So you're going to self publish ... you found yourself an editor. But what about the art?

by Hazel Mitchell

You got options. We all got options, these days. Let's look at the possibility that you're going to self publish your story.

Maybe you're not doing this because you are abandoning traditional publishing. There could be several reasons that you're going down this path.  I'm hoping it's NOT because you are desperate to have a published book in your sticky mitts. Self publishing (and making a success of it) has to be one of the hardest (and most expensive) ways for an author to see their book in print. Maybe you have a niche book .. you know your market, you can sell a lot of copies. Or traditional publishing doesn't appeal to you - you want to keep control of your book and sell it for many years to come. Or you have a good online base and are going to sell online. Or you love marketing and a challenge!

Whatever the reason it's becoming more and more of a requirement for your book to be as PROFESSIONAL as possible to succeed in an over-crowded market place. Whether your project is a physical book or an e-book, there's a whole support team you may need. No, wait, very PROBABLY need!

You've got a great story. Maybe it's a novel, non-fiction or a picture book. For reasons (as above) you are not submitting it to publishing houses. You're going it alone.


Route One - you use an 'all inclusive' publishing house. They do everything from editing to marketing. Read no further.
Route Two - you are going to put this book together yourself and hire all the individuals.

You'll need:

An editor. (Don't skimp on this one - an editor is a damned fine idea. God made them for a reason. OK, they have issues, but they are GOOD issues). You are the creator, not the editor. Publishing has worked good for this long for a reason. Everyone has their own job to do!

An illustrator. (Maybe you are also the illustrator? Fine) Hmm .. let's come back to that one.

An art director. Really? What the hell do they do anyway??

A book designer/graphic designer. (No, you can't just knock up the whole thing in word or similar.)

A proof reader. (Hire a pro, or maybe your editor will offer this service).

A printer. (Shop around.)

A marketing professional. (You, possibly.)

A PR person. (Nice to have.)

An understanding partner. And lots o' stamina. And not a small amount of investment (hence understanding partner.)

That's a lot of people right?

And here's the thing. Unless you are a professional artist/illustrator, most creators will need to hire someone to produce a cover and any internal art. Find the best you can. (That's the best, not the cheapest.) Don't be surprised if your favorite book illustrator isn't interested. They're usually busy working on their own projects. But good illustrators can be found to produce self-published projects. But expect to pay industry prices. Check references and see previous work.

You may be lucky and find an illustrator who can also do the book design. If not, then find a good book designer.

But wait, I was talking about art directors. You understand the need for an editor, but an art director? Hell, you know what looks good, why pay someone to tell you?

Because a professional art director can save you a lot of money in the long run. Without someone to oversee or place a guiding hand on the entire project, then your vision, (and all the money you're investing in it), may come to nothing. 

You CAN get by without an art director. But I'd suggest, (just as any sane person would hire an independent editor), it's as important to have an art director look over the total design BEFORE it's produced or illustrated. Someone who can pull the project together, advise on any design issues and look at the art from an outsider's POV.

It could be the difference between a project booksellers can't wait to get on their shelves, or that festival organizers are begging to have at their events. A poorly produced book, however stellar the writing or art, will NOT get a second glance from a professional buyer. Or hold the attention of a reader. Think about it.

Seeking out these individuals is a bit harder than locating an independent editor. But it can be done. Ask your editor if they know an independent art director that would work on your project. If you hire an illustrator or book designer, they also may be able to refer you. Ask contacts or your local SCBWI chapter for any information they have. Get a copy of the Graphic Designer's Handbook and leaf through the directory. Also of help might be The Graphic Artist's Guild and the Art Director's Guild. And then there is always the internet - but check references! A great website to look at for talented individuals is http://www.creativehotlist.com/.

What I wouldn't suggest you do is call an art director at a publishing house. They are working for someone else!

Don't leave it to chance. It could be the difference between a successful book or the waste of a great story.

(Also ... if you know any, OR are a freelance AD, leave a comment!)

Toodles!
Hazel

See my latest books at - http://hazelmitchell.com/Hazel%20Mitchell%20Books.htm
I'll be speaking next at the Europolitan SCBWI, Paris, France on 29-30th March.

Hybrid Publishing: What it is...and what it might become.

by Amy

From our tree house here, high above the publishing jungle, we hear things. (I hear things in coffee shops, too, and sometimes they end up in my books.) Lately, the term “hybrid publishing” has been tickling our ears. Monkeys love tickles and I was intrigued, so I snuffled around to see what all the hub-bub was about.

Hybrid publishing was originally minted to refer to those lucky self-published books that were later picked up by a traditional publisher. There are many examples of these 'cross-over' books, but I’ll point out PJ Hoover and her book Solstice, because she’s my Facebook friend and I like her.



(My tiara. I wear it on Wednesdays.)

Ironically, the term also applies to the opposite situation.  Books that were originally published by a traditional publisher and have gone out of print or are stuck on a backlist are being reclaimed by the authors, repackaged and re-released, either as ebooks or POD. I personally know of three well-published authors in the midst of this now. The process isn’t always easy – publishers are sometimes reluctant to let go of the rights. But those authors who can swing it get 100% royalties, lots of freedom and massive power. And a tiara. And a cape. (Part of that might be a lie.) Hybrid publishing is also used to describe traditionally published authors who decide to go the self-published route with their later books. But to me, that’s just self-publishing by a famous person.

Teams are fun!

The last example of hybrid publishing is one that I’m really excited about and one I expect we’ll see happening more and more. It’s a team approach—where an author and/or illustrator join forces with others to bring a project to life. Editors, digital content people, publicists, PR people…any number of folks can be added to the team, depending on what the writer and/or illustrator need, creating a process somewhere between traditional and self-publishing. I foresee a not-so-distant future where hybrid published titles like this are marketed on the street cred of the team members. Some free-lance editors (like our Fairy-Godmonkeys Emma Dryden & Harold Underdown) already have great name recognition and since they don’t work with everyone who knocks on their door, their vetting process offers a level of confidence to a potential buyer/reader.

A company called NetMinds is focusing on this ‘team approach’ with their Disruptive Team Publishing Platform, touted as “an alternative to traditional and self-publishing.” From their press release:  

Net Minds has built a software platform that allows authors to find any member of the publishing value chain, such as editors, designers, publicists, etc., selecting potential collaborators through a discovery system that includes ratings and commentary on a professional’s work. These teammates are invited into, or can request to join a project, offered traditional transactional and non-traditional compensation options, like percentages of the book’s financial performance, and the community then produces the book.”

In a similar-but-slightly-different vein, there is Diversion Books, headed by Scott Waxman, of Waxman Leavall Literary Agency (no stranger to traditional publishing.) Diversion offers “…a full service approach to production, marketing, and publicity, and engages the latest tools and technologies in order to produce and promote its titles in the best possible way.” To over-simplify their services...they help you self-publish your book, BUT there is a submission process and they don’t accept every project. They also take more in royalties than self-publishers but the author’s cut is still significantly higher than with traditional publishing—50% or more. Sadly, Diversion does not accept children’s, MG or YA titles at this time.

So, all of this is VERY cool stuff, but what do you guys think? Is this the way of the future? What are the drawbacks? Would you hybrid publish?

Fund your dream with Crowdfunding!

Lemme throw the “I want to publish my book” equation at you.

  

Line editing $6,000 + Limited income +

Printing  $1,500 + Mortgage +

Illustrator $3,500 +    =      1.5 kids +

Marketing $2,000 + Car Payment 

 ------------------------------                   --------------------------
                      $12,000                           ( -$57.23 + X)

                               How do you solve for X?

The answer is:

1. Marry a millionaire
2. Sell a kidney
3. Win the Lotto
4. Crowdfunding.

If you chose a-c, more power to you but the only answer that does not require drugs or luck is crowdfunding.

But what is crowdfunding?

Think of crowdfunding as gift giving on a global scale.

It is not venture capital investing, where you must show a profit. Nor are you selling your rights to your work. With crowdfunding, Individuals from around the world offer donations to your project, prior to publication, in exchange for a gift.

A gift?  Like a set of purple earphones?

Not exactly. 

If you’re a writer you might offer to “give” your benefactors a signed copy of your book for $20 that will cost you $10 per book to publish.  The gap between the cost and the donation is what you use to fund your editing, printing, cover design etc.

With my AR graphic novel, The Goths, I offered my benefactors the opportunity to play one of the characters in the Augmented Reality elements.  For a lesser amount we would name a character in the book after them or have their artwork used as graffiti in the background of a scene.  

So how do you go about crowdfunding?

First choose an online crowdfunding service.  Here is a list of just some of the more popular sites.

Kickstarter

Indiegogo

Rockethub

Gofundme

Do your research.  Not all the services are the same or charge the same percentage.  
Kickstarter uses an all or nothing model where you only receive funds (minus their fees) if you meet or exceed your funding target.   They are also the most well known crowdfunding site but they don't accept every project that is submitted.

Indiegogo has a flexible funding option where you receive all the funds contributed minus fees regardless of your funding target.

I chose Indiegogo over Rockethub for my "Smittens Says" campaign because it requires fewer clicks to make donations.

After you  choose your crowdfunding service, then you get "jiggy with it."

1. You create a project proposal including a synopsis, pictures, list of team members
2. record a pitch video.  That’s right.  It’s you talking, juggling your dog or pony.   Whatever fits your personality and your project just as long as it’s you.
3. create a list of gifts that people will want, your book, their name in the credits...etc. 
4. establish a paypal account
5. upload your proposal
6. market online 
7. keep marketing
8. prod friends to share your link **
9. prod them harder 
10. add project updates that include "George Clooney wants to play the lead role"
11. prod your friends with your boot, a hot fire poker and pepper spray **
12. get funded!!!

Twelve easy steps.  That's all it takes!

Lemme know if you launch a campaign.  I promise to share.  I hate pepper spray.  

** Shares are essential for any chance of success.  "Likes" won't get anyone to your campaign.  The key to funding success is volume, so you need to reach beyond your own sphere of influence.  You need the 6 degrees of online friends to achieve success.  So even if your close friends don't back you with money... REAL friends SHARE!

New Developments in Self-Publishing

by Amy

As a self-published monkey, I’ve been following the recent tossings and turnings of the industry with great interest. Back when I launched my book in 2010 (which is something like the Neolithic period with regard to self-publishing) things were pretty cut and dried. If you had a good manuscript, a publisher bought it and turned it into a book. Publishing something yourself seemed to indicate that your book wasn’t ‘good enough’ and that you were taking the easy way out.

Things have changed. Publishers, scrambling to make sense of a new landscape, seem hesitant to take risks on new books. Self-publishing has lost its stigma, thanks to some great authors putting out some more-than-good-enough books. (Self-published titles accounted for more of the year's best-selling eBooks than either Hyperion's or Harper Collins, and for the first time ever, a New York Times book critic put a self-published title on her best-of-2012 list.) And while the do-it-yourself route still has significant road blocks, there are technologies and services rushing to knock them down. Consider some of these new products and developments, and how they may affect self-publishing (click to Tweet!)…and by extent, the entire publishing industry.

Software:  One of biggest hurdles to successful self-publishing has been marketing – how do you get your book in front of buyers. Booklamp, which calls itself the Pandora of books, and Booksai, a program that uses Artificial Intelligence to recommend books similar to ones a reader likes, could open up that playing field. Booklamp’s engine isn't influenced by advertising budgets or popularity biases. Likewise, Booksai analyzes only a book's content, ignoring sales rank and purchase history. These recommendation engines provide great opportunities for self-published projects, which often don’t have the sales numbers to get recommended on Amazon or other large bookseller websites.

Self-Publishing Forums: Now that self-publishing has been around a few years, the trials and errors made by early authors can be avoided…provided you know about them. That’s the beauty of self-publishing forums. You’ll find everything from pros and cons on the various self-publishing platforms to information on how to format your manuscript to recommendations for professional editors. Self-publishing is a lonely road and these forums can help independent author/publishers feel less alone. For a list of recommended forums, see this great post at The Book Designer.

Big Six (er, Five) Self-Publishing Arms: Even the traditional publishers are starting to get in on the action. Simon & Shuster’s Archway and Author Solutions (owned by Penguin…House) offer varying levels of publishing packages to suit each individual author’s needs. I haven’t studied these in too much depth, but from my narrow perspective, they seem to take the “self” out of self-publishing and replace it with authors paying big bucks to a company to publish their work. Um...I think there used to be a term for that....varity press? vanishy? vanipy?

Mergers: With the Random House/Penguin merger a done deal and rumors of a Harper Collins/S&S mashup flying around, the traditional publishing jungle is starting to look a lot different…and a lot smaller. How self-publishing fits into that jungle remains to be seen, but it certainly does seem like there’s a lot more room on the battlefield.

So this is all great news for self-publishers.

However…

…before you go bananas and publish every last word you’ve ever written, keep in mind that publishing your own book is a tremendous responsibility and, even with these new developments, a LOT of work! I tapped two of our fairy God-Mentors, EmmaDryden and Harold Underdown, to give us their thoughts on self-publishing and what it takes to do it well. Read these brilliant words of wisdom with care before heading down that do-it-yourself path.

 

EMMA DRYDEN:

One issue I see happening is that because the technical aspects of self publishing are SO easy— in other words, it's easier than ever to get something up on the web for all to see—too many authors are doing so without thought and without following what to my mind are necessary best practices in the way of editing, design, and marketing, at the very least. To self publish well, one must think and act like a publisher, but most authors don't have any idea what that means, and it takes time and practice to find out. My concern is that someone's name is on a book- and that should mean the same thing as someone's reputation being attached to that book, so if a book is sloppy, unprofessional, and poorly executed, this will reflect on that author. So I feel it's essential for someone who is self-publishing to take care with the process, not rush, and be clear as to what the goals are by self-publishing. To self-publish something meant to be shared by friends and family is one thing; to self-publish with the expectation of being reviewed and to sell books, that's something entirely different. An author needs to think this through clearly and professionally, in my opinion.

HAROLD UNDERDOWN: 

A pitfall: I see a lot of writers (not folks who just want to get a book out—writers who see themselves as building a career as writers) who choose self-publishing as a shortcut. They see how much work it is to find an agent, then find a publisher, and they see that there are no guarantees that they will get published that way. Even if they find a publisher, they may then work with the publisher for years. So self-publishing looks like less work. You can get published faster and more dependably. The problem is that to self-publish successfully, as Emma notes, you have to do the things that publishers do. And those things are a lot of work. The experience of Amanda Hocking is a case in point—she self-published very successfully but, as she said at the time, this required so much work that she signed with St. Martin's so she could concentrate on writing. And there are no guarantees, even with all that work, that someone will succeed in self-publishing. A brief summary of what's involved in publishing is in this article: http://www.underdown.org/publisher-expertise.htm

Emma and Harold raise very important issues. The website Harold lists gives a rundown of all the jobs you'll be taking on as a self-publisher. It's clear that, to do a good job publishing your own book, you need either lots of skills and/or a lot of money to pay people to do the jobs you can't. And keep in mind Emma's point about your book being 'out there.' It won't go away if, three years down the road, you realize it's not that good. Trust me--that happens.

The bottom line...self-publishing may be easier than ever, but doing it right will never be easy.

Here's a big bunch of bananas for our guests, the amazing Emma and most excellent Harold! You guys are welcome in the Turbo Monkey Tree anytime!

 
Emma D Dryden is the founder of the children’s book editorial and publishing consulting firm, drydenbks, through which she provides editorial and consultancy support to authors, illustrators, agents, foreign and domestic publishers, and eBook and app publishers. An editor and publishing for over twenty-five years, Emma has edited hundreds of books for children and young readers, and has worked at Viking, Random House, and as VP, Publisher of Atheneum and Margaret K. McElderry Books, imprints of Simon& Schuster. She is on the SCBWI Board of Advisors and she totally rocked as a mentor for the Nevada SCBWI Mentorship program, where she inspired Turbo Monkeys Kristen and Marilyn.

Harold Underdown is best known for his wonderful children’s writing, illustrating and publishing website, The PurpleCrayon, and for his indispensible book, The Complete Idiot's Guide toPublishing Children's Books, now in its third edition. He provides editorial and publishing consulting services through PC Editorial Services and does workshops and retreats via Kids Book Revisions. Previously, he served as Vice President and Editorial Director at ipicturebooks and prior to that, was editorial director of the Charlesbridge trade program. He has also worked at Orchard Books and Macmillan. Turbo Monkey Sarah was the lucky monkey who benefitted from Harold’s awesome advice and mad editing skills during the 2010-2011 Nevada Mentorship Program.