Self-Publishing Made Simple: The Ultimate Australian Guide (2nd edition - Please see the announcement towards the bottom of this page)
At last! A book that provides access to the tricks of the publishing trade as well as a comprehensive listing of the contacts required by any writer who: 1. has been given the run-around by publishers or literary agents; 2. is tired of working with lazy publishers; or 3. wants to produce a professional book for commercial or private purposes. * The best-selling book in its field. * Required and recommended reading for degree-level Professional Writing students. * Recommended reference in TAFE's Professional Writing curriculum. * Can be ordered through any good bookstore, including most writers' centres, the Australian Society of Authors, and the Australian Online Bookshop.
RRP A$29.95 (including GST) ISBN 978-0-9757979-0-5
MEDIA REVIEWS
"There is everything you need to know here, from manuscript submission to marketing to software required and so on." Matt Condon, Sydney Morning Herald
"The best guide to pushing your book to the media and securing coverage I've come across. A very impressive manual emphasising professionalism and persistence as the key to avoiding the newsroom recycle bin." Deborah Henderson, BBC News, UK
"If you're interested in self-publishing - and let's face it there are thousands of would-be authors out there who are - then you'll probably be interested in Euan Mitchell. He's the new guru." Jason Steger, The Age
"This how-to book is a well-researched and tested step-by-step guide. The benefits of investing in Self-Publishing Made Simple are numerous in time and cost savings ... A most significant and essential tool for all aspiring writers, which will take the mystery and trepidation out of self-publishing." Sonya M. Bley, TAFE Newsletter
READER REVIEWS
"Launched my linguistics coursebook at a conference at Macquarie Uni and had a call from a publisher the next week. They were pretty miffed when we said no thanks! We also have some big uni bookstore orders lined up for next semester. Thanks for all your helpful hints along the way - couldn't have done it without your book." Louise Droga, ACT
"I have to tell you Self-Publishing Made Simple was brilliant. You have thought of everything." Pat Baird, VIC
"For almost a year now, as we faced each phase, we constantly asked each other 'What does Euan say?' before going to our copies of your book. So a huge thank-you." Karin and Ursula Kolbe, NSW
"Thanks again, I'm still using your book as my bible." Dave Franklin, WA
"I have found Self-Publishing Made Simple extremely helpful in many ways - not the least of which was understanding the printing trade's ‘gobble-de-gook'." Cherrie Nicholson, QLD
"I think Self-Publishing Made Simple tells me everything I could possibly need to know ... I predict your book goes into several editions." Dr Trevor Beard, Senior Medical Research Fellow, TAS
UPDATES
PART 1 - PREPARATION There are no significant updates regarding the preparation of a book manuscript, but it is perhaps worth mentioning the global financial crisis has tightened the belts of publishers and literary agents around the world. Self-publishing continues to grow.
The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide by Pam Peters is now titled The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage (2nd edition).
PART 2 - PRE-PRESS On page 82 of Self-Publishing Made Simple, the process of creating a PostScript file has become much simpler with "Press Quality" PDF files. For example, any designer using InDesign or QuarkXpress on either Mac or PC systems can "Export" (like a fancy "Save As") the original "native" file (with all its fonts and linked images) into a single file that can be viewed on both Macs and PCs. It's a simple and easy way to send your files to a printing company because all the fonts and images used in your native file are embedded into one PDF file. Normally designers select the "Press Quality" option when deciding what sort of PDF they would like. Some designers select the "High Resolution" option for cover files, but others prefer "Press Quality" for both cover and text files. The "Smallest-size" PDF option can be selected if you don't want to print from the file but want a low-resolution sample for web purposes.
The American self-publishing service www.lulu.com provides a useful option for printing short runs of books (down to a single copy), but limits the use of creamy paper to C-format paperbacks (they call them "US Trade" and the dimensions are 9"x6"). Novels look much more professional on creamy paper than plain white paper. Lulu gives the self-publisher all sorts of help and options with cover designs and ways to set up the pages of your book. It has links to Amazon and can offer you an American ISBN or you can use your Australian-sourced ISBN. You can also opt to not use an ISBN, which is handy for creating an inexpensive sample of a book before perhaps committing to a bigger print run with an Australian or Asian printing company. But Lulu's online distribution network is no substitute for a book distribution company with sales representatives who walk into retail bookstores with a list of monthly offerings.
Melbourne University opened its Custom Book Centre in 2010. A bit like Lulu.com but with a human face. Worth considering, especially if your book has an academic or educational angle. For fiction or memoir, it may be worth asking if the Custom Book Centre can print on creamy (not white) paper. Lulu.com offers creamy paper only with their US trade paperback size (9"x6"). http://www.bookshop.unimelb.edu.au/cbc
Thorpe-Bowker's 2010 charges for an ISBN: $55 for one-off publisher registration, $40 for a single ISBN purchase ($65 for a fast-track application). Thorpe-Bowker's 2010 charge for a barcode: $45. A quality printing company can also provide you with a barcode at little to no extra cost, but remember to leave a suitable space for it on your back cover.
The book catalogue BookFind is now called (Nielsen) BookData Online. For the important free listing of your book's details (including ISBN, cover image, back cover blurb, publication date, RRP, size, distributor, etc) on BookData, use the "Rae Smyth" email address found at: http://www.nielsenbookdata.com.au/controller.php?page=139
Effective 31 March 2008, Thorpe-Bowker's new mailing address is: PO Box 6509, St Kilda Road Central, VIC 8008. Street address: Level One, 607 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004. Telephone: (03) 8517 8333.
Thorpe-Bowker's Book Buyers' Guide has been superseded by its 'Title Showcase' section in the Australian Bookseller & Publisher.
The Weekly Book Newsletter is now only available in electronic format (no hard copy version).
For those wanting to list their ISBN with the retail book catalogue TitlePage, the cost of membership with the The Australian Publishers Association (who compile TitlePage) is now approximately $300 each year for publishers with a small turnover. The APA sometimes offers special discounts to new members. Do not be too concerned if this cost is prohibitive. If a bookstore cannot find your book in TitlePage, the sales assistant will normally search BookFind or Australian Books in Print instead.
A useful site to download PDF conversion freeware is www.cutepdf.com There are numerous other sites offering PDF conversion software but be careful it doesn't arrive with unwanted Spyware or Adware.
www.yousendit.com provides a useful and free basic (up to 100MB) service for transferring large files over the internet, which is simpler than FTP and quicker than posting or delivering a CD with text and cover files to a printing company. The yousendit site explains how it all works.
PART 3: PRINTING Australian self-publishers often ask whether it is cheaper to print in Asia. If the inside of your book is black on white, and your print run under 3,000 copies, then Australian printers are probably the better option. But if you want full-colour internal pages and large print runs, then reputable Asian printers can be a worthwhile option. Check the imprint pages of books printed overseas for printing company suggestions, particularly with children's picture books.
Numerous self-publishers in Sydney have had positive reports about printing with www.ligare.com.au
Numerous self-publishers in Melbourne have had positive reports about printing with www.bpabooks.com
PART 4: DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING On page 118 of Self-Publishing Made Simple, the final two figures on the example tax invoice should read: $5.44 (Total GST); $59.85 (Total GST inc).
If you would like a FREE template in Word for an invoice or tax invoice that you can adapt for your book, please e-mail your request to info@overdogpress.com
If you would like to have your books for sale online, then consider placing a box with www.sellmybook.com.au
In February 2008, Tower Books/Gary Allen, Brumby Books & Music, and Bookwise International agreed to merge their operations into the Scribo Group. Administrative systems have been integrated, but publisher lists will continue to be managed separately.
In August 2007 the Angus & Robertson chain of bookstores changed its policy on accepting books from independent distributors. The chain now asks independent distributors to pay a fee if they want shelf space in Angus & Robertson stores. This means that approximately 100 of the chain's 180 stores will be carrying few if any independent books because they are 'company' (centrally owned) stores. However, the other 80 or so stores, which are 'franchisee' (individually owned) stores will still have the flexibility to purchase independent titles (such as the 2007 Miles Franklin winner Carpentaria) when they see fit.
Please remember that responses to email requests may be delayed over holiday periods.
------------------------------------------------------------- ANNOUNCEMENT Published in the Victorian Writers' Centre Newsletter, August 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------
End of an Era in Self-Publishing
by Euan Mitchell
After 11 years I am hanging up my self-publisher’s hat. The self-publishing workshop at the Victorian Writers’ Centre on 14 August will be my last. Self-Publishing Made Simple should remain in print for another year or so, but recent publishing industry developments, combined with demands on my time, will mean no third edition.
Improved print-on-demand (POD) technology and a growing number of publication services have helped independent publishing thrive in recent years. For instance, the new Espresso Book Machine at Melbourne University Bookshop has brought a local and human face to POD services offered by rivals such as US-based giant Lulu.com.
The two biggest Australian book printers McPherson’s Printing Group and Griffin Press now offer boutique digital printing services that did not exist when I held my first self-publishing workshop in July 1999 at the Victorian Writers’ Centre in its Fitzroy days.
Hardie Grant Books somewhat ironically published the first edition of Self-Publishing Made Simple in 2000. There followed a decade of workshops and talks in writers’ centres, libraries, universities and TAFEs around Australia where I was introduced to an extraordinary array of writers and their projects. Many were new to the industry but a surprising number were published authors seeking more control over their work.
In 2002 the Australia Council first allowed certain self-published books to count towards eligibility for government funding. This was due to the overwhelming support of Overland magazine’s readers in response to an article in which I argued a literary work should be judged on its merits not on its path to publication.
Around the same time, a new generation of alternative self-published booklets called zines was building momentum nationally, with the encouragement of shops such as Sticky Institute in the subway arcade at Flinders Street Station. Zines continue to be the most popular small-press publishing projects among my students at Box Hill TAFE.
Melbourne’s first Emerging Writers’ Festival in 2004 and the formation in 2006 of the Small Press Underground Networking Community (SPUNC) are other initiatives that have continued to stimulate the independent literary scene.
In 2005 I self-published the second edition of Self-Publishing Made Simple and launched it at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival. The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) immediately added the book to its publication list. Like most writers’ centres, the ASA found it saved hours of answering enquiries about book publishing options.
The ASA also uses the book to inform writers about vanity publishers who prey on the uninformed. Vanity publishers, often calling themselves ‘partnership publishers’, advertise for authors. These companies charge highly inflated prices for producing books that are routinely binned by media reviewers alert to their practices. Minimal publicity means minimal sales. And a website distribution point is a poor substitute for human distributors to retail bookstores.
All the more reason writers should take it upon themselves to be informed if they want to be part of a healthy independent publishing scene. The pay-off is a more literate and robust democracy inclusive of smaller voices as well as those sanctioned by larger commercial interests.
To those who still sniff at self-publishing, I can only smile and point to three pillars of our local literary establishment: the Lonely Planet-Wheeler empire was built on a self-published travel guide; Australia’s only Nobel Laureate in literature self-published his first work; the highest selling novel by a Melburnian, Power Without Glory, was originally self-published.
When I hear complaints from publishing personnel about the growing number of manuscripts from emerging writers, I am reminded of a Basil Fawlty attitude: it would be all right running this business if it wasn’t for the customers.
In March 2010 plenty of friends good-naturedly ribbed me about ‘selling out’ when a publisher released my third novel. I must have forgotten to tell them about my one million words published during the 1990s when I wrote full-time for an educational publisher. But that was another time, another hat.
Dr Euan Mitchell is a tertiary lecturer in Professional Writing and former senior editor for a major publisher. His latest novel Feral Tracks: the novel adapted from the screenplay is published by Vulgar Press. His final self-publishing workshop will be held on Saturday 14 August 10am-4pm, 2010, at the Victorian Writers’ Centre.
