Baltimore Book Festival Panel handout of bullets to consider in weighing the self-publishing option.
Panelist Authors: LJ DeLeon, Eliza Knight, KH LeMoyne
Reasons to consider self-publishing
- Re-release of backlist
- Opportunities in the Ebook markets
- Special niche topic
- Content that doesn’t specifically fit a large publisher’s brand
- A multi-content product (text, video, multimedia)
- It’s not all-or-nothing. You can do both – self-pub and traditional publication
- Agents? Not for what you think – foreign rights, media rights, other
Task list for delivery of books to Ebook/POD markets
- Ebook vs. POD
- Prerequisites – a good, clean story is the foundation so hire a freelance editor (or two)
- Ebooks formats (PDF, Kindle format, EPUB, and more) – to format or hire someone?
- Do you need to hire a proofreader?
- Book covers – the best presentation for Ebooks
POD options
- Lightning Source vs. CreateSpace
- Re-formatting content for print (fonts, sizes, proofreaders) – it’s all different
- Cover consideration and reformatting for print
Realities for writers regardless of traditional vs. self-publishing option
- Marketing & social media options: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, interviews, other
- Reviews: Professional, book bloggers, other options
- Long term time investment to sell your book – or – a good book doesn’t sell itself
- Let’s talk money and reality: the hint is…the success of J.K. Rowling, J.A. Konrath, and Amanda Hocking aside, this is a long term business
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