The Beautiful U.G.L.Y. project Volume 2:
Self Published VS Supported Self Published…
One of the questions that I get asked the most is something that took me a long time to figure out. What is the difference between being self published and supported self published? A lot of people don’t realize that there is a whole industry dedicated to helping up and coming authors accomplish their goals and with that there are a lot of companies that take advantage of people who just want to get their work out there.
So from what I understand, being self published is exactly what it sounds like. You, the author create and design the cover, you take your work to a copy place and have your book made there on the spot. A lot of copy places now days have capabilities to create an actual book with the glossy covers and a very professional turn out. The upside to this is that you have the ability to create as many of your own books as you want, you can control who gets them and where they go and of course you have complete creative control of your work. The downside is that you do not have a lot of access to distribution and you don’t get an ISBN number this way. If you are interested in having consignment agreements with local book stores (basically independently selling your book through local book stores) most stores will not take your book if you do not have an ISBN number. The ISBN number is the standard way of tracking sales nationally and it registers your book in the system, which makes for easy reordering when your book sells out. Self publishing is a lot of work for the author, but again, this could be a great, quick and cost effective method of getting your work off of the ground.
Supported self published, which is what I am, is essentially paying a publishing company to do all of the ground work for you. Most of these publishing companies have a system called print-on-demand which allows them to print books as they are ordered which saves the author money and the company time. With this route, you have creative control with designing the cover and overall look of the book, you get an ISBN number and most companies have a national and international distribution deal which takes a lot of pressure off of the author. The downside to this method is that it can take a lot of time, there is a lot of back and forth so it takes a lot of patience and most times there is not a quick turn around. This method can also have higher upfront costs to the author depending on the company, but you do get royalty checks and again, the distribution is invaluable so ultimately you are investing in yourself and it balances out. Additionally, when researching companies make sure to read the contract carefully and MAKE SURE YOU ARE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THE RIGHTS TO YOUR WORK!!!! This is something that is crucial and is often over looked. As a new author who is excited about having a copy of your baby in your hands for the first time, you are eager to sign and get the ball rolling. But it is crucial to ensure you maintain the rights to your work! The company I decided to go with for all three of my book is IUniverse.com…. I love the quality of their work, but again, remember my warning about the length of time and the back and forth that goes on during the publication process.
Another step a lot of authors miss is the copyright process. Just because you publish your book and they throw the little copyright symbol on it, does not mean that your work is registered with the library of congress. There is a form called the TX form on the library of congress website that you need to fill out, send in along with a copy of your manuscript and a check and as soon as they cash the check, you are golden. It take a LONG TIME for them the send your certificate back, but you can always call to double check to make sure everything is in the system, but once the money is paid, that means they received your application and have set your work into the system. If you have a lot of short stories or poems or story ideas, you can include all of it into one manuscript and pay one fee. But it is crucial to take this step and ensure for yourself that the copyright is legit. The old trick of mailing manuscripts to yourself does not hold up in court anymore, so take the extra step and do it the right way.
Again, these were all lessons I had to learn the hard way so I hope this is insightful for you! It is important to pursue your dreams and discover who you are as an artist, but it is also equally as important to be smart about your work and protect it!
Peace Y’all
B
Resources: www.IUniverse.com…
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