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.

So what is true print-on-demand printing? It means that books are first sold, then, using digital printing, one or more copies are created to fill the order. Although paperbacks are more common, many companies can now do case-bound books with dust jackets as well. Books are shipped direct from a POD vendor to the customer, who receives what looks very similar to a book printed by a traditional book manufacturer. Many books are shipped from POD vendors—Lightning Source or BookSurge (now merged with CreateSpace), for instance—to wholesalers or retailers such as Amazon or Ingram.

There are some drawbacks to this method of getting into print. Many publishers are still discouraged by the print quality and poor vendor customer service, reporting blacks that look gray and whites that are off-white. Illustration and photo reproduction might be uneven and patchy. Margins can vary from copy to copy. Paper and cover stock choices may be limited and of lower quality.

Yet there are several advantages to print-on-demand: You need no warehouse because there is no inventory to store. And there is flexibility: Suppose you decide you hate your title or cover? Change it! One publisher reports that her company prints each new title digitally and prints just one hundred copies. This is enough to work out any kinks as well as to market that particular title. If you’ve got a backlist title that sells slowly but which you’d like to keep in print, you can do so fairly economically, running just a few copies at a time.

There is also an element of speed. If you’re dealing with a timely topic, POD by a book printing company will get you books faster. Some vendors can turn out a book in two or three days; others promise two or three weeks.

If you go through an outfit such as Lightning Source, your book will be picked up automatically by Barnes & Noble, Borders, and so forth. This is a distinct advantage for self-publishers for whom distribution is often an issue. I predict this circumstance will continue to evolve, making POD books more readily available in brick-and-mortar bookstores.

So what will it cost you to ride the crest of this new wave? Prices vary. Lightning Source prices differently even for the same title, depending on whether the book is being sold to wholesalers for distribution or to the author for resale. This can be an issue if the primary source of sales is going to be back-of-the-room sales by the author, for instance.

An advantage to Lightning Source, however, is that they allow the author to set the discount with retailers. Discounts normally run from about 55 to 40 percent, but Lightning Source allows authors to set the discount as low as 25 percent. Although this technically allows publishers to keep a significantly portion of the profits, some retailers will not want to sell books at such a short discount.

CreateSpace sets a mandatory 40 percent discount to its retailer—primarily Amazon—but will require a deeper discount for publishers who sign up for its expanded distribution service to bookstores.

Generally the charges for printing are based on the length of your book (so much per page) plus a cost for the cover. Get quotes so you can compare costs, terms, and turnaround times. And ask where the normal price breaks fall. Here are a few guidelines: For a 250-page paperback book with a four-color cover, one POD printer charges $8.60 each for a quantity of 50, $5.13 each for 100, $4.49 each for 500, and $3.50 per book for 1,000. Hardcovers are considerably more, going for $15.87 apiece for 250, for instance, and $12.47 per book for 500.

I’ve heard of prices as low as $3.49 per book and as high as $20.00 and more. (POD may not be your answer if you’ve written a 600-page romantic saga!) Be sure to determine both the interior price and the cover price. The hard reality is it’s simply more expensive per book to print in these small quantities, but if you are unsure of expected sales, it sure beats having a pallet of books sitting in your garage, unsold. Do your homework and decide whether book digital printing or offset printing makes more sense.

The reality is that using a “self-publishing company” (which, in actuality, is a subsidy/vanity publisher calling themselves a self-publishing company) is a “kiss of death,” according to many industry professionals, including publishing expert Pete Masterson. Pete is principal of Aeonix Publishing Group and author of Book Design and Production: A Guide for Authors and Publishers. He has graciously allowed me to reprint here a response gave to an author in a self-publishing discussion group. It clearly addresses not only the typical breakdown of discounts offered to retailers, wholesalers, and distributors, but it also shows how thing might not add up when authors go the subsidy publishing route.

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Pete wrote:

…When you publish using Lulu or another of the “self publishing companies,” your book may not be widely available through the distribution process and if it is available, it may not have the “normal” discounts expected.

In publishing, everything is based on the list price of the book. The typical breakdown is as follows:

Retailer receives a 40% discount off the list price. They may set any price they wish to sell the book at, but they pay 60% of the list price to whomever they purchased it from—usually a wholesaler or distributor.

Wholesaler (this would be Ingram or Baker & Taylor, usually) receives a 55% discount off the list price. They pay the publisher (or distributor) 45% of the list price. The wholesaler then sells to retailers at 40% off—so they keep 15% to pay their costs, etc. There are certain incentives and other deals where a retailer may receive up to 48% off list price—but that’s between the wholesaler and the retailer. (Wholesalers do almost no marketing to retailers to promote purchase of specific titles.)

Distributor (could be one of many smaller firms) sells directly to retailers at a 40% off list price discount and sells to wholesalers at a 55% off list price discount. Distributors fees tend to be complex and may vary depending on the specifics of the services they provide to the publishers. Distributors may have a sales force or use other means to generate sales with retailers. Larger distributors usually will not accept single book publishers and, in reality, can’t do much for one anyway. Some fulfillment services have expanded into distribution (in recent years) offering “distribution” to Ingram and (sometimes) Baker & Taylor. These fulfillment service/distributors often are less expensive than a full distributor if your goal is simply to get listed by Ingram. Since prices vary, it’s hard to say exactly what it costs —but typically, the publisher will “give up” 10 to 15% of the list price to the distributor.

Fulfillment services tend to charge for the services rendered. The fulfillment service takes care of work that is normally the responsibility of the publisher (shipping books to wholesalers, retailers, and the public). Some offer order-taking telephone services. Charges vary and it is well worth shopping around.

Now, what does this leave for the publisher? If you can sell through a primary wholesaler, then you “get” 45% of the list price for each book sold. If you use a distributor, you receive 30 to 35% of list price for each book sold.

At this point, you will begin to see the problem. Lulu (and other subsidy publishers) “take” a cut on the sale of every book. Your cost per copy may well be above what you will receive upon paying for the printing and profit to the subsidy publisher. The solution (which is no solution) is to raise the price of the book. That makes books over-priced, and then they do not sell.

Or Lulu has set you up with a “short” discount through Lightning Source, Inc. (that is who prints the books in “global distribution”). If Lulu established a discount below the “standard”55%, then the bookseller would not receive the 40% discount—and then they will not order the book. (Amazon will list the book, because they list everything.) Also, if you have not arranged to have the books “returnable” then the bookstores will, again, not order your book.

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It’s a crazy business like none other, this thing called publishing. But authors who have stars in their eyes about seeing themselves in print and decide to go the low-cost subsidy route need to have realistic expectations about potential profits (if any). They may not pay upfront as they would if they were truly self-publishing, but they will likely pay in the long run.

Sometimes the numbers just don’t add up.