an attempt to get some site navigation experience and help

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marty

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I've been trying to figure out how to interact on this site; I have virtually no experience using this mechanism, but I've also been trying to get some other help, a la: Hello, folks. I am a beginner in self-publishing, and I was hoping to get some direction from those who are more experienced. How about it I start off by giving an overview of what I anticipate doing soon, and any who feel inclined may advise. (If this question would be better-placed elsewhere on the site, please let me know.) I plan on setting up my title with Lightning Source as a publisher, creating my own “incorporated” publishing company to avoid having the apparently less profitable “subsidy publisher client” status, and availing myself to LSI’s print-on-demand distribution package for handling sales and deliveries. As it seems to me now, I will incorporate through the use of a “legalzoom.com” package for $616.95. I want to go through the traditional, plain galley cover (with associated book information) for reviewers for about a six month margin, hopefully to gain favorable quotations to include on my illustrated cover design. When the book reviewer phase passes, and I avail the formats (simultaneously: hard cover, paperback, and ebook) publicly (amazon and b&n, etc.), I also plan to avail a book promotion poster, but I’m not sure about whether all my ideas for the poster are kosher, or legal. Would anything be necessarily wrong with the text toward the lower side of the poster, reading: “Order The Doorway Online / at / thedoorway.com /also available at / amazon.com & b&n.com.”? By the way, I’m wondering about whether or not Lightning Source could include such a personalized website title to feed directly into their own sales and delivery services. Well, I guess that’s enough for now; any thoughts anyone?
 

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I urge you to spend at least six weeks waiting before you do this.

You're going to be spending a great deal of time and money, and you might want to have a more concrete idea of what you're getting yourself into.

I'm a fan of self-publishing but I've seen too many people lose large sums of money by starting out in the middle.

You might want to start smaller, for instance.

You're not going to be getting your book in many bookstores--so perhaps consider a trial run as you learn design, typesetting, and editing, production direction/art direction, distribution and marketing.

By "trial run," I mean for your ininitial
title, try using Amazon's Create Space, or Lulu, or Blurb or Cafe Press, or one of the other service providers.

They're using exactly the same printing technology as LS (whom I've used in the past for what would be considered large print runs for self-publishers).

They require far less money upfront.

And you'd have a chance to learn a great deal without paying a great deal.

You can still buy your own ISBNs, and still use them. You don't have to incorporate off the top, and you might actually have some fun.

And I'd suggest you get a free site at Blogger or WordPress.com or better an affordable ISP with a custom domain and have that URL , one you control, be the marketing /official ordering site for your book.

You can link to Amazon or anyone else you want on your site--but it's a URL you control, especially if you have your own custom domain.
 

KathleenD

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I think you should go to Dean Wesley Smith's website and read the archives.

Specifically, the posts about publishing: http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=3736

You will wind up saving at least 616, and my guess is thousands more dollars.

Also, spend some time here reading the archives. I could be wrong, I often am, but I'm pretty sure incorporation has nothing do with whether you're a subsidy publisher or not.
 

backslashbaby

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Please use a larger font when you post, and more paragraphing, if possible :) It's hard to read.
 

Meira

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Marty:

It is not necessary to invest money up front to self-publish. The most successful indie authors I know spent $30 (the price of a proof copy) to publish on CreateSpace and developed a reader base through word of mouth. You can do promotions on Goodreads and other reader sites at no charge. If you plan to e-publish you can choose to publish your book as a Kindle Select book (sold only on Amazon) and take advantage of free promotions on Amazon. There are also fairly affordable advertising email newsletters, but I find I sell more books with one free copy to a guy that ends up loving it (and blogs, tweets, or reviews it) than I have on paid advertising.
 

Meira

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I haven't paid more than $3.50 for a copy of a softcover paperback through CreateSpace (plus shipping). Why was it so expensive?

Good point. That included expedited shipping. So you can do it for under $10 if you get thrifty. Although it also depends upon the number of pages, size of book, and whether or not the interior is black & white. My proof was about $10.
 
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