Editio Self-Publishing discussion

I thought this would be a great place to ask your fellow writers for help with any story problems you're having. Everyone here is so helpful with issues around publishing, why not lean on each other for story issues? There is nothing like getting advice from your fellow authors. So feel free to use this topic thread, or start another, to ask each other for help issues you're having with your story.

My problem, such as it is, is more about distribution than content. When I published, I decided to do so only as ebooks because 1) it was easier and 2) I figured a 99¢ ebook by an unknown author would be more likely to sell than a $15 trade paperback edition. I'm wondering now if I should have gone ahead, bought a professional cover, and published a paper version on CreateSpace. I'd love to hear opinions on this.

Personally I think if you're going to self-publish you are more likely to make sales from e-books online than you are in physical copies, simply because you can reach people all over the world via the internet without having to leave your home. Just my two penn'orth. That said, a successful self-published author of my acquaintance (Susan Bischoff) sold about 20k copies of her first book Hush Money in her first year, and about 100 of them were print.

However, it costs you very little upfront to make a print copy available online via Createspace (I'm told the $39 per title for extended distribution is well worth the price), so you might as well open up another way for people to buy your book. MANY people still do not own an e-reader and MANY of those never intend to buy one. You don't want to ignore those prospective customers.

Doing a paperback on CreateSpace involves no additional expense (unless you pay the $32-or-so Pro fee to lower the cost of the books and thereby increase your royalty per book). Paying for cover art and/or copy editing can increase your ebook sales as well as paperback sales.

I'm in the process of publishing my first book via Create Space.

I was concerned about formatting errors, so I paid them for a new cover and formatting.

I'm VERY pleased with the results.

As far as projected sales go - I haven't a clue what to expect. The e-book is over a year old and has fewer than 500 total sales.

I have heard good things about Createspace. If you do the cover art and the formatting, they take their royalty out of the sale and there is no upfront cost to you. I heard one person say the book looked chintzy and another said it looks as good as any paperbook. I think I might try it. My ebook sales are stagnant.See David Gaughran's blog. He gives a lot of coverage to the ups and downs of the epub world and is getting ready to put his next pub on Createspace. He would welcome feedback.

My assumption is that neither my ebook nor my POD from CreateSpace will sell on its own or due to anything that CreateSpace/Amazon/B&N do. I'm hoping to start a word-of-mouth chain through reviews, interviews, guest blogs, and casual mentions to people I meet....

I have this great idea about ordering custom sticky notes from Vista and putting them in library books and on store shelves. I hope it is not illegal. I have realized that one of the reasons I am not getting good "word of mouth" is that I do not have a very large circle of "friends".

Thanks to all. I have heard good things about CreateSpace. I'd rather not spring for a professionally designed cover and I'm not sure my ebook covers, though they look okay as thumbnails, would do.

There are self-publishing options available to fit every budget. LOL

That's the best part of it.

I did my first book on a shoestring. Spent a bit more for the second and am working on the 3rd.

Robin Ludwig (@IntenseWhisper on Twitter) is fabulous. The cover for cost about $140 (£88.99)(mainly because the girl was added in later). cost $120 (£49.91). She's fast and good. It never crossed my mind to do my covers myself. I simply have no ability in that area at all, and when it comes to books I know that we do judge them by their covers!

EDIT: This is NOT a promo post - just giving examples that Robin has worked on :D

Mhairi wrote: "Robin Ludwig (@IntenseWhisper on Twitter) is fabulous. The cover for cost about $140 (£88.99)(mainly because the girl was added in later). [bookcover:The P..."

Thanks, Mhairi. This gives me some idea of what it might cost. It's affordable. Not as nice as free but the covers look good. :-)

Laurie wrote: "I self-published my memoir, "The Blue Room" through Createspace & now it's selling through Amazon. I did everything...I am a graphic designer + some. (pen name is Lucy McCloud)

If you need help fo..."

Can you give us a link?

http://amzn.com/1461106818

I put up a blog on http://bonnershouse.com about the importance of maintaining story continuity by keeping a compendium. Even top author's step off the rails. I'm reading Sahara and it is full of glaring mistakes contradictions. Its not killing the story but, at least for me, they jump off the page. Don't those big publishing houses use editors anymore?

Its important your characters stay in character. HTH

@Ken. Is that Clive Cussler? I thought that desert conveyor belt to incinerate waste materials was the greatest idea in the world.

Sahara was published in 1992, before half of the editors in New York today started kindergarten. B^)

I have no idea how to market. That's my problem, lol. In an attempt to gain a following I started a blog, and it's getting more readers (I think), but I'm still not selling many of my ebooks. I've thought about things like Createspace, but I'm not sure about it. Although I might buy a car magnet set to advertise, and slap them on my dad's bumper...he has a two hour commute...

L.Y. I know what you mean. Seems I spend loads of time on forums, twitter, blogging, etc and it leaves precious little time to actually write/edit new work.

The bumper stickers sound like a nice idea. Does VistaPrint do something like that? I've purchased biz cards/posters from Zazzle and had amazing results. What's your blog's link?

For what Mhairi said above (last year) about covers I think it's a great idea to go with the same person to maintain a style consistency. Luckily for me my mom happens to be a photographer & graphic artist so we worked together to come up with a look and feel. Here are the 2 covers:



I didn't even ask her to make them similar, we both just kind of work that way so it fell into place nicely. She captured the essence of each book and managed to create something that also looks decent in thumb size. (Also not promoting me, just my mom!)

Mhairi I like that your covers are distinct yet look similar. A reader will know they're "you".

My Mom's Linked In page which doesn't have much graphic yet but she's working on it! Hope its cool to post this here. I love to give her props for designing such great cover art for me :-) http://www.linkedin.com/in/judifitzpa...

Jenn: I have my little routine that I do to try and get pageviews for my website, which has bumped me up a smidgen. I go to three or four different sites, too, and it doesn't seem to be helping a whole lot. Do you have a website or blog? I'm looking to network, lol. (This is my site: http://lylevand.weebly.com/)

I've never dealt with VistaPrint, but it sounds like it would be worth checking out. I guess Office Depot sells car magnet kits where you can design your own, but I haven't tried it yet.

How did you use your cards and posters from Zazzle? Did you just hand out/tack them up somewhere? That sounds like a great idea. And if I get to design them myself it's a big plus, lol. That's always fun!

I've recently discovered I have to write a story in sequence. For my present work I came up with a couple of scenes I wanted to use later and wrote them out.

Now the problem is I am 'steering' the work towards those scenes. I suppose this would work for a writer who uses an outline but that's not me. I try to stop in the middle of a scene and then come back to finish it as it gives me momentum.

This writing to intersect with an existing scene has caused me all kinds of problems. I like the scenes I wrote but writing to fill in the gaps has been nothing but a headache. Never again.

I can't imagine writing without an outline. I create detailed chapter by chapter outlines before I start writing a book.

Then again, I'm an unpublished hack so who knows? Maybe I'm doing it wrong. =D

That would never work for me. I would feel too constrained. I'm not saying I just sit down and scribble. I have a direction and a general conclusion and how I want to get where I'm going.

When I start a scene I know where the character is going, why he is going there and what he expects but what happens on arrival is often a surprise to me. I like surprises.

L.Y. I have both a website http://www.jennflynnshon.com and though I blog on there occassionally my established blog http://randomnessandlunacy.blogspot.com is where you'll see me ranting & raving heehee.

Will definitely get over to check your site, I'm looking to network too (always right? :-)

Cards I hand out pretty much to anyone - grocery store clerks, bank tellers, random dog walkers are not spared - because I'm the queen of shameless self promotion. The posters I'm intending to use at book signings, presentations, etc. Hmm, Office Depot is here in town, the car magnet is such a great idea. Thanks for the tip!

So have you found better networking online or in person?

Checked them both out. You got some serious chuckles out of me with your Twilight post!

I haven't even tried networking in person (small circle of friends, lol, and none of them in positions to give me any help), and I haven't had much success with online networking. But I just published the first time less than a year ago, so I can't expect too much.

No problem! :) I got that particular tip from the folks at Kindle Direct Publishing. I should try the business cards; sounds like a good idea. I need to stop being shy, and start throwing my work at people. Maybe I'll get somewhere, lol.

Which has worked better for you, online or in person?

Aw thanks!

Yeah I'm the same way with in person marketing. I did join a Writer's group last year which has helped me to get up and talk about my work without the guilt that can sometimes be associated with talking about my own thing &/or shyness for standing in front of a crowd (seriously, even typing that made my palms clammy haha!). That's been helpful in that way but as far as sales and long term connections I find its easier to connect online.

My blog has been my number one place to connect in fact. I know if I plan to sell loads of books I can't be quite as in touch with everyone but some truly amazing real life friends are people I started reading who started reading me years ago.

What is it about us Writers and being shy? :-)

LOVE your welcome message on your site by the way - they always say write the book you want to read. Good for you for doing just that! Following your blog updates now :-)

o.o Talking in front of a crowd? I didn't know that was part of being a writer. I kind of thought I could just hide behind my computer, lol. Online is easier for me, too. Which writer's group is it?

So far my blog hasn't really attracted a lot of people that want to participate. I've been getting quite a few pageviews, though, so it can't be all bad! How long did it take you to build up a base like that? That's amazing.

Thanks! It took me a while to decide what I wanted my welcome message to say. Then I remembered the frustration of walking into Barnes and Noble and not being able to find what I wanted. After that it was easy. :) Hope everything is worth reading, lol.