Selfpublish Your Paperback: how to launch your book into the world

By David Arscott

The step-by-step guide to taking your manuscript through the publishing process and into the bookshops. The days of depressed authors despairing over piles of rejection slips are over. Modern technology allows writers to create and publish their own works to a high professional standard and at a modest cost. Our no-frills manual leads you painlessly through the various stages of layout and design, dealing with printers, publicising your book and getting it into the market place. We also itemise the costs and explain pricing strategies. Commercial publishing may suit the lucky few with a mass market appeal, but too many authors feel like a cog in the machine. Publish your own book and you ensure that it gets luxury treatment at every stage. Let's face it, you know it better than anyone else!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pomegranate Press
• Release date: Jul 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781907242519

Book preview

SELF-PUBLISH YOUR PAPERBACK

David Arscott

Pomegranate Press

Copyright © David Arscott

ISBN 978-1-907242-22-9

Published by Pomegranate Press

About the author

That’s me, David Arscott, and I’m sure you’ll want to know that I’ve been there and done it. Yes, indeed I have – I've written more than 60 books, under my own Pomegranate Press imprint and for many other publishers, and I’ve taken dozens of first-time authors through the self-publishing process. Check me out at www.pomegranate-press.co.uk .

So am I doing myself out of business showing you how to do it entirely by yourself? Come on, there are only so many hours in the day!  I get a kick out of seeing authors with a book in their hands for the first time, and if you decide to go down that route I trust you'll think the small outlay on this guide well worth the expense. (You may even – please – persuade your writer friends to buy their own copies rather than injure their necks by squinting over your shoulder at this one.)

I should add that I'm English, so the spelling and the references are British, but the general rules apply wherever you are. 

LIVING THE DREAM

Writing a book is the dream of millions; getting it published is the nightmare of countless thousands who have got as far as producing a finished text. Although we’re often told that too many books roll off the presses every year, condemning most of them to unprofitable anonymity, you really wouldn’t mind adding just one more title to that teeming list. Unfortunately you can’t find a publisher to share your enthusiasm.

Do-it-yourself is the answer, and modern technology makes it easier than ever before. Once upon a time the typical author produced nothing more than a scrawled manuscript which had to pass through a range of (expensive) processes before becoming a finished book. Today you can present the whole thing to the printer on a disk or a stick, or by uploading it to his FTP site. The digital revolution allows printers to offer short runs at a price that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Most self-publishers now choose to have their books printed this way – and with very good reason.

If you take all the lessons in this guide to heart and create your own professional-looking book, you can have a hundred copies of it in your hands for the outlay of just a few hundred pounds, dollars or euros. It’s a brave new world for the self-publisher.

Don’t worry: we’re not assuming that you wish to build a huge and complicated publishing empire, so we shan’t be blinding you with unnecessary technobabble. This little guide is for the first-timer. Although few people make much money from books, our step-by-step process shows you not only how to put one together from scratch, but how to calculate the inevitable degree of financial risk involved and, with a little necessary luck, achieve a small profit in the process.

We’ve mentioned paperbacks in the title to make it clear that we’re not talking about ebooks, but there’s no reason why you can’t apply the following information to the creation of hardbacks, too. In fact we'll make the odd reference to hardbacks (or ‘casebound’ books) where it seems appropriate.

If you’re a complete beginner, take heart from the fact that you don’t have to fly solo. You’ll have friends who can help in areas where you feel weakest