An educated author is a good thing. So while I want to educate you about self-publishing, I also want you to understand what to look for in a printer. I have had the opportunity to speak to many self-publishers, and have been surprised at their experiences. As I work with some of them to overcome the error of their ways (which in reality is just that they put their trust in others), I decided to share.
You’ve heard me say it before, but I will say it again. Buy your own ISBN number! Does it matter? Yes! He who owns the ISBN owns the rights to the published book. They don’t own the content, but they can prevent you from printing your book elsewhere. And what are they offering you for that ISBN? Will they guarantee you bookstore placement? Sales? Marketing? I’m not sure I see the benefit of them owning the rights to your book, other than saving you $125. Not worth it to me, but you have to make your own decision.
You see large distributors like to help publishers that have several titles. And they would know this from ISBN number. So that would be a benefit. Because the publisher would leverage the number of books they have published to help you possibly gain bookstore shelf space. The problem was, and is, most of these publishers don’t. So I go back to my question, what is the benefit to you of having them own the ISBN?
Moving on, is this “printer” or coach helping you get your book on Amazon or other online bookselling sites? Who controls the royalties? I was shocked when I learned that many self-published authors were using a local printer that provided a package which included placement on Amazon, but as the author, they had no access to their dashboard or royalty records. Seriously? What’s the secret?
And then there’s the fact that you decided to self-publish. Did you think about housing book inventory? I made the decision to use POD (print on demand) because I didn’t want to maintain inventory or pay for books I didn’t need. But many of these local publishing houses offer “packages” that include printing your book and helping you get it online – all while you purchase a minimum number of copies (usually 100) and getting online but under their account. You don’t have access to your own book’s sales, and you need to house inventory. This is not what SELF-publishing is about. When you self-publish, you choose whether you want to buy your own copies or not.
So I am hoping that these are your lessons learned, as I have already learned them. Ask questions, get answers. And if you don’t feel comfortable, it’s probably the wrong decision. The final lesson in this post is that I have learned most people that write one book… write more. So become an educated consumer and make the right decision the first time.
