manuscript to various publishing houses, hoping that you book impresses them enough that they determine they can make money from it. If so, you have it made and the publisher will take it from there. But, if you have not sold your soul to the Devil and bought into the publishing game, you will get nowhere following that route.

Your alternative course of action is Self Publishing and Self promotion. This is the route that 99% of present-day authors choose.

So your next task is to design a cover for your book and prepare the necessary electronic artwork. You also need to put your manuscript into electronic publishing form. This is usually done these days with .PDF files. Once completed, you move to the next step.

At this decision point, you can either pay a publisher to print up a bunch of books for you by paying them a lot of $$$ out of pocket. They will be shipped to you by mail and then you must find the ways and means to hock them.

The better way is to open an account with an "On Demand" publisher. :boggle:

You upload your electronic files. The publishing place will help you setup an on-line e-store to sell from. If you use a publisher like Creatspace, they will even set you up with a sales page on Amazon.com to market your book. Going this route is very prudent and cost effective, and by shelling out a few additional bucks and opting for an expanded distribution option, the publisher will get your book listed on an expanded distribution service to book distributors, retailers and libraries.

"On demand" publishing means the company publishes a fresh copy of your book with every order. This means you do not have to pay to maintain an inventory of stock. And when a copy of your book sells, your account is automatically credited with your agreed percentage royalty. At the end of each month they send you a check (or transfer the money by direct deposit to your bank account).

Up to this point your book is still "Either Ware' only. That is, it only exists as millions of 1s and 0s somewhere in a computer database. Once you feel that everything is right and the book is ready, you order a 'Proof' copy from the publisher. Your book's first bound paper copy will come to you in the mail. You will hold it in your hand and marvel that it is real. <joy> Then you read it, make sure everything is just right. And if it is, you inform the publishing company to go ahead and release it for publishing. Within a few hours or days it is available on line and ready to be automatically snapped up by eager readers. !

NOT!

At this juncture only the easy part is over. Now you need to market your book. And that process is an entirely different topic.

Thanks, brother! That's exactly the info I was looking for! Now, about marketing....

(10-11-2010 12:03 AM)worddigger Wrote: [ -> ]Then you have two choices: You can mail out copies of your manuscript to various publishing houses, hoping that you book impresses them enough that they determine they can make money from it. If so, you have it made and the publisher will take it from there. But, if you have not sold your soul to the Devil and bought into the publishing game, you will get nowhere following that route.

I wouldn't say that going to a publishing house is an impossible dream, but it's not as simple as it used to be. In the old days, when I was attempting to sell a book I'd written, I'd simply submit the expanded outline and a few sample chapters, and if the publisher was interested, they'd ask for the complete manuscript. In the 70s, that was the usual way of doing business, although even then it was easier if you had an agent. Self-submitted manuscripts were known in the trade as "over the transom" books, and very few ever got published. But some did; eventually, mine almost did. But external events stopped it.

Anyway, these days, it's virtually impossible to get to a publisher without an agent. And there are plenty of Christian literary agents, who specialize in placing manuscripts at the "Christian" publishing houses.

But for a Bible believer, who doesn't play the evangelical/fundamental anti-KJB game, the doors are utterly and completely closed. You either go to a tiny, sympathetic publisher, like Chick, or you self-publish.

Just tossing in my

(10-11-2010 02:14 PM)William Wrote: [ -> ]But for a Bible believer, who doesn't play the evangelical/fundamental anti-KJB game, the doors are utterly and completely closed. You either go to a tiny, sympathetic publisher, like Chick, or you self-publish.

Just tossing in my

William is absolutely correct on that point.

In order to successfully market a book, it needs to get a good review from a reputable or known reviewer. This requires buying copies out of pocket and mailing them to potential Christian reviewers. But there is no guarantee that doing so will get you one. I learned this the hard way.

Also, book stores today are NOT willing to automatically buy copies of your book and stock them. It is financially too risky. Unless you are a Bob Woodward or well-known successful author with a solid track record of book sales, they won't take the chance. Consequently, a self publisher must beat the bushes and 'get the buzz out' by themselves to get their book into the public's notice.

I leveraged my personal skill-sets as a former commercial broadcasting production specialist and produced my own video Book Trailer. I then placed it on YouTube and several websites specializing in Book Trailer videos. I also had the advantage of having a well established Bible Believing website to also offer the book from, using an e-store arrangement. The combination of those two methods, coupled with simple word-of-mouth from satisfied purchasers, constitute the entirety of my current marketing strategy. After only five months since the book was published, sales are averaging about 20 - 25 copies a month. Nobody would remotely consider that a commercial success, but I praise the Lord and consider it a good success for a KJB Bible-based work.

My wife is currently writing a novel, which we plan to publish at the beginning of 2011. Learning from my personal experience in marketing my own book, I have already
setup a Book Web Page to kick-start the publicity buzz prior to its release. Later, that same website location will be used to also offer on-line purchases of the book and additional promotional materials, including (probably) its own Book Trailer.

I would recommend, as a minimum, that if anyone is going to self-publish a book, religious or otherwise, that they make the investment to setup an attractive website to promote it, and do so before it is published.

Ok, that is my and on marketing strategy.

Great tips, Worddigger! 25 books a month is great!

I'm currently trying to get my book published through Daystar publishing, if they accept the book it operates very similar to how Worddigger described self-publishing. I pay to have my book printed, I still own the rights to my book and can distribute it how I please, but Daystar becomes my primary distributer and allows me to put their logo on my book.

Once I get my book in print form, I'm going to begin the tedious task of trying to make it an ebook. Ugh!

(10-12-2010 10:11 AM)Rick Schworer Wrote: [ -> ]Once I get my book in print form, I'm going to begin the tedious task of trying to make it an ebook. Ugh!

Actually, that should not be too big of a task. Unless you have locked yourself into an exclusive distribution deal with your publisher, and have signed away your digital rights, you should consider going the Kindle book route at Amazon.

If your book's manuscript is mastered in Word, it is easy. The Kindle publishing process takes a copy of your Word text and converts it the HTML. They then ask you to go through it, verifying the conversion to electronic screen format reads ok. Once it is, they publish and the work is done.

There are advantages to offering a Kindle version:
a. If you price it in the right bracket you can earn 70% in royalties, which is a better deal than Amazon gives for paperbacks.
b. Kindle is relatively new, so there are less publications to compete with. My Kindle book is in the top 100 of the three categories I listed it in.
c. You will be reaching a younger and mobile oriented audience, and getting God's Word to a generation that normally would eschew a paperback or hardback.
d. It is 100% FREE and you don't have to have an existing paperback on the market.

Interesting. I don't know much about ebooks, but from what I've heard there are several different types. I think anyone could see the value in getting your book out there in as many different venues as possible.

The only catch, from what I've heard, is that some ebook formats really do a number to you book. I have charts, a couple tables, and varying types of text in my book and that isn't compatible with some ebook formats.

Are you familar with this problem? Have you put your book on smashwords?

(10-13-2010 09:36 AM)Rick Schworer Wrote: [ -> ]Interesting. I don't know much about ebooks, but from what I've heard there are several different types. I think anyone could see the value in getting your book out there in as many different venues as possible.

The only catch, from what I've heard, is that some ebook formats really do a number to you book. I have charts, a couple tables, and varying types of text in my book and that isn't compatible with some ebook formats.

Are you familar with this problem? Have you put your book on smashwords?

As an e-book reader, I'm familiar with it. depending on the electronic format of the book, sometimes the formatting of the book on the reader is erratic. I just chalk it up to 'it goes with the territory' when I'm reading.

(10-13-2010 09:44 AM)Laura Wrote: [ -> ]As an e-book reader, I'm familiar with it. depending on the electronic format of the book, sometimes the formatting of the book on the reader is erratic. I just chalk it up to 'it goes with the territory' when I'm reading.

What type of reader do you use? Can you see charts, images, tables, and various text formats?

I've heard that many authors copy their text in to Notepad to make sure it's readable.