It is always about the right fit. It is better to work with someone whom you resonate with when it comes to printing and cover design. If you call an office and they are rude, or do not care about your business, why would you want to continue doing business with them? I’ve made some mistakes in that area, donated the investment and moved on.
Don’t jump at the first few choices. Keep going until you find the one for you. Visit their site. Look at their customers covers. Read the reviews, or comments. Shopping on the internet for a graphics designer is no different than if you were shopping locally.
Work with graphics designers who can catch your vision, concept ,and produce. They will usually tell you what they can do and how they will deliver. If you want something different don’t be afraid to ask. I always like two cover samples, and are willing to pay for it. It’s worth it. If you are working with an outside graphics designer, other than your publisher’s, give them your typeset page count, plus the size of your book.
Make sure they leave a trim border so words are not cut off.
In looking through their clients designs if you are not feeling it, move on to the next person. Some may not think this is important but I will mention it any way. The market/cultural group you are appealing to should be considered when designing your cover.
If you are doing a book, e-book, or audio book, having uniformity presents a sense of brand. If you are having your book self-published you would simply give them your concept and they would do the rest. I would ask for two samples, even if you have to pay for the second one.
Don’t forget to ask about how many corrections/changes you will be allowed. Check to make sure the title is on the spine.
Hope this has been helpful.
Shopping for a Print on Demand? 18 Questions You Should Ask Your Book Publisher:
Are you in the market to work with a print on demand? Perhaps you are just starting out to publish your first book and you don’t know what to do, nor what to ask? l know because I was there. Here are some book publishing tips for self-publishing Authors. The choices are many but here are some suggestions which can help you to come away with the answers that will help you to make a more informed choice.
18 Questions you want to know the answers to when shopping for a print on
demand:
1. How do you submit your book? Does it seem easy; will you need help? Can you
call for help if needed?
2. Will they typeset?
3. Do they have editorial services? What is the cost?
4. Will they provide a proof prior to print?
5 . What is the turnaround time?
6. Is there a fee for corrections? How many are you allowed?
7. How many cover choices will you have to choose from?
8. Does the price include an ISBN (International Standard Book Number?
9. Do they offer marketing?
10. What does the package prices include?
11. How many books come with the package?
12. Are there re-order discounts?
13. Any storage fees?
14. How are returns handled?
15. How often are authors paid royalties? And how much? Are royalties paid on
the wholesale or retail cost?
16. Is there a discount on books ordered by the author?
17. Will they copyright your book, and is there an extra fee for that?
18. Is there a contract to sign, or are you free to go somewhere else, if you
choose to?
In your search for a print on demand, you will find some will print all types of books, but you do have those who print only Christian books. Another tip, before you get to my list, take a tour through the books they have published that are similar to yours. If there authors have web sites, visit some of those to get a feel for what you can do with your site when the time come. Pick a title of an author, along with their name, close the site and try doing a Google search of that author and that title. This will give you an idea of how it will work for you. Did you go straight to that author’s page/website, or to the publishers site. Why is this important? If you send your customers to the publishers site and it is not easy to find you, they will click away, or end up buying someone else's book.
There’s a market for self-published authors today that allows anyone to publish a book. You don’t even have to be an experienced writer, or have even written anything before. If you have a little money, or a savings stash, you can write a book and be in print in under 30 days.
A search of the internet and you will find “Amazon” has gotten into the publishing business. You can get a book published there for free. There are companies who will do everything for you. I wrote and published at the right time in history.
How many books can you write? As many as you want. So what is the problem with the fast track to getting books and more books into the market? They are not selling. Why aren’t they selling? There could be a number of reasons: poorly written, lack good editing and proofreading. The writer is not clear on the target market. No market appeal. Authors usually have not thought beyond "I can't wait to sell books."
The question I ask: what good is it having a book and you can’t sell enough to recoup at least your investment? Or have you resigned yourself to the fact that since it is not selling, you are okay because your name is on a book, so it's good enough. Is it that you have given up? I hope you haven’t given up. I thought you entered the race to win; don’t stop now.
Think about it! Why did you write this book in the first place? You were moved to write it. It took some of your time, but you did it, didn’t you? Let me ask you this: when you got into your job or career did you not have to train, or study? Book publishing is like anything else you set your mind to.
How do you overcome the “I can publish a book” cheap and make a million dollars without doing anything? It’s called a change in attitude. I hope this was a help. So what they took your money because you needed a publisher. They are in business to make money. You needed the service, they provided it.
Now that your attitude is starting to turn, your first challenge would be how to get into the market. It didn’t take me long to realize that I wasn’t going to get rich selling books. I did an assessment of myself: what can I do to work my way into the market, to get recognized by my local community and peers?
It was a divine appointment at a post office. There was a flyer laying up on the table that read, “Become a Professional Speaker.” A light came on. That was for me. What will it be for you?
Launching into the market may require learning something new. Are you willing to do what it takes? Or will you just keep printing more and more books, hoping for the big deal?
Looking for A Book Publisher? Who Should Self- Publish?
Does it look like everyone is self-publishing today? The internet is crowded with what seems like new Print on Demands volleying for the new writer in the market’s dollars. Though the technology is in place for anyone to write and publish a book, knowing your limitations and delegating what you don’t know would be a wise decision.
After querying and submitting book proposals for over three years, I began to look at self-publishing as an option. It was not a decision I dived right into because, quite frankly, like some I didn’t trust the internet. I thought they would steal my idea and cheat me out of millions of dollars.
I can laugh at myself now because that was years ago. What do you need to have done in order to self-publish? A manuscript ready to print is probably the first thing. That means you have read it and re-read it again and again. You may even want to put it down for a few days and go back and re-read.
Why? Most self-publishers, or Print on Demands, will print what you give them. If you have not carefully fine-tuned your manuscript to get it ready, they won’t, unless you pay them an extra fee. As a first time writer, looking to self-publish, you need help in bringing your book idea to market.
It is your choice to embark upon something you have never done without assistance, or seek help. If the publisher offers assistance, take it, even if you have to pay extra for it. It will save you embarrassment later on.
Manuscripts proofread or edited free by your friends, or acquaintances, who are school teachers-- nothing against teachers but if they have never done book editing, or have an idea of the market, in my experiences, have proven not to be the best choices. Whoever proofreads or edits, a word to the wise, read behind them. You may catch something they missed.
The manuscript content is most important in the process of self-publishing. It requires time to develop.
The person who is willing to do whatever it takes, invest time and patience in manuscript preparation, will never be ashamed of their choice to self-publish.
What is your goal in publishing your first book? If you didn’t have a goal starting out, it’s not too late. Just like any other investment, you expect a return, don’t you? The internet showcases thousands of publishing options who are there and ready to publish your book, but what is your intent?
Ask yourself, do you want to succeed, or fail? It doesn’t matter how you started, or what you know, you can take the bull by the horns now and make something happen. We are not talking about ordering so many books that you have no where to store them. That use to be the case before Print on Demand.
The first time author rarely thinks in terms of profit and loss. For the "new to publishing writer, the focus is on getting into print with whoever has the best deal for the budget. Taking the eyes off the prize can lead to disappointment when you fund your book project and it does not yield the return you expected.
I will understand if you didn’t have a goal, neither did I when I started out. I had no idea I could make money, nor did I know how. I know what it is like to scrape together monies to publish your first book. It helps when you don’t have to pay it all at once, and you hope by the time it’s ready you can get the final payment together.
“I’ll just send them to my publisher’s web site.”That way I don't have to keep books on hand." Does that sound familiar? What will they find when they arrive? Will there be a clear path to your book? Or will they have to go through a maze of authors in order to find you? Perhaps you have had customers come back and say, “I bought your book online,” and you are still wondering why it has not shown up in your sales report?
Don’t kid yourself. Cheap publishing packages get you started, but you’ve got work to do. If you don’t believe in yourself to invest, how do you expect others to take you seriously? Plan to buy books from your publisher. Sell those books direct to friends and family. If you buy a package with limited books, make sure you are ready to buy more books.
If you follow the "buy more books and sell direct" plan you are on a path to at least recouping your investment. That’s called business. Will the profit be huge? Not from book sales, but at least you’re on your way.
Everybody wants to write a book. People who have never written a book before want to write a book. What is it about writing a book that appeals to these folks? Is it the lure of seeing their picture on a book cover, or their name?
Do they really believe what they have to say is valuable? Is it some fantasy notion that stems from the many success stories they have seen? Whatever the reason, do these folks have what it takes to sustain themselves in the publishing business, in the marketplace?
I never wanted to write a book. I came to value books because you could learn anything from reading a book;You could become a different person; you could travel the world; you could improve what you didn’t like about yourself.
I entered the book publishing world over 17 years ago, greener than green. I had no knowledge of what I was about to get into. It looked easy enough to do: write a book, give it to a publisher and get paid. I was a non-writer, had never written anything before for public reading, had no idea what went into the writing and publishing of a book.
Where do you start when you don’t know something? I prayed. I did research and get educated about what you want to do. Well, how do you read up on something you don’t know what you should be reading up on?
What I knew, at least, that I was looking for a publisher, someone to buy, print and take my book into the market. The next thought I had, where do I find book publishers? I wasn’t as internet savvy as I am today, so I began to speak into existence, my need for a publisher, asking the maker of the universe to steer me in that direction.
One day I was in a local book store, in the magazine section and my eyes spotted the Writers Digest. I subscribed to it to educate myself on where I was trying to go and how to get there, as a resource. The publishers I was looking for were there in the form of a Writers Market book.
Problem solved, or so I thought. Then I began to look at what was involved. It was going to be a process and not a quick process. There is a writer that has emerged today that is an opportunist. They are not really writers, have no desire to do what a writer does, but they want to be in the business of writing.
These are the ones who are ripe to be scammed. They want the money. It doesn’t matter whether they produce a quality product. They just want to get into the market. Their focus is to jump to the front of the line.
If you are the victim of a scam, or have ever been scammed, don’t be bitter about it, but use it as a lesson in what not to do again.
You have probably realized by now, there is more to book publishing than what you thought. You can do two things with that information: You can begin working from there to blossom into a writer, or you can keep pursuing the money, create more works that yield little return and fall away disgruntled, like so many.
If you know who you are as a writer, and what your message is, where you want to go, prepare to experience trial and error as you learn to work what is available to you.
Are you unhappy as a self published author? Maybe you’re an angry first time author? Do you feel as if you were lied to? Have you been saying negative things about your first time author experience?
Disappointment is not uncommon after an author publishes his/her first book. In hindsight you recognize what you could have done, or should have done. You learned a whole new language, a world you’re unfamiliar with.
Don’t beat up on yourself. I had a lady say to me once, “I got my book published. I would have used your services but you were too expensive. I got a better deal. I got my book published for free. My book has sold a million copies.”
I wondered why she would pick up her phone after all of these years to rub this in my face. I listened and listened. It turned out she was disappointed at the “free service” she had gotten and was having all kinds of customer service issues. Her book publisher had not been responsive to her calls and she was thoroughly frustrated.
She said, “Can you help me? Do you know anything about them?” she dived into the glitter to face the disappointment later.
I said, “Okay. I’ll see what I can do but it’s not the company’s fault. You thought they were going to give you the gold and all you had to do was collect?”
You’re probably thinking, “Why would you help her, Blondie?” Zig Ziglar once said, “Help enough other people get what they want and you will get what you want. I chose to help her because I knew how to help her.
My investigation revealed that what she thought was sales stolen from her without payment was really her sales ranking. She didn’t know how the game worked. It turned out she had no sales on this book for over a year. It had been sitting in cyber space. The sad part about it, she had already sent and had them publish book number two.
We all make mistakes. Maybe you are going through this experience, or some other self-publishing disappointment right now, you’re not alone. It’s time to stop whining and get a grip. Are you ready to move on?
Have you written or published a book and you are unhappy with how it’s selling? Do you feel as if it was all a big fat lie? Publish a book and sell to millions of buyers? Are you asking: What else can I do to sell more books?
I want to talk to the published author who has gotten over him/her self and want to succeed. Many of us come into this book publishing business looking for the pie in the sky, not understanding our part, didn’t we? You can be honest and admit it, or become bitter instead of better. My journey has had its share of ups and downs as I have worked to transform my book publishing experience into a business.
Self published authors make mistakes: They focus on book sales vs. the business of selling books. If you focus on selling books, you think placing books on the worldwide web guarantees millions of sales without any effort on the author’s part.
Placing one’s focus on the business of selling books changes the focus, if you treat it like a business. How do you run a business? What does a business need? Let’s focus on the second question. A business needs customers. Where will you get those customers and how?
Treating your published book as a business, where you have invested your hard earned cash, should fire you up to make something happen. . . that is, if you are serious. But it doesn’t stop there. The more skilled you become at talking about your book you increase your success. Publishing a book does not mean you are proficient at discussing book content. Go back and re-read your book. Look at your subtitles. Take that material, create a talk and practice, practice, practice.
Here are 8 benefits from honing your speaking skills:
1.Sell more books at your speaking opportunities
2.Open doors to opportunities to speak
3.Sets you apart. The consumer doesn’t care about who invented the vacuum cleaner, but will it do the job.
4.Market appeal. Through creative talks and workshops, etc.,
5.Increases visibility. Exposes you to potential buyers as they become familiar with you
6.Enhances credibility. A lot of folks write books but you never hear of them.
7.Make more money. Adding a speaking fee, plus book sales means more money for the work
8.Position to increase profits. As your reputation grows as a speaker, author, etc., people will invite you to share more often.
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