Self-publishing with Graham Bird

So, you want to self-publish your manuscript—easy peasy, right? Well, maybe. It all depends on what you want to be when you grow up.

 

That is the question Graham Bird, asks all his marketing clients. Graham is asking what you want to and why. The answers he says will prevent you wandering in the wilderness of the publication world. Knowing what you want and, more importantly, why will provide a framework in which to proceed and make decisions on all aspects of production, distribution, and marketing easier.

 

That said be prepared to make changes to your plans along the way. Corrections based on are part of the process.

 

Before you start ask yourself:

• Why did I write this story?
  • Entertain?
  • Inspire?
  • Explore an idea?
  • Illustrate situation/condition?
  • Educate/Explain?
• Why am I publishing this manuscript?
  • Self-actualization?
  • Money?
  • Fun?
• What do I want to publish?
  • Ebook?
  • Print copy?
  • Both?
• Who is my audience?
  • What is the manuscript’s genre?
  • Does the manuscript fit into a niche, or does it have broad appeal?
  • Mass market or to give to friends.
• How much am I willing to spend?
  • Publishing only on Amazon will cost little, perhaps nothing.
  • Publishing beyond Amazon, and/or publishing to make money and reach a wide audience, will be an investment.
    • For just the basics, you can plan on spending a minimum of $1000.00.

 

What you need to get started:

• A completed, final manuscript, meaning:
  • Edited: content editing, line editing, and final proof
  • Consider having a professional editor.
    • NC Writers’ Network offers editing services. The cost is per page and a 250 page manuscript will cost $815.
    • Interview prospective editor and ask for a sample edit to be sure you can work with the person and that the way edits are made will be helpful.
  • An ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
    • You can buy your own from Bowker ISBN US. You’ll need a company (publishing) name.
    • Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Ingram Sparks will supply ISBN but the numbers are not accepted by all distributors.
      • Many independent booksellers won’t stock books with an Amazon ISBN
      • Ingram Sparks ISBN is accepted mainly by independent booksellers, but may not be accepted by other distributors.
    • A formatted manuscript (see ‘The Process below)
    • A cover
      • Cover should fit the genre of the book.
      • Best if looks professional, which is hard to do.
      • Back and spine covers are needed for print copies.
    • Back cover contains blurbs, which can be difficult to get, and often author’s photo.
    • Descriptions
      • Short description: Your elevator pitch—short, pithy, attention-grabbing. The shorter the better.
      • Long Description. Outlines the plot and theme and runs around 4,000 characters/700 words.
      • Descriptions should be consistent in message and tone
      • Each distributor has its own length requirements. However, Amazon is good at ‘driving’ the creation of descriptions.
      • Creating good descriptions shows you understand both your work and your audience(s).
    • Keywords
      • Use words that your intended audience will use to search for books.
      • Use words that comparable books have used—See Amazon, Barnes & Noble.
      • Use Google Keyword Planner: https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/
      • Purchase KDSPY and KDROI.
        • KDSPY is a research tool to find keywords, categories, markets, and more.
        • KDROI is a browser extension that uses your book’s data on Amazon to market your book on other sites.
      • Category
        • Categories are similar to genres but expanded.
        • Categories are hierarchical.
        • Each distributor/publisher has its own list and requirements.

 

 

The Process:

• Copy your completed, final manuscript into a formatting program. Graham recommends Vellum, but it only works on Apple Macs. He did not know about an equivalent for PCs, but thinks a program called Draft2Digital will provide book production in the future.
  • Most formatting tools will let you copy directly from Word.
  • Most formatting tools are not good places to edit the manuscript. Repeating: Do all your editing in Word.
• Vellum, and presumably other format programs, allow you to publish directly to Apple, Kindle (Amazon), Nook (Barnes & Noble), Rakuten Kobo, or Kobo (supported by independent booksellers), and Google Play.
  • Which of these formats you decide to use is determined by how broad your audience will be and how you wish to reach them.
  • For print copies to distribute to independent bookstores you probably need to use Ingram Spark’s formatting application which is not particularly user-friendly.
• Vellum does not offer templates. (Don’t know if other programs do.) Whatever program you use, it is probably best to create the template you want then paste in the manuscript a chapter at a time.
  • Vellum provides formatting parameters to determine how your page looks, e.g.: chapter title, page numbers, paragraph spacing, etc.
• Amazon has a free formatting application, Kindle Create
  • Provides templates
  • It only formats for Kindle.
• Vellum, and presumably other format programs, allows separate copyright, About Author, and Dedication pages for ebooks and print copies.
• Vellum produces requested format in real-time
• Vellum has good user support, you don’t need to pay for using it, but do need to pay for output. Repeat: It only runs on MAC.
• Draft1Digital works well formatting for Apple; Apple’s tool is not user-friendly. Draft2digital also gets your book into libraries.
  • You can use Draft2digital to distribute to all ebook sites for a fee. Draft2digital does not support print copies at this time.
• IngramSpark provides
  • Formatting, production, and distribution of print copies to independent booksellers.
  • Ebook formatting for Amazon, Apple, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble
  • How-to guides.

 

Infrastructure for Marketing:

Whether or not you wish to self-publish or traditionally publish, you will be responsible, in whole or in part, for selling your book. Or, as Graham says, just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come. Plan on marketing your book yourself unless you have deep pockets.

 

Assuming you want your book read as broadly as possible, and make some money, the process is a marathon—not a sprint. Pushing the button to publish is only the start.

 

Resources that are best put in place before publishing:

• Brand
  • Start building your brand now. Or as Graham tells his clients, whenever you start, you’re late.
  • Your brand is your author’s personality—not necessarily your own.
  • Your brand needs to be consistent across all platforms, though you can emphasize different aspects of the personality to match the platform you are using.
  • Building a brand includes building relationships. Every interaction affects your brand. In building such relationships. If possible, do something first for the person you want help from.
• Maintain a blog on your website.
  • Website and blog should be consistent with your brand.
  • Blog doesn’t need to be updated frequently but does need to be updated regularly and consistently, so readers know when to expect what. E.g. Once, twice a month, or once a week. Whatever schedule you can maintain over time.
• Develop an email list.
  • Consider using a free mail server like MailChimp (recently bought by Intuit) or Mailerlite (Note: WMO uses Mailerlite).
• Create a presence on social media platforms
  • Choose the platforms that will best reach your audience(s). Possible platforms are:
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instgram
    • LinkedIn
  • Create author’s pages on:
    • Amazon
    • Barnes & Noble.
    • Goodreads (Goodreads will suck your website blog onto their site).
    • Rakuten Kobo.
    • Book Funnel (allows readers to download first the few pages and to purchase the book).
  • Identify possible sources for advance reviews.
    • Ensure review sites are still active.
    • Schedule lead times—some can be long.
    • Determine what media reviewers like/require: pdfs, ebooks, or print copies.
      • Note: Print copies are often sold at discounted prices around launch time.
    • Free reviews are better than getting paid reviews
    • Mac’s busycontacts provides not only contact information but also records of email and Twitter electronic communication. Don’t know if PC’s have comparable app.
    • Post reviews on your website and distribute reviews to local press and bookstores—
      • Try to determine if they are competitive with each other, or supportive.

 

• Press Release
  • Create your unique press release as press releases containing similar language are easy to ignore.
    • Include why you wrote the manuscript and what you want to accomplish by publishing the manuscript.
    • Include a couple of comparable well-known book or movie titles.
  • You’ll need a press release even if it’s only going to local platforms.
• For an example, check out Stella Fosse’s (aka Jody Savage) press release here.

 

Note:  Graham started this discussion with the question: Why? Your answer is present in the audiences you identify, the descriptions you provide—both short and long, the keywords you choose, the press releases you write. Your answer is the foundation of your marketing whether to agents/publishers or to readers.

 

 

Marketing:

 

To learn about Marketing, check out his Marketing for Writers presentation on YouTube.

 

Graham suggests following Nick Stephenson. He says Stephenson is very informative, but he will constantly try to sell you something.

 

Carol Phillips

NC Writers’ Network Regional Rep, Chatham and Lee Counties