I realized when I started my second book that the mobile binder system provided the perfect way to capture my inspirational moments and organize my research material. I no longer had to start my book at chapter one, I actually started it 2/3rds of the way through, simply because I had lots of research material already collated for that particular subject.

By the time I had written about my current situation my mind had already worked out how the chapter before led up to this time and how the chapter following would be formed. I was no longer restricting my imagination and inspiration to just focus on that one story at a time, because all the stories were linked! I didn’t need to write all the chapters at once – just scribble a note to myself and put it in the relevant research section for later! I had these inspirational moments on the bus, walking the beach, standing in line at the grocery store and even in the shower. I just wrote myself a quick note so I didn’t lose the idea and then filed it away in my bookbuilding binder. I call these “inspirational bundles” and use clear pockets to keep each “bundle” of notes together, eventually these will inspire my chapter titles for my book.

So how much does this all cost? You can print just one book if you like and buy your books on demand averaging $6.50 a copy plus an initial set-up cost (starting at around $150 if you self publish using LightingSource) or you could opt to buy your own stock for back of room sales and reduce the cost per copy to $6. If you retail your book at $20 that means you net $14 for each sale! That’s a much better return than traditional publishers will give you (An average royalty is around 5% which would net you $1.50 per book – you need to sell nearly 10 times more books to get the same return!)

There are lots of options depending on how many you want to print, how many pages your book is and how it will be bound. These examples are taken straight from some of my quotes from a local Print on Demand printer based on approx 200 pages and full colour cover. There are many things to consider when choosing a printer/publisher including the quality of their print and paper (do you get bleed through on the print to the reverse page?). Most important is the level of service they are offering you, some allow free uploads (i.e. no set-up costs) but remember nothing is for free and there is usually a catch like signing over the rights to your book or only receiving a small royalty for each book sold. What other services do they offer? Do they offer educational programs to help you produce a professional looking book? Do they give advice on layout and design and what distribution services do they offer (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, online book store, ISBN No. Barcode and copyright) Is your book printed locally or is it shipped out to a 3rd world country where print and paper quality can be an issue.

I realized when I started my second book that the mobile binder system provided the perfect way to capture my inspirational moments and organize my research material. I no longer had to start my book at chapter one, I actually started it 2/3rds of the way through, simply because I had lots of research material already collated for that particular subject.

By the time I had written about my current situation my mind had already worked out how the chapter before led up to this time and how the chapter following would be formed. I was no longer restricting my imagination and inspiration to just focus on that one story at a time, because all the stories were linked! I didn’t need to write all the chapters at once – just scribble a note to myself and put it in the relevant research section for later! I had these inspirational moments on the bus, walking the beach, standing in line at the grocery store and even in the shower. I just wrote myself a quick note so I didn’t lose the idea and then filed it away in my bookbuilding binder. I call these “inspirational bundles” and use clear pockets to keep each “bundle” of notes together, eventually these will inspire my chapter titles for my book.

There is a myth about being a first time author I’d like to blow apart. It is not just for the elite, you do not have to face hundreds of letters of rejection from publishers, you can afford to self-publish, and you do have time to write it in your busy schedule! I can show you how easy it can be and share a unique method to create and organize your first book.

We all have a story inside of us worth telling whether it is about your travels, your memoirs or a business book to support your business. How many shoe boxes are full of photos, letters and research material and book ideas hidden in the closet or under the bed? How much writing already exists that you have used in newsletters, promotional material and blog submissions which you could turn into a book? For business people who already give workshops, seminars or speaking engagements the material is already written! So why not turn all that material into a book? Because most believe it is beyond their reach to achieve that and they don’t have time to do it!

I know this because I recently self-published my own first book, successfully sold it into all the local bookstores, and received credibility and respect as a first time author. Since publishing my book my business has blossomed, the local media here in Victoria B.C. the capital of Canada, jumped at the opportunity to report on a local author. I have been interviewed by Shaw TV Daily show (and it’s already been repeated 3 times) Local radio shows including CFAX1070AM radio who have interviewed me over 6 times and the local press have run several articles. In fact it has had such a huge impact on my life, my mission and purpose now has become to inspire and motivate other people to tell their stories and become first time authors.

Why is it that so many people feel overwhelmed by the challenge of writing a book? First understand it IS a time-consuming process and it does require lots of research and quiet reflective time, a precious commodity so few of us have. It actually took me 18 months to write my first book, but now I have developed a method to make this process easier, and my second book will probably only take a few months to complete. The other key is giving yourself the reflective quiet time to start, and to do this you must commit to taking yourself away from your normal environment where you will be distracted by the normal routine of life (family, emails, TV, constant interruptions). I strongly suggest you start by choosing a writing retreat for your vacation or a weekend workshop or writing group that meet on a regular basis. If you don’t have to time for any of these, the least you should do is take your laptop or notepad/binder to your local coffee shop twice a week to work on your book. Here in Victoria we have a large book store called Chapters that has a wonderful coffee shop on the premises, authors can work on their book while being inspired by other authors surrounding them!

I run workshops for first time authors in a “retreat” environment, away from the daily interruptions of life; my choice is a beautiful inspiring environment like Peru or the Copper Canyon in Mexico, the perfect environment to get away from it all! The more I thought about that, the more I realized the mobile binder system I had developed to organize the book writing process was perfect for traveling! A favorite pastime when we go on vacation is to read a book, why not WRITE a book while on vacation, away from those distractions and with plenty of contemplative and inspirational time.

There is a myth about being a first time author I’d like to blow apart. It is not just for the elite, you do not have to face hundreds of letters of rejection from publishers, you can afford to self-publish, and you do have time to write it in your busy schedule! I can show you how easy it can be and share a unique method to create and organize your first book.

We all have a story inside of us worth telling whether it is about your travels, your memoirs or a business book to support your business. How many shoe boxes are full of photos, letters and research material and book ideas hidden in the closet or under the bed? How much writing already exists that you have used in newsletters, promotional material and blog submissions which you could turn into a book? For business people who already give workshops, seminars or speaking engagements the material is already written! So why not turn all that material into a book? Because most believe it is beyond their reach to achieve that and they don’t have time to do it!

I know this because I recently self-published my own first book, successfully sold it into all the local bookstores, and received credibility and respect as a first time author. Since publishing my book my business has blossomed, the local media here in Victoria B.C. the capital of Canada, jumped at the opportunity to report on a local author. I have been interviewed by Shaw TV Daily show (and it’s already been repeated 3 times) Local radio shows including CFAX1070AM radio who have interviewed me over 6 times and the local press have run several articles. In fact it has had such a huge impact on my life, my mission and purpose now has become to inspire and motivate other people to tell their stories and become first time authors.

Why is it that so many people feel overwhelmed by the challenge of writing a book? First understand it IS a time-consuming process and it does require lots of research and quiet reflective time, a precious commodity so few of us have. It actually took me 18 months to write my first book, but now I have developed a method to make this process easier, and my second book will probably only take a few months to complete. The other key is giving yourself the reflective quiet time to start, and to do this you must commit to taking yourself away from your normal environment where you will be distracted by the normal routine of life (family, emails, TV, constant interruptions). I strongly suggest you start by choosing a writing retreat for your vacation or a weekend workshop or writing group that meet on a regular basis. If you don’t have to time for any of these, the least you should do is take your laptop or notepad/binder to your local coffee shop twice a week to work on your book. Here in Victoria we have a large book store called Chapters that has a wonderful coffee shop on the premises, authors can work on their book while being inspired by other authors surrounding them!

I run workshops for first time authors in a “retreat” environment, away from the daily interruptions of life; my choice is a beautiful inspiring environment like Vancouver Island, B.C., the perfect environment to get away from it all! The more I thought about that, the more I realized the mobile binder system I had developed to organize the book writing process was perfect for traveling! A favorite pastime when we go on vacation is to read a book, why not WRITE a book while on vacation, away from those distractions and with plenty of contemplative and inspirational time.

What are my options for publishing my book? What are the advantages and disadvantages of Self-publishing vs. traditional publishing houses, are there any other alternatives?

Here is Part Three of the simple evaluation questionnaire you answered in Part One.  Continue reading the summaries below to see which option might suit you better.

Traditional publishing house (answered mostly 3’s)

I am happy for someone else to do all the work to publish my book and to have control over changing my manuscript and committing to re-writes and editing as requested.  Please be cautious, I know an author who is now on re-write # 6 and 3 years later her publisher has still not given her final approval. She used her advance within 6 months to support herself while doing the edits, now she has run out of steam on her book and finds it difficult to fit in her re-writes with her regular job.

Rejection does not bother me, I am willing to spend the time researching the right fit publisher and submitting a professional book proposal/ query letter and marketing plan by following their submission guidelines on the publisher’s website.  I understand it will take perseverance and patience to find the right publisher and that could take years.  I also appreciate I might never be accepted by a publisher or literary agent.  See Association of Canadian Publishers and other websites for more information on submitting your proposal to a publisher.

I am happy with 5% royalties on all book sales once I find a publisher and that all other travel expenses will be met by me for promotional activity.  I understand the process to get my book published could take years from the time of the publishing contract being signed.

Up-front money/capital investment in your book:  None, other than your own time while you are writing and editing the book.  However you could encounter large expenses during the launch of your book in transport and accommodation costs.

I am willing to give my time and own money to attend book reviews/signings and book tours that the publisher organizes for me.

You will be asked to sign a contract to agree to the terms of your advance payment and your commitment once the advance runs out.  Please remember an “advance” is exactly that, an “advance” on your future book sales, which is why it is your responsibility to assist your publisher to drive sales to your book.  If your book sales do not reach your advance within a certain time frame you may be asked to buy back your own book stock (usually book launches have a maximum of 90 days sale or return from the launch date); if your book does not sell in this time the retailer can return it to the publisher and it will not be given another opportunity in the book stores.

The next generation Publishing 2.0 (answered mostly 4’s)

A new publishing platform for books that may not suit the mass-appeal-middle-of-the-road mainstream publishers and buyers. By harnessing the power of new technology including: Print On Demand production, Book Vending Machines, Ebooks and Online Retail Channels, this platform effectively creates a new publishing niche called “Publishing 2.0?.  This is a new type of publishing started by Bookshaker.com who now publish 60 books per year and growing by the minute with new imprints being introduced every day including www.influencepublishing.com

Up front money/capital investment:  None, the publisher takes all responsibility for the costs of producing your book in the same way as the traditional publishers.  The main difference is that by using POD technology they have no capital investment or risk by printing thousands of books like the traditional publishers.  This means they can pay higher royalties. The advantages are:

• Paying the highest royalties to authors in the industry (even more than paid-for-publishers) and allowing the author to maintain their rights
• Refusing to accept the crippling retail terms of the past that have taken profit away from the author and choice away from the reader (sale or return policy and high trade discounts)
• They still operate in the same way as traditional publishers so you will still have to go through the proposal and query process and only 3% of all applications are accepted.  However, educational programs are offered to assist you in this process and give you a better chance of being accepted.  See www.inspireabook.com and www.publishingacademy.com/116.html
• This publishing process is successful by encouraging and educating the author how to help themselves to market their own book in partnership with the publisher.  It is a win win situation where the publisher only makes money on the book when it sells, the more it sells, the more the author and the publisher makes with a more equal split in profit.

What are my options for publishing my book? What are the advantages and disadvantages of Self-publishing vs. traditional publishing houses, are there any other alternatives?

Here is Part Two of the simple evaluation questionnaire you answered in Part One.  Now read the summary below to see which option might suit you better.

Self Publishing – Print Your Own Book (answered mostly 1’s)

You are completely responsible for the look and content of your book and the registration/copyright, production and design of the print ready files (you can pay for freelance services  like layout technicians, illustrators, editors, publicist etc; if you can not do them all)

You want the maximum return on investment and you are willing to make a business out of selling, distributing and promoting your book.

You want to maintain complete control of your book and keep the most profit too.

Up front money/capital investment:  As little as $150 depending on how many books you print (and whether you use a POD printer) but you have to provide a print ready file for the printer, purchasing your own isbn number is not expensive.

You pay  to have you book printed, plus costs  for a designer/graphic artist/ format and layout technician to get your manuscript ready in an art ready file ready for printing.  You organize ISBN/Library registration/barcode/copyright etc

You pay per book for printing; An example is my book that I first printed myself and cost me for 200 copies, 220 pages black and white with full colour laminated cover, size 6” x 9” = $6.42 per copy – $1284, therefore at $20 RRP you need to sell 65 books to cover your costs and the balance gives you pure profit of $20 per book.

There are really two approaches here…

• Print-then-Sell – using a traditional printer. The downside to this is that you’ll have no built in distribution and your initial investment (and exposure to risk) will be higher. Benefits include lower unit cost for larger orders and typically higher quality production (with more options) than you get with Print-on-Demand.
• Print-on-Demand – using a printer such as LighningSource. The benefit of LightningSource is that you get good distribution built in and you still get to set a discount that suits you. Booksurge offers similar distribution now but will force you to give roughly 65% discount to sell on Amazon compared to typical 35% with LightningSource. The downside is that quality is slightly lower than a typical traditional print run and unit cost is higher than printing a batch of books up front.

Self-publishing – using Paid for Publishers aka Vanity Publishing (answered mostly 2’s)

You want an attractive professional looking book that someone else produces and you pay for.  The more you pay the more professional it will look.  It is your responsibility to get the book edited at your cost, or choose not to edit it. This is “your book, your way” the publisher will make no suggestions for your book they will just print what you give them.

You are willing to pay up front costs to produce a professional looking book and to have distribution channels set up for you such as Amazon etc.

You understand your book will be available to but not necessarily stocked in book stores because your margins using POD on demand will not enable you to offer the same discounts as larger print-then-sell publishers; for this reason book stores will rarely accept your book unless you give it to them on consignment and they’ll often want it on Sale or Return/Destroy rather than Firm Sale (ie no returns).

You want the flexibility of just having a few copies for friends and family and the ability to print on demand to fulfil orders as they come in.  You want the option of being able to buy bulk copies of your book with bulk discounts.  You understand that buying copies of your book and selling them can bring you up to 50% or more profit on your book sales, but you are completely responsible for selling them.  You understand royalties through distribution channels such as Amazon will give you small royalties because of the big discounts they take. (A typical example is a $20 retail book will pay you approx $1.50 royalty in sales if sold through Amazon/Trafford)

Please note – some publishers describe themselves as Print on Demand publishers but this is misleading as most vanity presses will now use Print on Demand printers (such as LightningSource) to print your book and then charge you more than it would have cost to do it yourself. At Publishing Academy we consider these companies to be essentially vanity presses.

You want someone else to take care of all the details and have different options available to you for marketing and promotion, design and layout and distribution.  You’d like someone else to handle online sales and distribution.  If you want to spend more money on marketing and advertising you would like those options easily available to you.

Simple packages cover core admin services i.e. ISBN/Barcode, copyright/library of congress and layout from around $1500.  This can be as low as $800 if you can do the layout (or use the services of a independent technician at $35 an hour www.impact-webdesigns.com) If you just want to buy copies of your book and are willing to provide a print ready file this can be as low as $400.

Packages go up to $2600 if you want to include book trade distribution, publicity and promotional tools and you can buy marketing packages such as trade shows and email campaigns for $1,000’s You would like the option of purchasing your own stock for book launches etc.

This is not a great idea if you intend to make a decent profit from your book – and as standards can be absolutely awful (as most paid for publishers will print anything) you are unlikely to be treated seriously as an author by most of your fellow authors, publishers and retailers. Still, a perfect option if you are printing a book for your family and friends as a legacy for your future generations or want to print a book to raise funds for your non-profit or as a celebration of  a special occasion. Maybe another name for this could be “Hobby Publishing”.