I recently bought a new washing machine, for the first time in decades. Not surprisingly, even the fairly basic model I purchased has more bells and whistles than I know what to do with, because technology is like that. As the machine operates, it automatically runs through several cycles I didn’t know I needed, but…
You may already know that print-on-demand (POD) technology is the engine driving the machine of self-publishing. Practically overnight, the development of POD for books leveled the publishing playing field and gave writers new control over their destiny as authors. If you are not familiar with POD, this article will get you up to speed. POD…
Footprints in wet sand at the beach. The shape of a child’s hand in clay or plaster. Thumbprints in the notary’s ledger. These are all imprints of the physical sort. But what is a publishing imprint and should self-publishing authors have one? Think of an imprint as a publisher’s brand or trade name for a…
At last the moment arrives—your manuscript is complete! You’ve read it and re-read it one, two, three times. You’ve made tweaks, fixed typos, run spelling and grammar checks, and read it one more time for good measure. You may think your manuscript is polished to perfection, but before you hand it off for formatting and…
Do those words bring to mind doodling in a notebook during class? I certainly found myself doing that back in the day, especially when the subject matter was less than riveting. More recently, in my work supporting authors through the publishing process, I’ve come to understand “writing in the margins” in a figurative sense. Because…
“I don’t know why they call this self-publishing. I couldn’t have done this without you.” That’s an actual quote from an author I helped. It’s one of my favorites, but I’m not sharing it to toot my own horn. Rather, I’m highlighting it to acknowledge all the players who contribute to bringing a book to…
Instant gratification is the holy grail in our culture where faster is almost always regarded as better. And it’s true that one of the key benefits self-publishing has over the traditional path is speed to market. I mean, a business model that’s grounded in the concept of print on demand pretty much says it all,…
The beginning is a very good place to start, as Julie Andrews’ Maria tunefully taught us in The Sound of Music. But life doesn’t always work out that way. This article focuses on a book that started well north of the beginning, at least in terms of when it hit my desktop. Author Donna Weber…
Okay, maybe not everything. But a lot. The big picture stuff, at least. Have you ever been through a kitchen remodel? I’ve performed that juggling act a couple of times, and it’s not for the faint of heart. The process is rife with so many moving parts, unfamiliar terminology, a plethora of decisions to make…
It’s summertime so naturally, thoughts turn to . . . the holidays. Wait, what? Well, if you are toying with the idea of self-publishing a book by the end of the year, read on for some insider guidelines. December is closer than you think, especially when working backward to pencil out a production schedule. The…
