Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Publishing your “great American” (or whatever descriptor you use) novel


Over the next several blogs, I will be talking about publishing your “great American” (or whatever descriptor you use) novel.
For generations, the only way to get a book in print was to go through a publishing house. Oh, I know that, if you had enough money, you could print your own copies, store them in your garage, and hawk them at carnivals and door-to-door. But the reality was without a publisher, you really didn’t have a snail’s chance in a salt mine to sell many books.
1.    Today, there are myriads of ways to “get your book out.” Of course, major publishing houses are still around—but you’ll most likely need an agent if you want any consideration (serious or otherwise) of a first book by one of them.
2.   Independent publishing houses also exist. Many of them offer what is known as “co-publishing,” or some other term, that indicates you INVEST your money up front. They do varying degrees of editing and cover art. This path will probably get you access bookstore public relations people, since your book has a “publisher.”
3.   My final example of “getting your book out there” is self-publishing through Amazon.com. Their FREE service allows you to generate both/either print copies of ebooks from your manuscript. The service has a final “scan” for spelling errors and massive grammatical gaffs. You can make your own cover from a template, or use their “for a charge” cover production service.
Royalties from Option #2 can be favorable when compared to those from major publishers. Of course, until you’ve recouped your investment, you really haven’t made any money, per se. Royalties from option #3 are all yours. You have some control over the amount you get per sale. Since over 50% of all books sold in the USA are now sold through Amazon, Option #3 can be a very good choice.
My first science fiction novel, Traveler’s HOT L – The Time Traveler’s Resort, is a co-publishing venture as is my co-authored book on changing school class room climates to increase student learning, Tune Up Your Teaching & Turn On Student Learning – Moving from common to transformed learning in your classroom. My third book, out this 3rd week in June 2014, RIFTS – A Science Fiction Odyssey, is self-published through CreateSpace and KindleDirect, both Amazon.com venues.
I leave you with this morsel: Whether you chose option #2 or #3 from my list, you will be responsible for the same amount of marketing.
Next week: The first is series of “Things I learned about the process when I published through Amazon.com (and how you can streamline your experience!). First up: Figuratively Speaking… Text Is Better: Pitfalls you can avoid

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