Crowning of the Good King by A. Jarrell Hayes
Writing is a time consuming business, and a lot of that time is spent not writing but marketing and searching for a publisher. There are traditional publishers and small presses, but they are feeling the heat of the recession and a lot are looking for sure-fire, guaranteed hits from major authors only. There are definitely more writers than there are publishers out there: self-publishing companies have stepped up to turn some of these writers into published authors. Here's a a quick run-down of some of the major players in the self-publishing world.
Xlibris: I published my first novel Crowning of the Good King with Xlibris back in 2004. This self-publisher charges up-front fees beginning at $499. They do offer a decent variety of options, which can be found on other sites without the up-front cost. They offer "add-ons" which are really just ways of getting more of your money before your book is even published; such as copyright registration, which you can do yourself at a fraction of the price. The company sets the prices, which can be very high in market. My book is over 500 pages, and due to the length they priced it as a paperback at a hardcover price. If your novel is average length -- no more than 250 pages -- and you know you can recoup the startup costs, this company is not a bad option. The royalties they offer are very high, and they do have comprehensive tracking of your sales online. Be prepared to answer a lot of calls from their marketing department, where they will offer you new services to take even more of your money.
Wordclay: Unlike Xlibris, Wordclay does not have any start up costs -- not unless you want a custom cover or to add your own cover. Getting your books in bookstores costs extra too. The quality of the books is not professional at all. And their website does not offer real-time tracking of book sales. The prices of the books are competitive, however, so you should be able to sell some. They just don't look too pretty.
Booksurge: Booksurge is part of the Amazon group and is one of their self-publishers. The publishing packages they offer have up-front costs of $4,599 for their Fiction Writer's package, at the time of this article posting. However, you do get copy editing, copies, a book review, and other marketing and promotional advantages, as well as your book. They have tons of other options, but all of them will cost you hundreds of dollars. Since Booksurge is part of the Amazon family, it is guaranteed to be placed on Amazon.com -- the biggest store in the entire world. That makes your book very accessible and easier to sell.
iUniverse: iUniverse is another publisher that asks for start-up fees. Their packages are more economical than Booksurge, and their packages offer custom covers, ISBN assignments, distribution, and free copies. Their hardcover package is also reasonably priced. However, similar to Xlibris, the prices of the books are high for longer stories. iUniverse does offer an e-Book format as well.
Lulu: Lulu is somewhat of a fun company to work with. They have no start up fees and offer an e-Book format like iUniverse. Its community based, with lots of groups that may or may not assist in selling your books. The cover options are pretty sparse and you have to format the interior yourself. You are free to add your own cover, but you have to format that as well. If you're not experienced with Photoshop or creating .PDF files, you might get a headache working with getting your files ready. Once they are ready, however, you can set your own prices (using a nifty calculator where you can adjust prices by how much you would like to make or sell the book for). The e-Books option is great, and you can price them as little or as much as you would like. I have used Lulu to publish some collections of poetry, most of them being free e-Books. They also feature a great personal store front, with its own URL web address, to sell only your books. The quality of the books does leave something to be desired, but the options are immense. Also, since the publisher is more social community-like than the others, your inbox might get flooded with spam from other authors!
Createspace: Createspace is like Booksurge and is under the Amazon group. However, unlike Booksurge, Createspace offers no start up costs -- not unless you wish to "upgrade" your book to another package and earn more money per sale. There are options of book size, interior, cover, etc. To add a custom cover does not costs any extra money, but you do have to format it yourself, just like with Lulu. Their options for pre-made covers is rather on the low end, but you can get created and add your own files to their pre-made covers to create a custom cover that way. Sounds confusing? It can be. The books are automatically on Amazon.com, so that helps sell them. You can set your own prices, and the cut Createspace takes is calculated in a pretty confusing formula. Prices for author copies are the lowest I've seen of any of the other above self-publishers. You can do more than just publish books with Createspace, including CDs and DVDs, so its a great way to cross market a book of, say, poetry with a CD and a DVD of the performance. Or you can even create your own audiobook in CD format.
Other Options: You don't have to use one of the above self-publishers or any other. Many self-published authors start their own publishing company. Start off by researching small business start up laws and registrations for your locale, and then purchase 10 ISBNs (basically book IDs). Next find a printer to print your book; they can be found locally, nationally, or internationally. Printers usually charge fees based on bulk of books -- hundreds of books -- so you'll have a bunch on hand. The issue would be getting them into the hands of readers; but that's with any publishing option you choose. However, the profits you can potentially make per book are many times more than using any of the above self-publishers are paying for royalties. Another thing is formating your book and cover, which you'd have to do by yourself. Best thing to do is some research, and try to find someone with experience in book formatting -- and then learn to do it for yourself.
The choices to evolve from a writer to an author are varying. This is only a sampling of the self-publishers out there. Do your research and come up with a plan and publisher that best works for you. Another good plan to have is a marketing plan and the support of friends and family. Self-publishing can be fun and rewarding.
For more info: Visit your local library for books on self-publishing and more resources. Don't forget to vote for this blog as "Best Local Blog" and A. Jarrell Hayes as "Best Local Author" in the City Paper's Best of Baltimore reader's poll @ http://www.citypaper.com/go/readerspoll
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