Has anyone self-published a book?

A-R-T-H-U-R

I know a couple of lifers have published books or booklets, so I thought I would ask for advice.

I have been quoted £2,395 for a print run of 500 for a 260 page book. (its a travel story, and what I think is termed a vanity project)
I have shopped around and it seems a good deal - any thoughts from anyone with experience?


There are optional extra costs

- £450 for a year's distribution - probably not worth it for just 500 books
- a conversion to kindle format for £200ish. Pointless?
- £350 for a social networking pack - an unknown world to me - would there be any point for such a limited interest volume?

Advice / experiences welcome please!

man_at_milletts

Thinking of venturing into this myself, halfway through a book. Have checked out Lulu and the like, would be interested in advice too.

Mendonca In Asdas

First question in business , can you afford to lose the money if it doesn't sell?

Paddy7

Guess it also depends on whether you really see it as a business venture, or are just happy to see your work in print. Well done anyway; I know how much work can be involved in the frist place. As said above, don't pump all that money in unless it's an amount you can mamage to spend on a "vanity project". Statistically I believe it's very unlikely to result in big sales without the backing of a publisher with financial interest in the marketing and distribution.

man_at_milletts

Do you get an ISBN number for that price?

Karim_myBagheri

My dad’s been part of publishing so I’ll give him a ring a bit later to see what he thinks.

for now i would say the kindle conversion is probably worth it. seems very popular to have it available in that format. also being a travel book some might want to read it whilst travelling. so kindle seems like a good idea.

Have you gone straight to the printers rather than any publishers/middle men?

A-R-T-H-U-R

First question in business , can you afford to lose the money if it doesn't sell?

Good point, but in this case it really is a vanity project.
Expected sales are in the region of 37!
The knack is minimising the cost of doing something I feel compelled to do!

A-R-T-H-U-R

My dad’s been part of publishing so I’ll give him a ring a bit later to see what he thinks.

for now i would say the kindle conversion is probably worth it. seems very popular to have it available in that format. also being a travel book some might want to read it whilst travelling. so kindle seems like a good idea.

Have you gone straight to the printers rather than any publishers/middle men?

thanks for the insight Karim.
If any 'outsider' wanted to read it I see your point about it being a kindle-reader. So, 'tick' on that one, thanks.
As it will be of value to no one but friends (plus some copies sent to people who helped me along the journey), I didnt even consider publishers. I contacted every online self publishing outfit, half a dozen recommended local companies (a small benefit to living close to Hay on Wye!)

AshC

I'd be very interested in any tips/knowledge in this field. Have the concept and the framework ready, and a chunk of the content, so any advice appreciated.

A-R-T-H-U-R

Do you get an ISBN number for that price?

Yes, I'm pretty sure he said that during our meeting - to be honest I'm not that bothered about IBSN and was concentrating more on prices!

A-R-T-H-U-R

Guess it also depends on whether you really see it as a business venture, or are just happy to see your work in print. Well done anyway; I know how much work can be involved in the frist place. As said above, don't pump all that money in unless it's an amount you can mamage to spend on a "vanity project". Statistically I believe it's very unlikely to result in big sales without the backing of a publisher with financial interest in the marketing and distribution.

Cheers Paddy - sound advice. You sound as though you have done it yourself?
My 'marketing' will probably involve sending copies to friends (so they cant refuse!) and an A5 note in the local pubs and book club meetings!

man_at_milletts

For what it's worth I've signed up for an account with Lulu.com. I think they quote about £450 for printing 100 copies of a 200 ish page paperback (depending on quality of paper etc). I don't want an ISBN as this is a vanity project too, and most will be given away or put on ebay etc. They provide templates for your book size so it takes all the guesswork out of it, and you can also market on there if you wish. There's lot of options, you can pick and choose the ones which suit you.

They say there's a book in everyone and hope this is mine.

DRF

As well as paying for printing I would seriously consider paying for professional editing. Or asking for an editor on here to do you a favour. If you're going to do it you want it to be right even if you don't want to sell it.

shamkat

Went through this with my Dad (his book 'Hard Drive' ISBN 1903138078) in 2002/2003 and the figure you have been quoted seems about right, for the services you have been offered anyway.

I'd agree about the ISBN and also Kindle. The SM aspect is great to have but if it's of interest you'd need to really drill down on what they are offering. I manage SM for my company via FB & Twitter but it's not a one hit deal, it really needs to be continual and specific to keywords etc.

The fact you say this is a vanity project will make life easier to be honest because from my experience what you won't get from any publisher/printer, as an unknown author, is any PR / marketing.

If you want that kind of activity then you can try yourself though. My Dad got into computer trade magazines (it's a thriller about the computer industry), did local book signings with Ottakars Greenwich & somewhere else and onto local radio by simply picking up the phone and speaking to the right people.

Good luck and well done on the book. Having been through it with my Dad I know it's not something I could do.

johnny73

I've looked into this myself and I'd have to say do you really want it in print form? Why not just go down the digital route?

johnny73

Out of interest do you have pictures in this book or is it just text?

Oggy Red

I know you said it was a vanity project - but you never know, it might appeal to a fair number of people if only they get to hear about it? That's where social networking sites (even this one!) and word of mouth can really score.



DRF's point about professional standard editing (and proof reading) is crucial.
There's nothing more cringeworthy than a book that's amateurish and full of typos.

Best of luck!

Shrew

I just designed and typeset my partners debut novel, Im surrounded by boxes of them as I type, I'm happy to pass on any thoughts and learning experiences from the whole self publishing experience, inbox me and we can arrange to chat.
Good Luck

Saga Lout

Our next door neighbour has had a book self-published, but I'm afraid I don't know her well enough to ask about the financial details. Also a friend wrote a book, was talking about a publishing deal involving it being on sale in Waterstones, but it ended up being digital only. I've read my friends book, which I believe benefited from editing and proof-reading and he asked me for an honest opinion so I lied and said it was good...

Pedro45

I self-published my book about 14 months ago via Lulu.com. I tried various small publishers, but they were asking for mega-bucks and I'd have needed to sell a couple of thousand just to break even! The key for me is do you want it published and available to sell (and maybe break-even/make money, in which case you need an ISBN), or just for friends, family etc to own a copy (in which case you do not need an ISBN)?

For straight printing, the price you've been quoted is OK (depending on colour content, paper, jacket, etc), but you could try a printer I know who may better your quote - http://www.mpg-booksgroup.com/ . They have printed a couple of books for me in the past and did a great job.

If you want the ISBN (http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/controller.php?page=121), they cost £118.68 and don't come with a single option (I think you have to buy ten). Lulu do manage that side and it's all included as previously said. Lulu will help set your sales price for you (if you want to sell it), and do pay a commission if you are succesful (I had my first cheque last month!).

My book is available via Amazon (which Lulu linked to), and I had the choice of an e-book version (I chose not to, as costing it would have been difficult). I'd suggest that the £200 you have been quoted for the e-book version is much too high.

I was exhilarated when I got my books delivered, and hope you feel the same way. Good luck!

Powell Is Pleasant

I've written a children's story and read it to my class (I'm a primary school teacher - my class is year 5, which is 9-10 year olds) and they loved it. They keep asking if I'm going to get it published, but to be honest, after reading this thread I don't feel like it's worth it! Besides which, they knew I had written it, so there's a big chance they were just being nice. I'll try again with my class next year (year 5 again) without saying that I wrote it. But to be honest, I can't imagine going through all the hassle - I'd personally probably prefer to just have a story that I read to my new class every year, and nothing else.

richie8

Ive written,but not published a book on my experiences on the railway as I was laid up a year or so ago.A few mates have read the book and have liked it a lot.The problem though I was wondering about is the legal side of mentioning peoples names,and even with one complete plank who I haven't named but he or anyone else who had the misfortune of working with him would instantly know who he was.I know that certain chapters could only be published when all involved had died and I couldn't include! The semi sensible stuff though I don't really want to have go to a solicitor as its going to be a small fortune for them to check what I have written,somewhere near 90,000 words and if it was published it would eat heavily in to any profit. Is there anyway round this without funding the solicitors next holiday to Barbados?

Saga Lout

Ive written,but not published a book on my experiences on the railway as I was laid up a year or so ago.A few mates have read the book and have liked it a lot.The problem though I was wondering about is the legal side of mentioning peoples names,and even with one complete plank who I haven't named but he or anyone else who had the misfortune of working with him would instantly know who he was.I know that certain chapters could only be published when all involved had died and I couldn't include! The semi sensible stuff though I don't really want to have go to a solicitor as its going to be a small fortune for them to check what I have written,somewhere near 90,000 words and if it was published it would eat heavily in to any profit. Is there anyway round this without funding the solicitors next holiday to Barbados?

Change all the names and say it's fiction!

Vincenzo

Why not publish it on Kindle as an ebook? It'll hardly cost you anything.

RedMonster

Ask Ackworth!!!

man_at_milletts

I self-published my book about 14 months ago via Lulu.com. I tried various small publishers, but they were asking for mega-bucks and I'd have needed to sell a couple of thousand just to break even! The key for me is do you want it published and available to sell (and maybe break-even/make money, in which case you need an ISBN), or just for friends, family etc to own a copy (in which case you do not need an ISBN)?

For straight printing, the price you've been quoted is OK (depending on colour content, paper, jacket, etc), but you could try a printer I know who may better your quote - http://www.mpg-booksgroup.com/ . They have printed a couple of books for me in the past and did a great job.

If you want the ISBN (http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/controller.php?page=121), they cost £118.68 and don't come with a single option (I think you have to buy ten). Lulu do manage that side and it's all included as previously said. Lulu will help set your sales price for you (if you want to sell it), and do pay a commission if you are succesful (I had my first cheque last month!).

My book is available via Amazon (which Lulu linked to), and I had the choice of an e-book version (I chose not to, as costing it would have been difficult). I'd suggest that the £200 you have been quoted for the e-book version is much too high.

I was exhilarated when I got my books delivered, and hope you feel the same way. Good luck!

Good to see somebody's had a pleasant experience using Lulu, I was beginning to wonder if there were others on the market any better.

I'd better get on with the writing.

ken from bexley

I designed and made the files for my brother-in-law in regard to a first world war book 12 years ago.
I said that he could buy me lunch for a fee.......and he got a local printer to do this at 'cost', he claimed he eventually broke even.
And no it was not the cost of the lunch...........
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victor-Heroes-Robert-Edward-Pike/dp/0953950700
Actually it was very simple, and should have inspired me to do one........