Advice

What is self-publishing?
Self-publishing means that as well as being the author of the book, you are also the publisher. The easiest way to think of it is that you do everything – you write, you edit, you format the text (or find a friend to do it), you design or commission work for the cover and you find the printing firm to actually print the books. Once the book is printed it is also your job to market it, and also to distribute and supply the copies.

Why should I self-publish?
It may be that you have had no luck when submitting your manuscript to agents and publishers and just want to see your work in print; it may be that you want to publish a book to give to friends and relatives. Basically, it should be for the love rather than for the money, because very few self-publishers ever see any significant profit from their publishing – most will just aim to recoup their costs. There are exceptions to this, and such is their rarity that they become newsworthy; GP Taylor, who at the time was a vicar in North Yorkshire, originally self-published his first novel, Shadowmancer. The book was so popular locally that word spread, and he eventually signed a publishing deal with Faber & Faber. It can happen – it just doesn’t happen very often!

What makes self-publishing different from vanity publishing?
A vanity publisher may take away some of the burden of the self-publishing process, but with it they will also take a good deal of money and – perhaps more importantly – creative control. Many vanity publishers are less than reputable and exploit people who are desperate to see their work in print; you can’t always know that you’ll get what you’re paying for, and they often don’t deliver on their promise (for more information on vanity publishers, see our dedicated section.) With self-publishing it’s likely to be hard work, but because you are involved at every stage you are in a position to make all the decisions; you can compare quotes from printing firms, you can ensure the quality of the all-important front cover.

What are the essential things I need to know about when publishing my book?

ISBNs
Every book must have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) a unique 10-digit number that identifies the book; the ISBN usually appears over the top of the book’s barcode and also in the verso (the publishing and copyright information located within the first few pages of the book.) ISBNs can be obtained from Nielsen BookData; they are issued in blocks of ten, which cost £77.50 at the time of writing – you are then free to use those ISBNs for any subsequent books that you publish. To do this, you should contact Nielsen BookData on 0870 777 8712 or email isbn@nielsenbookdata.co.uk and request a pack, which they will send through the post. The forms you fill in ask you to list all the information about the book, including author, title, publisher details, as well as details such as number of pages and information about the cover visuals. If you do a reprint of your book then the ISBN can remain the same, but if you produce a new edition with substantial revisions or produce a hardback and a paperback, then you will need to use separate ones.

Barcodes
Most books have barcodes, which make it much easier for shops to sell them. They are a representation of information such as the ISBN, the country of origin, the publisher and the edition. The printer you use may be able to sort out the barcode for you but, if not, you could try organisations such as Dragon Solutions (formerly Axis Multidata).

Other things to bear in mind
You may not be aware of this, but the British Library is entitled to keep a copy of every title published in the UK; you are obliged to send them one free of charge. For more information on this, contact The British Library in Boston Spa (Tel: 01937 546000.) The Library Agency will also want 5 copies for circulation to their lenders. If your book is available for library users, you are entitled to payment for every time that book is issued; the current rate is 5.26p per loan. For more information about how to register your titles, see the Public Lending Right website and the website of the Authors Licensing & Copyright Society.

As a self-publisher, should I have a company name?
If you publish books, even if they are your own, you will need a trading name as a publisher. You can just use your own name, e.g. Fred Bloggs Books, or you can make something up. However, it is important that you choose a name that hasn’t already been used by another company – either publishing, or otherwise. For example, you probably shouldn’t call yourself Starbucks Publishing, in case you incur the wrath of a certain high street coffee chain; and you should avoid variations on other publishers’ names. To make sure this doesn’t happen, you can look on the website of the Independent Publishers Guild, which lists all of their members.

How do I create a cover for my book?
If you self-publish, you will need to come up with a front and back cover for your book. Some printers will, for an extra charge, put something together for you if you provide them with some photos and images, but many will leave it up to you. The importance of the cover can’t be overstated, because although we’d probably like books to be judged on the merit of their contents, the fact is that covers sell – not only to customers, but to bookshops too. A bookseller will probably be shown hundreds of prospective books, and may make a snap judgement based on the cover.
If you don’t have the know-how or artistic talent needed to design a good cover, try friends and friends of friends. Alternatively, you may be able to contract a local artist, or even an art student from a local college, who may be keen to get some exposure for their work. If you have seen some work that you like in a published book, you may be able to contact that illustrator through the book’s publisher, but bear in mind that professional design is bound to cost a lot more.
Whoever you get to design your cover, it is vital to make sure that there is a written agreement between the two of you to establish who has the rights of the design. For example, the artist may at a later stage wish to use the image for another project; or you maywant to do a re-print or update of the book later on, and need to know whether you must to obtain the artist’s permission again.

How can I best exercise quality control over my work?
Good quality can go a long way towards selling your self-published book. Having your book properly proof-read is essential; get someone to read it objectively, and don’t just rely on your computer’s spellchecker! Editorial services are available at a cost (the website of the Society of Editors and Proofreaders might be useful, or the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook); an editor like this will help to make your book more readable by helping with grammar, structure etc, but they probably won’t comment on the quality of your work. If you are writing a non-fiction book, it is likely that you might need an index, and there are organisations that can do the indexing for you; the Society of Indexers is a good place to start.
Aside from this, it will be up to you to make your book attractive and user-friendly. This will include making decisions about the font style and size, and where you want to have page numbers, chapter headings and, if applicable, footnotes.

What do I need to know about printers?
If you self-publish, it will be up to you to find the printer to produce the copies. Don’t necessarily go for the printing firm closest to you, or the cheapest one you can find. It’s worth checking the inside of book jackets to see who the printer is, or asking printing firms to give you a list of titles they have printed so you can evaluate the quality. Even though you’re self-publishing, you should still aim for the highest quality you can within the budget you have. Get several estimates from printers, and if your book needs to contain photos or illustrations, ask them to provide an example of how they will turn out.
When you contact a printer for an estimate, there are several pieces of information you will need to provide them with (if you’re not sure, a good printer should be able to advise you):

- the number of pages
- whether you want it ‘perfect’ bound (this is a glued and stitched spine, rather than just glued.)
- the size of the book, e.g. A5
- the weight of the paper
- the cover weight, e.g. laminated, board
- whether it’s to be paperback or hardback
- how many colours you want on the cover

How many copies should I have printed?
There are many things to be taken into consideration when having your book printed. The way most printing firms work is that you pay a fixed set-up fee, and then you pay per unit after that. The rule is that you will probably get better value the more copies you have printed – but you will probably only have a limited budget, and you also don’t want to be left with a stockpile of hundreds of books in your garage or back room! You basically have to make a business decision based on what you think your market will be, but remember that you will have to give away 6 copies straight away (The British Library and the Library Agency, see above) and you will probably end up to 50 copies away to help publicise the book. Although it’s hard to choose an exact figure, 400 copies is about the average for a first print-run.

What happens if I need to do another print run?
If you find yourself in the great position of running out of books, you may need to get another batch printed. If you use the same printing firm, they may well still have the set-up information that you gave them, but you will have to pay set-up costs again, as well as paying per copy. Check with your printer how quickly they can turn around a print run. Some small publishers operate on a ‘Print on Demand’ basis, which means they wait until they have built up a certain number of pre-orders for their book before having another consignment printed. This makes good financial sense for the publisher, but it’s not always great for the customer if they have to wait a long time to receive their book.

How do I decide on a price for my book?
When choosing a price, you should work backwards and try to roughly calculate all the costs that you have incurred or will incur when getting your book printed – you want to at least recover your costs. One ‘hidden’ cost that you may not consider is how much it will cost to post the book to customers and bookshops. You should have a look at books of a similar subject, quality and size; but when it comes down to it, a book is only worth what a customer is prepared to pay for it – a £12.99 book would bring you a bigger profit than a £9.99 book, but only if it sells.

How should I market my book?
Major publishers analyse the market and establishing what the book’s target audience is; they send out AI (Advanced Information) by post, or the publisher’s rep will have the information on their laptop when they do the rounds of the bookshops. This is usually done 3-6 months prior to publication. You may not be able to market your book this early, but there is no reason that you can’t produce your own AI sheets. All you need is a computer with a scanner and colour printer, and you can print up your own publicity materials; you should include such details as the ISBN, publication date, some blurb about the book, how to order it and – if you can – a picture of the cover. You should send your AI sheets to friends, relatives and organisations who might be interested; you could even hold a launch party for people you know, where you can sell your book, but make sure you have some method for taking their money! Take your AI sheets with you wherever you go, almost as a business card but, whatever you do, don’t just give people free copies of the book.
If you find yourself taking advance orders for your book, be aware of the Data Protection Act, which decrees that you can’t keep people’s details for marketing/mailing purposes. If you wish to do this, you will need to register with the Data Protection Registrar; you can download a fact-sheet on the act from the website.
A quote on the cover from a respected author or relevant professional goes a long way to promoting a book, too. You could offer review copies to the local media, or to authors you respect who write in the same genre. If your book is non-fiction and may be of interest to a trade body (e.g. a law society), you could contact them and offer a copy for review – if they like it they may offer to advertise it in their publication. The same goes for specialist magazines. You shouldn’t be afraid to follow up on the books you send, calling to find out whether the book has been received and whether they are interested in it. Anything you can do in person is very worthwhile, especially in a local context, because you can engage with the individual and it’s more difficult for them to ignore you! A local, independent bookshop or library may even be willing for you to do a reading on their premises.

How can I get my books into bookshops?
It is notoriously difficult for small publishers and self-published authors to get their books into the big bookstore chains. Stores such as Waterstone’s are often reluctant to buy from a small publisher directly, and prefer to order copies through a wholesaler such as Gardners or Bertram. If they are willing to sell these books, it is likely that they will ask you for a hefty discount – as much as 50%. Realistically, the big chains are only likely to be interested in your book if it is on a very topical subject, or has a distinct local slant (the Local Interest sections are unusual in that they are often populated by books produced by small publishers) – they will probably not be willing to take copies of your novel.
However, the big bookstores should not be the only port of call. Small, independent bookshops may be more receptive to you and may have more flexibility to buy from whom they like. If you can demonstrate a local interest angle, e.g. if you’ve written a biography of a local historical figure, or a walking/climbing guide etc, then your chances are much improved.

How can the bookshops order from me?
Even if you don’t have any success with placing your books with bookstores, they can still order copies should a customer request one.
When you apply to Nielsen BookData for your ISBNs you will be asked to list the distributor, which – if you have self-published – is likely to be you. The information kept by Nielsen BookData is made available to, and is used by, almost every bookshop in the UK (usually in CD-ROM form), so all the details about your book is accessible to them at the click of a mouse. If a customer wants to order your book, the bookshop just needs to look at the distributor details and they’ll know who to place the order with, i.e. you. So it is essential that you give full address, phone, fax and email details when you register for your ISBNs.
Once an order has been placed, you are usually required to fulfil that order within 28 days. You send the book to the bookshop with an invoice, and they should pay you usually within 90 days, but it is important to make sure you understand the shop’s policy on this because it can vary.

What do wholesalers do?
The major book wholesalers in the UK are Gardners and Bertram, which are used by the major bookstore chains and relied on by the independent ones too. Basically, they are supplied by publishers and have huge warehouses where the books are kept. Books by the major publishers will be kept in stock at all times and supplied to bookstores within a few days. They do keep selected books by smaller publishers, but they will want to ‘vet’ your book to see if it’s worth their while to keep it in the warehouse. They will probably ask to see a copy of the book and will make a decision on that basis.
But if they decide not to take it, this does not mean that they can’t supply your book at all. A bookshop may choose not to order through you as a distributor (it’s sometimes just store policy to go through wholesalers), but they will contact Bertram or Gardners, who will then contact you. You supply the book to the wholesaler, and they then fulfil that order with the shop - it’s a very convoluted way of working, but in that situation it is the bookshop who call the shots.

Can I get a third party to distribute my books?
There are companies that operate as a distributor for small publishers, and employ reps to try and sell the books to the bookstores. These services don’t come cheap (they are obviously covering the cost of employing reps, etc) and of course they will take a cut of your sales too, around 10-20%. But if they do think your book is saleable, and you agree with their terms, then it is a shoe in the door of the stores and it saves you the effort of pounding the streets with a sack of your books.

Can I sell my books online?
The Internet has made bookshops less important when it comes to marketing and selling books by small publishers. Though the set-up might take money and effort, it is a good way to make your books visible and accessible to a worldwide market. If you’re Internet-savvy there is no reason why you can’t set up your own website (or have someone else do it), but if you plan to sell through the site you will probably need to have a mechanism to accept money online, such as PayPal and WorldPay. Both of these services have websites, but make sure you read and understand their terms before you sign up to anything.
If you don’t have a website, you can sell your book through a major online store such as Amazon.co.uk. The downside is that they skim off about 55-60% from the sale of a book, but their brand and profile does count for something. You can join Amazon Advantage as a bookseller; they charge an annual members fee (£23.50 for the basic package, at the time of writing) and you apply online to become a vendor. When they receive an order for your book, they contact you by email and you send it to them. It is worth remembering, though, that it is up to you to pay to send the books to Amazon, and you may also have to pay for them to return them to you should they not sell. However, it does allow a site-user to find your books very easily, and you can enhance your entries by scanning your book cover and uploading it onto the website.
Finally, search engine Google offers a service called AdWords. For a small fee you can create an advert for your product, and submit keywords that will help direct an Internet user to your book, for example to its entry on Amazon. Go to Google and type in ‘adwords’ for more information about the service.

How can I avoid being sued?!
You have to take a common-sense approach to libel. It’s more likely to be an issue if you have written a non-fiction book that involves the lives of real people. The Society of Authors is a useful port of call, but the Catch 22 situation there is that you need to be published (or self-published) before you can become a member. Local enterprise agencies may be able to answer your legal questions; they usually operate to help small businesses, but you can probably claim this status as an independent publisher.

Useful points of contact
Society of Authors: a membership-based organisation for published authors, which can offer advice about contracts, provide information about bad payers in the industry, and help with rights issues.

Peter Finch: site which contains an archive of advice for writers; most useful for people wishing to self-publish their poetry.

Society of Indexers: site to help you locate an indexer to help with your non-fiction book

Society for Editors and Proofreaders: site to help you contact editorial services for your work

The Booksellers Association: a trade association that presents over 3, 100 bookstores, including large chains and independents. You can use the bookshop search facility to look for bookshops in any area of the country.

Thanks to Stuart Worthington and Target Training.