Five Important Things to Know:
Technology has come a long way and one of the areas in which it is making huge waves is in book publishing. Traditionally, publishing a book meant looking for a third party book publisher, most of whom very expensive. When you start earning money (royalties) from your book, you have to share it with your publisher. This over dependence on book publishers is what has led to the establishment and quick growth of the self-publishing industry in Rochester. However, a lot of people still don’t understand how Rochester self-publishing works and whether it is appropriate for them. So to start you off on fully grasping what print on demand is all about, here are 5 important things you should know.
1. It is not as hard as you think
People are naturally afraid of new things and ideas. So when they hear self- publishing, their immediate response is, “It’s too difficult, I will stick to what I’m used to.” The truth is, self-publishing is extremely easy even if it is a printed book. When it comes to creating e-Books, it is even easier.
For example a printed book, all you need to do is format your manuscript correctly in a word document then convert it into a PDF. Same goes for the cover art. Once you upload both PDF documents, to your printing service you just wait a week or so for your book to get printed. You can change the format and art any time though you may be charged. Many self-publishing services offer detailed guides on how to go about it.
2. There is no waste
When you go to a publisher, they will print hundreds or thousands of books and then proceed to market them. You also have to count on the publishing house sales team to sell your books. With self-publishing however you are in control of how it is marketed and you should be the best sales associate out. You wrote the book right? Print on demand publishing (POD) is another way for you to control your budget. You can just keep a low inventory and as they sell you can print more. Rochester Self-Publishing services for instance, will only print a book when a customer orders for it. This is POD. A huge benefit of this is that no books have to go unsold thus curbing waste of money and time.
3. For newbies, E-Books are best
When you are just starting out on self-publishing it is much safer to go with digital books (e-Books) as compared to print books. Why is this? For one, it is easier to publish an e-Book hence it is perfect when you are still learning the ropes. Secondly, an e-Book can give you an idea of how a book will be received before you publish the print version. Thirdly e-Books are much cheaper than print books and hence more likely to sell more with the popularity of tablets and mobile devices.
4. Expect competition
The growth of the self-publishing industry means that thousands of people in Rochester are all trying to take advantage of the low cost publishing option. So you can expect to be competing with other self-published books.
5. Keep your expectations low
Do not expect to sell thousands of copies. Less than 5 percent of all self-published books sell excellently. Not unless you have come up with a masterpiece and you are ready to invest in marketing it, expect to sell just a few hundred copies at a time. But this is good for a start, and as sales increase you can apply the proceeds to more marketing methods.