Who is self-publishing? (age, sex, background, experience)
How are we doing it? (full time, part time, on what platforms)
Why are we doing it? (can’t find a publisher, had a publisher but preferred to go indie, indie all the way!)
What’s working for us? (having more books for sale, marketing like a fiend, giving books away)
How are we doing? (sales and revenue)

Don’t miss your chance to weigh in!

From The Independent Publishing Magazine: Apple Poised To Launch Self-Publishing Program This Month
Reporting on Good E-Reader this morning, Michael Kozlowski has revealed that Apple will host an event in New York later in January and speculates that it may herald the launch of a self-publishing program for iBooks that will rival Amazon’s DTP and the Barnes and Noble Pubit platform. As yet nothing formal has been stated by Apple.

From Accredited Online Colleges: 12 Marketing Skills Every Writer Now Needs
In a world of blogs, tweets, website comments, and Facebook status updates, everyone is a writer. That is, they are in the sense that they are communicating through the written word. But you’re a writer: you know what a gerund is, and you would never mistake “it’s” with “its.” Of course, the proliferation of social media has only served to flood the market with content producers. If you want to make it as a writer, you will have to separate yourself from the crowd so your work can be appreciated. Here are 12 marketing skills to help you become the next Hemingway.

From eBook Newser: Smashwords’ Mark Coker Responds To Apple Rumors
We’ve been hearing rumors that Apple is hosting a press conference this month to announce a new software. One report suggests that it will be a new self-publishing platform for iBooks, but Mark Coker, the CEO of self-publishing platform Smashwords, is not convinced.

From Salon.com: Indies battle Amazon — by becoming publishers
Of all the booksellers I’ve met over the years, no doubt the busiest is Mitchell Kaplan. In addition to overseeing Miami’s venerated Books & Books stores, Kaplan is a co-founder of the Miami Book Fair, a former president of the American Booksellers Association, and the most recent recipient of the National Book Foundation’s Literarian Award. So it was pretty surprising to see Kaplan himself when I read at his flagship store in Coral Gables last month.

From FonerBooks: Kindle eBooks Outselling Paper Books Big Time
I originally titled this post, Amazon’s Free eBooks Outsell All Other Amazon Books Combined, but I think people will be more interested in the paid book comparison on the graph. The graph is from my page on Kindle eBook sales which I updated yesterday.  The main caveat is that January 2nd isn’t a typical day since many people must have received Kindles and iPads for Christmas and are still excited about buying eBooks. The graph shows paid Kindle eBook sales vs all paper book sales, and I’ll pick a few points off for people who don’t read log-log graphs.

From Paid Content: Which E-Books Are Most Borrowed From Libraries, And Why?
OverDrive released its lists of the most-downloaded e-books from libraries in December 2011. These lists look pretty different from the current New York Times e-book bestseller lists. Here’s why, plus a few interesting tidbits.

From The Book Designer:Video: Brian Felsen of BookBaby.com on the Future of e-Books
I’m pleased today to have an interview for you with Brian Felsen, CEO of BookBaby.com, the e-book distributor that started as an offshoot of CDbaby, the independent music distributor.

From the GalleyCat: Occupy Wall Street Library Adds Hundreds of Books
Today the Occupy Wall Street Library posted a photograph of the hundreds of books added to their collection. Even though the activists have been evicted from Zuccotti Park, the spirit continues as donations continue to pour into the library. A number of Twitter supporters banded together for the donations: Liz Danzico, Maria Popova, Akashic Books, Housing Works Bookstore and Nathan Larson.

From The Book Designer: Do Writers Really Need a Book Business Plan?
Seriously. I know no one likes to hear this, even my clients who are not of the author persuasion, but without a business plan you’re going nowhere.  It’s vital for a writer to have a Book Business Plan because your books and you are the products to be sold. It makes most writers queasy to even imagine selling themselves but without a plan, you can hardly figure out a way for your book to sell itself. Think of it as a GPS getting you from Starving Writer Street to Successful Author Square.

From GalleyCat: Farhad Manjoo: ‘You Should Thank [Amazon] for Crushing That Precious Indie on the Corner’
Farhad Manjoo infuriated booksellers around the country with a provocative essay at Slate, calling independent bookstores “some of the least efficient, least user-friendly, and most mistakenly mythologized local establishments you can find.”

From Writer’s Digest: 50 Simple Ways to Build Your Platform in 5 Minutes a Day
Writing rules. Self-promotion drools. Isn’t this how most writers think? But as long as you view your writing as art and your self-promotion efforts as the furthest thing from art, your chances of ramping up a successful 21st-century writing career are going to remain slim to none.

From eBook Newser: Are eBooks Getting More Expensive?
eBook pricing ebbs and flows like the tide and we hear a lot of different pricing ideas from the publishers, authors and readers that we speak to. Some people think that $.99 is the right price to get a reader to try an unknown author and others think that such a low price point makes the book seem unworthy of a reader’s attention. The big publishers succumbed to Amazon’s $9.99 price point, but then adopted the agency model and set their own prices.

From The New York Times: As Kindle Fire Faces Critics, Remedies Are Promised
The Kindle Fire, Amazon’s heavily promoted tablet, is less than a blazing success with many of its early users. The most disgruntled are packing the device up and firing it back to the retailer.

From Publishers Weekly: Is Amazon Pushing Publishers to Brink On Terms, Co-op?
Last week Amazon caused a furor in the bookselling world, with its reveal of a price check app consumers could use in bricks-and-mortar stores to get discounts at the retailer. Although the app did not include books, its announcement offered many a chance to slam Amazon as a ruthless corporation out to destroy the community bookstore and, as Richard Russo claimed in the New York Times, literary culture along with it.

From Dallas News: Year in Review: Books trends that got our attention
Looking back, 2011 will be remembered as the year when publishing was turned on its head. Self-published authors, once the pariahs of the book business, gained credibility — outselling many established names and giving hope to would-be authors everywhere. Borders, the second-biggest bookstore chain in the country, went under, signaling a shift in priority from print books to e-books.

From Forbes: Integrate Everything: 10 Tech Predictions For 2012
Mark Anderson is the editor of the Strategic News Service, a newsletter about the technology business, which previously published this column. He also runs the the annual Future In Review conference.  Here are my top technology calls for next year. My theme for the year is “integrate everything.”

Here are some of the most common:

1. Setting unrealistic goals. In spite of recent success stories in the news, you probably won’t become rich from your publishing venture. And you probably won’t sell a million copies of your book. Keep in mind that a book that sells 10,000 copies—whether self- or traditionally published—is generally considered to be a “success.” Another thing is that too many authors also believe that just putting their work out there is somehow going to result in sales, so they neglect putting together a marketing and promotions plan—which leads to the next item on the list.

2. Failing to think about marketing before the book is published. This is a biggie. I know that writing a book is no easy task, and authors tend to get caught up in the process before thinking of the next step, which is ensuring your book reaches your audience. I frequently speak with authors who have had their books out for months and have generated few sales. When I ask what they’ve been doing in terms of marketing, I often get a vague response. Or I have authors call me in September, asking to help them plan a promotions plan for the upcoming holiday season (which they should have started long before fall). It’s never too early to think about promoting your book and building your author platform. You’ll definitely want to have a plan in place well before the book’s publication date.

3. Not knowing your audience. Perhaps your book does have wide appeal, but not “everyone” is going to read it—even if you think they should. Also, consider your competition: Does your book offer something new and unique to potential readers?

4. Going the vanity press route and thinking you’ve self-published. If you pay a publisher to publish your book, and that publisher uses its own ISBN on your book, you have not self-published. And chances are, if you’ve got a vanity (or subsidy) publisher imprint on your book, reviewers won’t give it the time of day. Although the stigma is diminishing for true self-publishing (you purchase your own ISBN prefix under your own publishing company name and assign a number to your book), it still exists for vanity and subsidy publishing because editing is often nonexistent and interior and exterior designs are usually templates that look substandard. So if you hire a “self-publishing service,” make sure the end result is a well-done book that is truly self-published—by you.

5. Thinking you can do it all yourself. You can—but the end result will likely be an amateurish book that is riddled with errors. Even the best writers need good editors. And unless you are a book design professional, you want a pro to design your interior and exterior so they don’t scream “self-published.” Too many times I see authors in writers groups who post a book cover designed by themselves or a family member—and they almost always look it. Surround yourself with professionals who can help ensure your book reads well and looks good. (Get recommendations for professionals from other self-published authors whose books you like.)

6. Being stingy with review copies. Reviews are an essential part of any book promotions plan, so budget the cost of review copies in your original promo plan. I have worked with authors who were opposed to sending out “free” copies of their book—and the number of reviews they received suffered for it. It’s not unusual to hear some successful authors reveal they sent out a hundred or more review copies.  

7. Not looking at self-publishing as a business. Once you’ve decided to self-publish, you are no longer just an author; you are also a business owner. And just as a commercial publisher looks upon any new book as an investment of its resources, so too do you.

Here are four rules to follow that will go far in ensuring you are a success:

1. Make it easy for people to do what you want them to do. This applies to individual consumers, trade customers, publicity people—everyone, everywhere. Remove the roadblocks, and you’ll have better results.

My long-time mentor and co-author of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 5^th Edition, Marilyn Ross, has had extraordinary success applying this rule. It got her a feature in Modern Maturity (now known as AARP The Magazine), which at the time had a colossal circulation of 22.5 million. Here’s how it happened: Marilyn, who was promoting her book Country Bound! Trade Your Business Suit Blues for Blue Jean Dreams, scrutinized the magazine carefully to find a column that gives readers useful information. Then she wrote a piece on the five dos and the five don’ts about moving to a smaller town. She made it effortless, following the format in the magazine, adhering to the word count and other guidelines. There was nothing left for the editor to do, which made him quite happy. Such customizing can land you valuable magazine space as well.

2. Follow up. The squeaky wheel does indeed get the grease. It is constantly proven to us that we get results we never would have achieved because we continue to ask for the sale, stay visible, and be politely persistent about PR. There is a rule of seven in business. What this means is that people must hear about you seven times before they are moved to act. Calling a reviewer or a producer a couple of times then giving up is like ordering a beautiful steak dinner and walking out before it is served.

3. Apply the 80/20 rule. This says you’ll get 80 percent of your results from 20 percent of your efforts or customers. In essence, it means determine what’s working and focus on that priority. Don’t waste time on marginal paybacks. Spend 80 percent of your time pursuing the most profitable 20 percent.

4. Ask for what you want. This is perhaps the simplest rule yet the most ignored. A person will usually accommodate your wishes, assuming they are reasonable, and you let the person know what it is you want. So often we neglect to communicate our desires. Want a pleased customer to write a customer review on Amazon.com? Ask for it! Want to speak at the next annual convention of an association that parallels the topic of your book? Request to be on the program. You get the idea.

 (Portions of this article have been excerpted from The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 5th Edition, by Marilyn Ross and Sue Collier. Writer’s Digest Books, 2010)

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

How long are you willing to wait to see your book in print?  Let’s skip right over the months and possibly years it might take you to find representation and assume you already have a finished manuscript and an agent. It may take some time for the agent to shop around and find the right place for your book. Let’s further assume the agent finds a publisher who is interested and offers a reasonable contract. You still might have to wait another 12 to 18 months to see your book in print.  Self-publishing can be done in a much shorter amount of time—usually just a couple of months if your manuscript is professionally edited and the book is professionally designed.

What are your reasons for wanting to be traditionally published?  A lot of authors today make the choice to self-publish rather than pursue a traditional deal. They believe they can better produce and market their books—and potentially make a lot more money. But in some circles there is still a certain amount of “prestige” in landing that trad contract. If it’s the so-called status of a traditional deal you crave, then self-publishing may not be right for you. If you simply want to get your work out there, then collecting rejection letters may just postpone the inevitable.

How much control are you willing to let go of? In general, when you sign a contract with a traditional publisher, you give up a certain amount of control over your project both editorially and creatively. The publisher will likely have final say over the content, the title, and the cover design. Most of the time, authors are satisfied with the results. However, having worked on the traditional side of publishing for a number of years as managing editor of a small press, I can think of a couple of different instances when authors were not happy with decisions we made regarding their books. They had no choice but to live with it. With self-publishing, you maintain full control over every aspect of the production process.

Do you have a sizeable author platform in place? You may not have a chance with a traditional publisher if you don’t have a large list of connections and potential buyers. The fact of the matter is that regardless of how good your book is, most trads expect you to have a large following before they will sign you on.  (Plus, you’ll still have to shoulder much of the marketing and promotions burden yourself.) Of course, author platform—and marketing and promotions— is equally important in terms of sales if you decide to self-publish.

Would you be self-publishing strictly out of frustration? Self-publishing is not as easy as simply uploading your Word document to CreateSpace. At least, it shouldn’t be. Care should be taken to ensure your content is top-notch (hire a good editor) and its presentation matches that of the trads (hire a book designer). There’s the also the little fact that you are now taking on the role of publisher in addition to author, which leads me to the next question.

Are you interested in becoming a publisher in addition to an author? This is a biggie because as a self-publisher, you are forced to take on that role. Even if you hire professionals to help put your project together, you’ll still have to make final editorial and design decisions. You’ll need to decide on a name for your publishing company and open up a bank account. You’ll have to obtain the appropriate numbers for your book. You’ll need to handle accounting and budgeting for the project. You’ll have to figure out distribution and fulfillment. Of course, there are companies that can help you with all that, but it’s definitely more involved than “just” being an author. It’s not for everyone. 

Do you have the budget to do it “right”? Sure, there are places where you can get your book published for “free,” but chances are your book will be immediately identifiable as “self-published” and disregarded by reviewers—or worse, trashed by them. I simply don’t believe there is any way around having your book professionally edited and designed. You don’t need to pay thousands for each, but you’ll probably have to pay something. And please make sure you have enough money to purchase your own ISBN. Never use one of the so-called “POD self-publishing” company’s ISBNS. Never. Make sure you are the publisher of record.

Do you truly have a quality manuscript with a unique message? Have you tried but failed to get a traditional deal because your manuscript is a piece of crap? Has no unique message? Is poorly written? Then self-publishing is not for you either; you’ll probably waste a lot of money and time on something that will not sell—and worse, could harm your reputation. If, however, you truly believe you’ve been rejected by the trads through no fault of your manuscript (it’s tough to land an agent, let alone a contract these days), self-publishing is probably your best bet. With a good book and a solid marketing plan, you will probably even be successful.

From The Domino Project: Are you feeling lucky?
One of the biggest distinctions between old publishing and new is the nature of luck.

From The Savvy Book Marketer: The Media is Paying Attention to Self-Published Authors
I came to self-publishing by accident. I wrote a novel, A Great Place for a Seizure, with the plan to find a literary agent and a publisher. Several rejection letters later I decided to be strategic and attempt to win an endorsement for my manuscript from organizations that could attest to the value of a novel that gives a well-rounded account of life with epilepsy.

From Publishers Weekly: Amazon Launches The Kindle Cloud Reader
As expected in the wake of Apple’s new restrictions on buying content outside the Apple in-app purchasing system,  Amazon.com has launched the Kindle Cloud Reader, an HTML5 reader that will allow consumers to buy and read Amazon titles through the web browsers found on almost any PC or mobile device.

From Authority Publishing: 12 Tasks Every Author Should Tackle Before Publishing a Book
1. Start a Blog – Do not wait until the book is in print to start building your audience. Write about topics of interest to your target audience and update your blog at least twice each week.

From TeleRead: Google adds book sharing feature to Google+
Google has added a feature to let people share links to Google Books e-books on their Google+ social network circles. The feature can be used either by clicking a link on the e-book’s “About the Book” page, or by pasting the Google Books URL into the Google+ Share box.

From Pod People: Indiereader
Indiereader started out as a site for readers of self-published material to mingle and discover new books. What they discovered, and most people already knew, is that dedicated self-published books readers are a demographic that barely exists outside of the authors themselves (and sometimes not even them).

From the Idea Logical Company: If you like irony, you must love the publishing world of today
Anybody who doesn’t find the publishing business interesting in its time of digital change is simply not paying close enough attention. No matter what story we’re focused on, scratch the surface (or scratch your head) and you find you are pondering something else.

From Mashable: How Blurb Tapped Into the Burgeoning Self-Publishing Industry
For the last six years, Eileen Gittins has made it her mission to help anyone and everyone become an author via Blurb. What started as a self-publishing startup for do-it-yourself bookmakers has become a multi-platform storytelling service, adding an app for iPhone and iPod Touch in April, and most recently, an iPad iteration. Mashable spoke with Gittins about the conception and evolution of the company, her inspirations and, of course, cowboy boots.

One suggestion is to come up with a name then tack on the words press, publishing company, books, or publishers on the name to help eliminate any doubts about what you do.

But be wary of choosing a name that is too specific. Although a company called Wildlife Publications would be fine for your first book on wildflowers of the Northwest, what happens when your second title, How to Be a Good Stepparent, is ready to be published? Likewise, geographic names can be limiting. Don’t you agree that Tampa Bay Books sounds much less substantial than Windsong Books International? Your choice can also influence how easy it is to sell your company downstream and how receptive vendors are in letting you establish credit. Looking big has definite advantages.

If you want to spark your thinking about press names, try leafing through Writer’s Market, Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, Literary Market Place (LMP), and Small Press Record of Books in Print directory. So many names of existing small presses, conventional or unusual, are listed in these sources that one or another is likely to help you come up with a name that will be all your own.

I recommend you do not include any part of your own name in the company title. Why? Because you want to come across as an official publishing entity, not necessarily as a writer who publishes his or her own work. If you include your personal handle, that is a dead giveaway. John Martin publishing a book as Martin Press leaves little to the imagination. As do John Martin and Associates and John Martin Enterprises. It’s also poor form to make the title of the book and the name of the publishing company identical. This shouts, “I’m a tiny, one-book publisher.” Even if you are, there is usually no advantage to advertising this.

When you arrive at a name, always check in Literary Marketplace, Small Press Record of Books In Print, and the publishers’ section of Books In Print to avoid duplicating an existing publisher’s name. (Duplication could cause numerous errors and missed sales.) Because so many new small presses have started over the last decade, it’s tough to find an unused name. I sometimes advise clients to think about combining their children’s names or considering a foreign word as a press name.

To use your new name legally, you’ll probably need to file a fictitious name statement. In most locales this is done by paying a small fee and advertising on four consecutive weeks your intention to do business as (dba) XYZ Publishing Company. You’ll receive instructions when you apply for your dba. (By the way, you can save money by looking for a little weekly neighborhood paper instead of inserting your notice in the major daily newspaper.)

When you embark on your self-publishing journey, keep in mind that publishing is a business. Everything from your professional-looking book cover right down to your publishing company name should reflect that.

(Portions of this post have been excerpted from The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 5^th Edition, by Marilyn Ross and Sue Collier [Writer’s Digest Books, 2010]).

1. Educate yourself. Publishing is a business and needs to be treated as such. There are books, blogs, websites, and associations devoted to self-publishing. Failing to learn all you can about it can mean wasting thousands of dollars by blundering along without knowledge or a plan.

2. Study the competition. Be sure your topic hasn’t been overdone. Check the library, your local bookstore, and Amazon.com. But don’t stop there: Check Books in Print Subject Guide and Forthcoming Books in Print Subject Guide. Then make sure yours is better than what is already out there.

3. Write what other people want. Catering to one’s own personal desires often makes for a blah book nobody buys. Face the facts: Personal journals and impassioned tirades are best saved for family and friends, not foisted upon the general public.

4. Think “marketing” from the start. The time to start generating marketing ideas is before you even write the manuscript. Identify your market. How can you reach them? Start folders of ideas. What catalogs might be interested? Which associations reach your potential readers? Can you sell the book as a premium to companies that would give it away as a gift to entice new customers or use it internally for training? Think about who else reaches your potential customer and how you can partner with them. Do you have contacts who have national name recognition and might write an advance endorsement?

5. Get professional editing. You cannot edit your own work. You cannot.

6. Create a catchy title. The right title can make a book. Short is best. Clever is fine but don’t sacrifice clarity. Include a subtitle for nonfiction books as it gives you extra mileage in ensuring readers know what the book is about.

7. Include all the vital components. Depending on whether your book is paper or electronic, you may need an ISBN, LCCN, EAN scanning code, subject category on the back cover, the title displayed boldly on the spine, and so forth. Don’t know what you need? See item number 1 in this list!!

8. Have a dynamite cover. Get it designed by a professional who knows book cover design, not just someone who does nice logos or brochures. There is a lot of competition out there; this is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

9. Make the interior inviting. Study the insides of books that look clean and user-friendly; use these as your model. The production values of your book must meet the competition to be acceptable in the trade. It is not advisable to do your book layout in Word, so if you are not budgeting for the steep price tag and learning curve of a program such as InDesign, hire a pro.

10. Price properly. Books that are much more costly than the competition—or even sometimes a lot cheaper—can meet resistance. Figure out a per-unit cost that still offers you a margin for profit and enables you to offer booksellers a discount—and that keeps you in line with your competition.

11. Publicize, promote, publicize, promote. Eat, sleep, and talk your books. Ongoing, enthusiastic marketing is the real key to success. Never quit. Always be on the alert for new opportunities; marketing is forever and your efforts today can yield results way down the road.

(Portions of this post have been excerpted from the upcoming second edition of Jump Start Your Books Sales by Marilyn Ross and Sue Collier, scheduled for release in late 2011.)

Shannon says: Research your choices.  There are lots of self-publishing companies out there these days.  CreateSpace, Lulu,  iUniverse, BookLocker, Xlibris, and Authorhouse are just a few.  Some are totally free, and some aren’t.  For those that aren’t, check out their contracts or packages that they offer.  Know what you are getting for your dollar up front….

I’ll add: Keep in mind that going through many of these companies is not true self-publishing. AuthorHouse and Xlibris, for instance, are both owned by vanity/subsidy giant Author Solutions. If you intend to sell books and make a profit from your venture, it is recommended you not go this route. (I recently blogged about the different publishing options.)

Shannon says: Know your budget.  If you use a POD company that charges for a package, which package can you afford?  You should also plan on purchasing review copies.  How much money are you willing to invest on other marketing?  Don’t forget postage and shipping supplies!  Are you paying for editing services or for book cover design?…

I’ll add: Make sure you have a budget! In my opinion, you need to have your manuscript edited and you need to have a professional cover design, at a minimum. Yes, there are “free” services out there, but the adage “you get what you pay for” is certainly true. In terms of marketing and promotions, there are plenty of things you can do for very little or no cost, but if this is not your forte, you’ll want to set aside money for promotions. You can write the best book in the world, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it.

Shannon says: Be prepared to invest in review copies!… 

I’ll add: Absolutely. I have seen more than one author’s attempts at promotion fail because they do not want to send out free review copies. We had one author, in fact, ask us to set up a virtual author book tour for her, but she neglected to fulfill review copy requests. The tour was a failure. My co-author of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 5^th Edition, Marilyn Ross sent out some 500 review copies for her book Jump Start Your Book Sales; it was a valuable promotions tool and she attributes that as the number one reason the book enjoyed excellent sales.

Shannon says: Invest in a decent book cover…. Most POD companies have some sort of automated book cover design program with stock images.  Don’t use their stock images!  If you do, just know there will be other books out there that have the same cover as yours…. Research your options or hire a graphic designer for assistance.

I’ll add: I wholeheartedly agree with this. The templated covers put out by these so-called self-publishing companies scream self-published. Not only will there be other covers out there with your exact same image, but these amateurish-looking designs do nothing to generate interest in your book. I would also venture to say that a professional graphic designer with book cover design experience is essential.

Shannon says: Edit!  Most POD companies offer some sort of editing service, but it can be quite pricey.  If you can’t afford to hire an editor, at least have a smart friend or two read over the manuscript and look for mistakes and misspelled words.  Don’t think that your own eyes will catch everything, no matter how many times you read your own book. I’m guilty of doing that myself, and readers were quick to point out my mistakes. Sure, traditional books even have mistakes in them and some are always going to slip through, but if your book is full of mistakes and errors it can be a big turn off to the reader, and to reviewers!

I’ll add: The POD companies offer sub-par editing that is not worth the (usually expensive) price they charge. And don’t count on friends (unless they are professional editors) and don’t think you can self-edit. (I have been an editor for more than two decades—and I still needed an editor to read through The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing. The editor found plenty me and my co-author had missed.) Find yourself an editing professional whose style meshes well with yours. Ask for a sample edit of a chapter or so to determine whether the editor can edit your work without changing your voice. Where to look? Ask around writer’s groups (on Facebook or LinkedIn), tweet about your needs on Twitter, or look into groups such as the Rocky Mountain Publishing Professionals Guild, which provide listings of editors (and, incidentally, the other pros you may need in your self-publishing venture).

Shannon says: Format your book properly and follow the rules!  I have never, never, NEVER seen a traditionally published book that lacked right margin justification and I’m tired of self-published authors telling me that they did it that way because it’s easier to read.  No, you didn’t follow the rules because you didn’t do your homework, or you don’t know how….

I’ll add: I generally recommend that authors do not attempt their own interior designs. Unless they are well versed in a design program such as Adobe InDesign, they are probably not qualified and the results may not be pretty—or professional. However, if they want to do their own page layout, they should read websites such as The Book Designer so they can learn the elements of what makes good design.

Shannon says: Understand that physical bookstores are not your friends….  And never, NEVER call a bookstore and try to promote yourself over the phone!  They don’t have time to talk to you. Almost all bookstores expect a discount so that they can sell a book and make a profit.  With almost all self-published books, companies charge all customers list price so there is no discount for bookstores.  Or there’s no distribution of your book through wholesale channels for chain bookstores to be able to get your book anyway.  And if there is, the book is usually sold non-returnable so a chain bookstore will require pre-payment….

I’ll add: It is often an author’s ultimate goal to have their book on the bookstore shelves. But Shannon is right; this is really not the most lucrative way to sell books. Although you can get into the trade distribution system by printing with Lightning Source (owned by Ingram, one of the largest wholesalers in the country), you will be expected to offer a deep discount and a returnable product. However, I think it is worth it to have your book available at the bookstores, so this is another reason why I believe going the “POD self-publishing” company route is not a good idea. As Shannon says, companies charge customers list price so there can be no discount. Self-publish the proper way, and you can offer a discount and still make a profit.

As usual, it all comes down to educating yourself about the process and doing the most professional job you can. Your book’s success and your own reputation are on the line.