As an author, the greatest thing about owning your own publishing house is that you can do things your way. You don’t have to worry about being taken advantage of by those preying on your dreams.

Your destiny is in your hands… and yours alone.

If you succeed or if you fail, it’s all up to you.

The worst thing about owning your own publishing house is the amount of work and money involved. It is, by far, the most expensive way to get your book published. No doubt.

However, it also has the greatest potential for reward.

Again… the higher the risk, the greater the reward.

Sure, you can sit back and write all day, every day; but not if you want your books to sell. Not until you’re at the level of James Patterson or Sue Grafton can you just write every day. There is marketing to do… and it’s up to you (as I’ve said before). This is true for whichever of the Four Basic Choices you choose.

If you want your book to sell… it’s up to you to promote it.

Additionally, however, as the publisher, it is also your responsibility to get the book professionally edited, layed out, and printed. You must also take care of things like Copyright & LCCN numbers… not to mention the all-too-important ISBN number.

These things and more are now up to you as the publisher.

By far the best way to self-publish your book is to own your own indie publishing company.

• First, you must establish a company and, preferably, make it an LLC. Depending on the state in which you incorporate and if you do it yourself or hire a lawyer, this can run from hundreds of dollars to thousands.

With a publishing company comes other responsibilities that I won’t go into here. I recommend a book called “Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual” (there is now also a second volume that talks you through the latest technologies). This will take you through everything, step-by-step, something I certainly can’t do in the confines of this blog.

• Next, you have to get an ISBN number. DO NOT buy a single ISBN number. I know it’s cheaper, but you will not own that ISBN, another company will. The only way to get an ISBN number that you own is to get at least a block of 10 for around $325. You will be getting this from Bowker. (Tip: if you take my advice and go with Lightning Source as a distributor/printer, do not buy a UPC symbol along with your ISBNs from Bowker, because you get one with your book setup at Lightning Source)

Ten may seem like a lot of ISBN numbers, but it’s really not. You need a unique ISBN for every version of the book. (i.e. hardback, paperback [trade], paperback [mass market], audio book, eBook [Kindle], etc.). They add up fast.

• PAY A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR. I mean it. Don’t scrimp here. This can cost from $200 – 10,000 or more, depending on the editor you choose.
• Pay a professional proofreader. This is not necessarily the same person as the editor. $15/hr to $150/hr.
• If you do not know how to layout a book in InDesign or a similar program, PAY SOMEONE TO DO IT. Trust me. I know it’s a lot of money, but once your book is out there… it’s out there. $25/hr – $150/hr.

You own a professional publishing house now… so your books must look professional, inside and out.

• Unless you are a graphic artist by trade, hire someone to do your cover. $300-2,500. People DO judge a book by its cover. Don’t kid yourself. Research in your genre and see what other covers look like.(Side note: as much as I LOVE the covers of our books, and they are works of art, they turn off many teen readers. Some teens say the covers look too “young” for them. Do your research.)

I know a lot of this figures can be scary, but remember that it doesn’t all have to be done at once. Don’t look at this and say “AHHHHH! This is going to cost me $50,000!” – that might be over a year’s time. And, with a little creativity, you can get professional quality work for less. For example, college students learning their trade might do it for $15/hr rather than $100/hr. You get the quality. They get something for their resume. It’s a win-win.

Also, many artists/freelance professionals will do work in trade or partial trade. Be creative. We got our Geekalicious Gypsy Caravan (normally a $6,000 job) decorated for about $2,000 out of pocket. The rest was in trade.

Craigslist is a great place to find freelance artists and editors. It’s where we found our Illustrator Ia Enstera, and you see how gorgeous our covers are!

• Submit your book to the Library of Congress for an LCCN number. You cannot get In Publication Data for your book unless your publishing house publishes at least 3 different authors. This is a minor problem, but not an insurmountable one. Still, an LCCN number is required. It doesn’t cost anything. You will have to send them a copy or two of your book once printed.
• Copyright your book with the US Copyright office. It’s about $30.
• If you want to try and get your book reviewed by major reviewers (Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, etc.), they will want a book at least 4 months before publication.

I know a lot about this avenue because this is the route we were going to take before we were picked up by our first indie publisher. Good thing, too, as it’s the avenue we landed back on after we fired our first indie publisher.

Distribution is a biggie. So I’ll save that for the next post.

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