Daunting Author Duties: Where to Begin?
Once was the day when authors simply wrote books and then an army of publishing professionals took over. Editing, cover art, illustrations, formatting, and the essential-but-dreaded marketing projects are now the sole duty of the modern-day self-published author. Authors now do the work themselves or hire someone to complete each task. That’s good in that you keep more of the profit, but ‘the harsh’ in it is that you need to learn to do a lot of things you may not be interested in doing. And worse, there are a lot of things that you maybe haven’t even thought of yet.
For example, most people don’t know that every version of a book needs a unique ISBN. A paperback needs an ISBN, a hardcover needs another, an eBook needs one, and an audiobook needs its own, too. They all must be unique and each one costs $125 unless you buy a multiple-ISBN package. And of course, as a self-published author, you also manage the budget.
You may ask if self-publishing is the best way forward for you. The fact is that in the 22nd century the traditional publisher who will give an author an 'advance’ check for a manuscript and then do all the investment and work, is becoming obsolete, or at least on the extinct list. If you are not already famous, getting an old-school publisher is more and more unrealistic every day. To make matters worse, dozens of scam artists and companies will gladly take your cash, and before you ever sell a book, charge you thousands of dollars to do a job for you. Oh, and the end product may or may not be what you expect. Plus, you’ll likely end up under someone else’s IMPRINT along with millions of other titles. An imprint can drastically affect how search engines display your book when readers search the internet for you, your book, or your genre.
Optionally, some companies will provide you with an editor or artist, or other professional independent contractors, but they usually require a commission and/or a contract, and you never work directly with the person providing the product. More often than not, you never even speak with the independent contractor who is indirectly working directly for you. That can put a great deal of time into communication of ideas or changes. Then to top it off, the company that holds the contract gets the lion’s share of all costs paid by the author. That can feel abusive, a tragedy to someone new to the industry. So where do you begin? How can you keep control of how your book looks and feels or where a reader can get it?
Well, if you only want to put out eBooks, you can do everything on Amazon and limit most of your external fees by using their cover art creation and file conversion tools which are free. However, if you ever want to sell books through bookstores or your website, you’ll need to jump through dozens of hoops. It’s even daunting just to make a list of all there is that can take you to task.
First, remain calm and take your time. You absolutely can get it all done. When you research a line item on your list of tasks, stick with the leaders in the industry for a voice of authority. Two significant sources of information and genuine help are IngramSpark and Bowker. IngramSpark is a worldwide printing and distribution company with an impeccable reputation for hardcovers, paperbacks, and eBooks. Bowker is the industry standard for obtaining ISBNs, imprints, barcodes, QR codes, copyrights, and more. Both companies offer valuable information and “Recommended Essential Reading” materials for all authors. Do yourself a favor and inhale all you can read before spending a dime or doing anything else.
Here’s a great place to begin. Find an abundance of information and potential project partners, vetted for integrity, and free.
https://INSONA.com/reading.htm
