X
X
↓
 

The World's Greatest Book

The Professional's Resource for Self-Publishing

  • Home
  • Dave Bricker
  • Brick’s Books
    • Guide to Self-Publishing
      • Preview The Book
    • The Dance (Fiction)
      • Samples
      • Clicks
      • The Dance Trailer
    • Waves (Fiction)
      • Introduction
      • Rose’s Boatyard
      • Master and Commander
      • Waves Trailer
    • Currents (Fiction)
      • Becalmed
      • Diesel Doc
    • Blue Monk (Memoir)
      • I Just Am
      • Fear and Freedom
      • Colors
      • This is What We Do
  • Straight Talk
  • Links & Resources
    • Facebook Ads
      • The OH Guide (nonfiction)
      • The Dance (fiction)
  • Hire Me
    • Consulting
    • Seminars and Workshops
    • Book Cover Design
    • Book Layout
    • Web & Interactive
    • Book Trailers
  • Contact
    • Privacy
Home→Tags publishing 1 2 >>

Tag Archives: publishing

Post navigation

← Older posts

Self-Publishing: Art or Business?

The World's Greatest Book Posted on February 6, 2012 by Dave BrickerFebruary 6, 2012

Self-publishing educators tell you how to sell your book, but very few bother to ask if that’s a worthwhile pursuit. Tacking marketing on as the de facto second phase of writing a book places many worthy artists’ resources in jeopardy. How much time, money and energy should you put into marketing your book? The answer is found in an honest evaluation of where your work lies on the spectrum between art and business.

John is a landscape painter. He has painted for decades, cultivating the skills to complement his talent. He works as a restaurant manager but he’s passionate about his art and maintains a studio in his garage. He has sold several paintings, had some gallery shows, and dreams of gaining enough stature as an artist to quit the food service business and devote himself to painting. After all, he paints at least as well as famous artists who make good money.

Wilma runs a vinyl sign shop out of her own garage. She creates graphics on a computer, exports the files to her vinyl cutter and applies them to shop windows and hanging banners. She studied design and takes her typography seriously, choosing appropriate typefaces and kerning the letters more carefully than her competitors do. Sometimes, she gets tired of doing commercial work; she wishes she could spend more time painting for fun but she’s grateful not to be working in a cubicle.

John is a fine artist. Wilma is a commercial artist. For our purposes, they represent the fiction and the nonfiction writer respectively.

Continue reading →

Posted in Book Marketing, Self-Publishing, Writing | Tagged art and business, book marketing, bookstores, fiction, independent publishers, indie publishers, marketing books, nonfiction, publishing, self publishing

Self-Publishing IS Real Publishing-The Difference is up to You

The World's Greatest Book Posted on December 15, 2011 by Dave BrickerDecember 22, 2011

publishers water fountainThe notion of real publishing­ as opposed to self-publ­ishing and the stigma surrounding it is obsolete. I have no objections to traditional publishers but every one of them started off as a “self-publi­sher” with a first book. I have pretty much stopped referring to myself as a “self-publisher.­” I produce and market books like anyone else in the business.

Real Publishing vs. Vanity Publishing: Self-publishing is often confused with so-called “vanity publishing.” If you pay someone like XLibris or iUniverse to publish you, you are not a publisher—and neither is the company that claims to be your publisher. Vanity presses take zero risk on your book. They make money producing it and they take a piece of the cover price as a royalty, double-dipping at your expense. If your so-called publisher has not made an investment in your work, they are not a real publisher. Real publishers invest in books, pay royalties when there are profits and incur losses when sales don’t match projections.

Continue reading →

Posted in Book Marketing, Self-Publishing | Tagged book distribution, book returns, Dave Bricker, POD, print on demand, publishers, publishing, self published books, self publishing, traditional publishing, worldsgreatestbook.com

Should Indie Publishers Lower Their Expectations?

The World's Greatest Book Posted on December 12, 2011 by Dave BrickerDecember 23, 2011

Many authors start down the publishing road believing that printing books is the same as printing money, only to be disappointed by low returns and the amount of work involved. This guest article by novelist, poet and songwriter Richard Geller responds to advice offered by marketing luminary Seth Godin who suggests indie publishers should lower their expectations. Geller proposes different ways to measure success. Printing books is not the same as printing money, but for creative writers, printing books may give rise to something of even greater value. Changing expectations and lowering them are two different things.


In his insightful blog, Seth Godin offers two separate lists of marketing tips for writers. I want to reflect a bit on what he has in the number-one position on each list; they’re closely related:

1. Lower your expectations. The happiest authors are the ones that don’t expect much. (2005)

1. Please understand that book publishing is an organized hobby, not a business. The return on equity and return on time for authors and for publishers is horrendous. If you’re doing it for the money, you’re going to be disappointed.

On the other hand, a book gives you leverage to spread an idea and a brand far and wide. There’s a worldview that’s quite common that says that people who write books know what they are talking about and that a book confers some sort of authority. (2006)

Any comparison of the number of books published versus the number of authors making useful amounts of money at it is damn sobering stuff. Seth Godin certainly has his facts straight. The odds are definitely against you achieving anything that resembles business success.

I have, however, a question about lowering our expectations. Does the unlikelihood of ever realizing material success or fame from your writing mean you should lower your expectations? Or should you, instead, adopt different sets of expectations—aligned with marketplace realities—that are high nonetheless?

Continue reading →

Tagged ablogaboutsomething, asiteaboutsomething, author, Dave Bricker, fiction, indie publishing, indie-author, nonfiction, novel, pod publishing, poetry blog, publishing, publishing success, Richard Geller, self publishing, writers, writing

Discussion Forum Etiquette – Promoting Your Book

The World's Greatest Book Posted on November 28, 2011 by Dave BrickerDecember 22, 2011

cheerleaderDiscussion forums are a powerful medium for promoting your book, your art or your business. Facebook, LinkedIn and other communities are a major source of traffic for blogs and websites, but whether you post directly or embed links in responses to others’ posts, make good forum etiquette a priority. There are important rules to play the forum game by. Break the rules too many times and you’ll lose your community.

I posted a link to one of my blog articles on a discussion group’s board. Though I generally get positive, relevant responses, one reply went something like this:

Response: Why not post a profile on [my site]? This is a free site for writers, poets, photographers and artists. You can advertise and sell your work for free. Make sure you include a link to your site so others can learn even more about you and purchase your work. Please help us spread the word in your vast network of connections, it will inevitably be one more piece of the pie to maximize your exposure.

My Reply: Did you even read the article? It’s considered good practice to participate in a posted discussion rather than change its topic. It smells like canned lunch meat in here.

Continue reading →

Posted in Book Marketing, Self-Publishing | Tagged book marketing, book promotion, Dave Bricker, discussion groups, facebook, forum etiquette, forum rules, forums, linkedIn, listservs, netiquette, promoting your book, publishing, self publishing, social marketing, twitter

The Single Most Important Contribution to Publishing

The World's Greatest Book Posted on November 17, 2011 by Dave BrickerDecember 23, 2011

Though I create eBooks and write about them extensively, I’m a classic bibliophile who loves to feel the subtle emboss of letters stamped on paper with metal type. I was rummaging through the garage and came across an old copy of The Progressive Road to Reading Book 2 by Georgine Burchill, William Ettinger and Edgar Dubs Shimer. Published in 1909 and reprinted in 1920, it was probably my father’s elementary school reading book. (See it on Google Books here.) It has me reflecting on what is undoubtedly the greatest achievement in publishing.

When I gave the book to my six-year old daughter, she was drawn to it immediately. It’s different from her other books. The paper is yellowed. The inked letters are not so perfect as the digitally printed ones in her paperback library. It’s filled with beautiful, engraved images printed with a color overlay. Some of the spelling conventions like “to-day” and “to-night” and “to-morrow” are clearly outdated. The line breaks in the type are strange.* It’s charming.

Continue reading →

Posted in Book Design, Self-Publishing, Typography | Tagged antique books, book design, book typography, Dave Bricker, learning to read, linotype, literacy, literacy statistics, Progressive Road to Reading, publishing, self publishing, typography, young readers

Book Distributors: What’s in it for Publishers?

The World's Greatest Book Posted on October 10, 2011 by Dave BrickerDecember 22, 2011

There is a direct relationship between the number of sales you can expect from a book distributor and the value-added services they provide to publishers and readers. Publishers are best served to ally themselves with book distributors that do the most to earn their sales commissions and inspire customer loyalty. What do they offer in exchange for their cut?

Brick and mortar retailers generally demand 50% or higher commissions from publishers and therefore offer decreasing value. The idea that book retailers should make more money than writers and publishers do for wedging a tiny piece of merchandise spine-out on a shelf full of competing products is absurd, but the state of retail bookstores tells its own story. Publishers and readers have already switched en masse to online book distributors. Some physical retailers do sell eBooks, but it’s hard to justify going to a physical bookstore to buy one when you can sample books, read reviews and purchase them online. Selling eBooks at a bookstore is like selling DVDs of a stage performance at the box office. Continue reading →

Posted in Book Marketing, eBooks, Self-Publishing | Tagged amazon, barnes and noble, book distributors, book previews, book retailers, bookstores, google books, iBookstore, iPad, itunes, itunes bookstore, kindle, kindle fire, kindle vs. iPad, nook, Pubit!, publishing

Sewing Your Own Parachute – Advice About Book Covers

The World's Greatest Book Posted on September 23, 2011 by Dave BrickerSeptember 23, 2011

I recently responded to an article on Publishing Perspectives by Andrew Pantoja that innocently advises self-publishers about sources for cheap book covers. It is technically easy to create your own cover; therein lies the problem. It’s also easy to sew your own parachute. I have seen successful covers made by amateurs but I’ve seen plenty of authors proudly displaying horrible design abortions.

Why hire a pianist for a wedding when you can get a digital piano cheaper? This same flawed logic is often embraced by do-it-yourself cover designers. It substitutes obtaining a tool for solving a problem. It’s even more embarrassing when the purchaser of the piano can’t hear the difference; a guaranteed room-clearer.

Graphic Design is not about making something “pretty” or even finding something you personally “like.” Design is a craft practiced by professionals who not only understand how to use their tools, but how to choose and mix typefaces, combine colors, achieve tension and balance, and avoid cliches. Graphic design uses text and images to solve a problem or achieve a goal. As with dentistry, there’s much to be said for working with a professional. Continue reading →

Posted in Book Design, Book Marketing, Self-Publishing | Tagged 99designs, book design, cover design, Dave Bricker, David Bricker, graphic design, publishing, self publishing

Are Self-Published Books Really Crap?

The World's Greatest Book Posted on September 13, 2011 by Dave BrickerSeptember 13, 2011

From an Internet writer’s forum:

Comment: I see self-publishing as vanity publishing. There’s a reason there’s a traditional route; it really does sift out the crap. I may not be a published author, but I’ll be damned before I chuck in the towel to push out my writing through self publishing. I did not spend years honing my craft, get myself into all sorts of tight corners just to get my stories, and lose all those late night hours redrafting just so my work can get lost in the crowd.

My Response: I’m a proud self-publisher. Self-publishing is, by definition, not vanity publishing. I own all my own rights and my own ISBN numbers. My press is a legal entity. I also got myself into all sorts of scrapes to get my stories and I spend hours honing my craft every day, seven days a week. It’s 5:30AM as I finish this. I challenge any traditional press to exceed the quality of the work I produce.

Traditional presses do indeed filter out some crap, but to assume everything not vetted by a Big Six publisher is crap is the literary equivalent of racial prejudice. Major marketing vehicles like the New York Times Book Review serve only the upper crust of the publishing world, defining by exclusion who “the crowd” is. Continue reading →

Tagged agents, Books, bookstores, editors, press, publishers, publishing, self publishing, traditional publishing, vanity publishing, writing

Small Publishers Should Stop Watching the Stars

The World's Greatest Book Posted on September 8, 2011 by Dave BrickerNovember 13, 2013

It’s the latest big deal in publishing: Big publishers are being sued; accused of using the ‘agency model,’ to keep prices of eBooks artificially high. Amazon, the world’s largest bookseller, is complying but only offering agency terms to the Big Six publishers. But in spite of all the brouhaha, independent publishers don’t need to worry themselves about it.

Certainly, Amazon has well-founded concerns that if they don’t meet the terms of their largest suppliers, they could lose the right to distribute their eBooks. Not only would that be costly, it would dilute Amazon’s strategy for the Kindle; namely having the world’s largest selection of popular, desirable eBooks.

But small publishers—especially self-publishers—operate under an entirely different set of business conditions. While the judicial system referees the conduct of the publishing industry’s big players, other market pressures are more deserving of indie publishers’ attention. Continue reading →

Posted in Book Marketing, eBooks, Self-Publishing | Tagged Agency model, amazon, apple, Books, booksellers, eBooks, inependent publishers, publishers, publishing, publishing lawsuit, self-publishers

Self-Publishers Should Not Be Self-Editors

The World's Greatest Book Posted on August 19, 2011 by Dave BrickerAugust 19, 2011

Editing is one of the first hurdles you’ll encounter as an independent writer. Your fan club is your enemy. Encouraging friends who think it’s “wonderful you actually wrote a book” are not unbiased editors. A good editor will put your work under a microscope, analyze it to death and probably make you feel at times like any talent you think you have is imaginary. Good editors do encourage and offer praise for what works, but they’re relentless at tearing your writing apart and making you put it back together the right way. Editing is a grueling, time-consuming process and it’s a task that must be entrusted to someone who will give you “tough love.” We’re all too close to our own work to see the flaws and missing pieces, especially when the writing is fresh.

Poor editing is the number one complaint heard from critics of the independent publishing industry. Though the standards of mainstream publishing houses are overrated, I’ve read many indy books where spotty spelling and lack of polished prose present barriers to enjoyable reading. Moreover, our own well-crafted books get lumped into the “indy” category with this trash. Unedited authors sully the publishing waters for the rest of us.

I have discussed the idea of editing with other writers and heard the reply, “I don’t need an editor; I’m an excellent speller.” An editor is not a proofreader. Though the best of us require proofreaders, a story editor is someone who can comment on the work objectively. Is the story believable? Are there unexpected temporal jumps or unexplained threads in the narrative? Are the article’s assertions properly supported? As with affairs of the heart, it’s easy to understand the problems of others and difficult to acknowledge what we’re too close to see—and if you think writing isn’t an affair of the heart, you haven’t started your book yet. Get that third-party perspective. Continue reading →

Posted in Self-Publishing, Writing | Tagged bricker, editing, editor, proofreading, publishing, self publishing, writing

Post navigation

← Older posts
©2022 - The World's Greatest Book - Weaver Xtreme Theme
↑
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.