Burying my book

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crimeandpunishment

crimeandpunishment

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After having had my novel rejected for the last few years I've, reluctantly, decided to self-publish. Some of the rejection letters I received commented that the book was well-written, but they did not think the theme had a large enough market. I'll concede that to be true, as the novel certainly hits a niche, and the one niche publisher I found that seemed quite interested in it went out of business.
I've also found this completed and unpublished manuscript to be quite a distraction, in that the effort to publish it took up so much of my time, not allowing me enough time to work on other (perhaps superior) projects. So, as I said, I've decided to self-publish. Sorry for taking so long to get to the point but I thought, perhaps, others of you might have felt the same way at some point.

I live in Canada and would like to release e-book versions (in as many formats as possible) and hardcover (a few copies for myself and close friends), with the majority of sales being paperback.
Should I do lulu for hardcover, createspace for paperback and kindle, and smashwords for the other e-book versions?
Do any of the contracts with any of these companies prohibit me from making any of the other versions?
I'd love any advice from anyone who has published their book with multiple versions.

Thanks! :)
 
BlueWolf

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Welcome to my World!

I used Grosvenor in the UK - not cheap, but not expensive either - and my book is selling; Worldwide, too.
I have refrained from e-book, and I do believe I always will; it just does not seem natural to me, and this is coming from someone, who like others spent years in front of the computer and then sees the same thing in a physical form - it looks so much different.

I would say you need a network to be a self-publisher, and luckily I have more than one (plus the help from my better half has been nothing short of a miracle what she has achieved), which is why my book is selling, and to people I do not know.
 

Theresa

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I don't know about the contracts from lulu or createspace, but why don't you just write to them and ask for a sample contract? Then you can have a close look if that is what you want before actually preparing your ms for any of them.
 

Carolanne Patton

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I've not self-published per se, as I've not completed my own novel yet, but I'm publishing my husbands book currently after we queried several agents and eventually found out through one of them that the problem was that everybody and their brother has suddenly started writing books that involve angels and demons and they've basically taken all of those they are going to, even though the books in question haven't been released yet at this time. We decided we'd self-publish and beat them all. :evil

Anyway, when you publish with those entities that you mentioned, the rights to the book remain with you, so there is nothing to stop you from doing all of the above. You will have to come up with a different ISBN for each format though, so if your doing ebook, paperback, and hardcover, then you need three. I purchased a block of ten.

I did an ebook with Amazon Kindle directly (free)

All the other ebook formats with Smashwords (free)

Paperback with Createspace so it would get me on Amazon with the highest royalty (40 bucks for pro plan)

Paperback with Lightning Source so it would get me on Ingram (105 bucks)

Paperback and Hardcover with Textstream so that it would get me on Baker & Taylor where most libraries get books (40 bucks)

It's a lot of work, each place needs a slightly different format for at least the cover.

I've not completed Textstream yet so I've not seen their proof, but I'm live on the others. I was actually surprised and disappointed in Lightning Source. In spite of them being the most expensive of any of them, they do not give you a choice in paper other than the color, white or cream, and the paper they use is very thin and cheap looking, so their product ends up being a lesser quality than the one I got from Createspace. I'm not worried about Textstream as they let me choose my paper weight.

I have no experience with Lulu.

The book is called Choir of Angels Seal of Knowledge, by Jason Brosious. It's a YA Urban Fantasy. We haven't really started our marketing full force as we are waiting for it to be available in all of the distribution channels first.
 

valeriec80

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crimeandpunishment said:
I've also found this completed and unpublished manuscript to be quite a distraction, in that the effort to publish it took up so much of my time, not allowing me enough time to work on other (perhaps superior) projects.
Click to expand...

I just wanted to say that if you want to forget about this manuscript and move on, don't self-publish. You will find that marketing your book cuts into your writing time far, far, far more than sending out queries and writing synopses.

I'd recommend not jumping in with two feet, honestly. I self-published print books right out of the box and the expense really cut into my profit margin (which wasn't much!). If you want to self-publish, I'd suggest starting with an ebook version. It costs nothing, you can market the heck out of it, and then when you've got readers begging for a print version, you can go for it, hopefully using the cash you've made from the ebook.

If, however, no one begs and you don't make any cash, you haven't sunk money into ISBNs and pro plans and all those other expensive things.

Just my thoughts. Good luck!!
 

Margarita Skies

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If you've been told that the book is well-written, then don't give up. Keep submitting. At least you know your book doesn't suck. I just know that there's an agent somewhere out there that represents your theme. Don't self-publish (POD) and don't bury it, either. Keep trying. You'll find someone. I just queried for the very first time, and they'll give me their response in 3 months. You think I will give up if they reject me? Heck no. If I have to query 1,000 agents with the same work, and even more than that, I will. Stephen King got rejected a few times (don't know if it was a few or several times) He didn't throw in the towel and today, he's known as one of the best authors of our time.
 
DoctorMandaBenson

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Magali said:
Heck no. If I have to query 1,000 agents with the same work, and even more than that, I will.
Click to expand...

Much as that's a good attitude to have, unfortunately there are unlikely to be 1,000 agents who represent your chosen genre. Quite possibly there are not even 1,000 professional agents worth having in existence. If you're doing the agent mill, probably the best strategy is to have a list of agents who represent what you've got and work through it systematically. Either you will get an offer of representation or you will run out of agents. When you run out of agents, it's time to try whatever respectable publishers you can find who'll take unsolicited submissions, and after that you've got the decision of whether to bin it and forget it, or make it available through self publishing.

I've heard people compare their writing to their children before. I suppose failure at writing in various degrees could be analogised the same way, if in rather a more morbid light. Those things I wrote early on that these days I would rather no-one saw, those are like deformed teratogenic foetuses I failed to carry to term. Those books I finished that no-one wanted to buy are like stillbirths. The one book I wrote that I just cannot stop myself coming back to, that's like a child in a coma who will never wake. We create these things, and we mourn them when they don't work out. I think I understand what the OP meant about 'burying' his book. In some respects, publishing my failed books myself is like burying them and giving them epitaphs, and moving on from them. They may not be successful and respected like other people's, but they're still mine and I want the world to know they exist.

Anyway, returning to the original topic. The first thing you need to sort out is your publishing model (company or sole trader) and your ISBNs. You will need one ISBN for each format (paperback, hardback, and electronic) and it's best to buy them yourself from your country's ISBN agency in a block of 10. Personally I prefer Lightning Source for printing and distribution to online vendors, but you can supplement this with however many additional printers and electronic vendors you like. Amazon allows you to upload your own books for their Kindle shop.
 

Margarita Skies

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DoctorMandaBenson said:
Much as that's a good attitude to have, unfortunately there are unlikely to be 1,000 agents who represent your chosen genre. Quite possibly there are not even 1,000 professional agents worth having in existence. If you're doing the agent mill, probably the best strategy is to have a list of agents who represent what you've got and work through it systematically. Either you will get an offer of representation or you will run out of agents. When you run out of agents, it's time to try whatever respectable publishers you can find who'll take unsolicited submissions, and after that you've got the decision of whether to bin it and forget it, or make it available through self publishing.

I've heard people compare their writing to their children before. I suppose failure at writing in various degrees could be analogised the same way, if in rather a more morbid light. Those things I wrote early on that these days I would rather no-one saw, those are like deformed teratogenic foetuses I failed to carry to term. Those books I finished that no-one wanted to buy are like stillbirths. The one book I wrote that I just cannot stop myself coming back to, that's like a child in a coma who will never wake. We create these things, and we mourn them when they don't work out. I think I understand what the OP meant about 'burying' his book. In some respects, publishing my failed books myself is like burying them and giving them epitaphs, and moving on from them. They may not be successful and respected like other people's, but they're still mine and I want the world to know they exist.

Anyway, returning to the original topic. The first thing you need to sort out is your publishing model (company or sole trader) and your ISBNs. You will need one ISBN for each format (paperback, hardback, and electronic) and it's best to buy them yourself from your country's ISBN agency in a block of 10. Personally I prefer Lightning Source for printing and distribution to online vendors, but you can supplement this with however many additional printers and electronic vendors you like. Amazon allows you to upload your own books for their Kindle shop.
Click to expand...



Thanks for your kind and helpful words, but just to clarify, what I meant to say is that I will never give up. :D
 
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