book publishing Archives | Jennifer Lancaster

May 18, 2023

What’s an Aussie Alternative to Self-Publishing School?

Authors often look online for book publishing training, and some Australians find Self-Publishing School, by Chandler Bolt. He is American. Some novice authors enrol in these kinds of courses with the hope that they will provide book editing or publishing services but always remember that author training schools are not services. (SPS has changed and now includes this, hence the price increase). Let’s compare Self-Publishing School to Book Creation Success course at Business Author Academy, Australia. It is a sequential type of course, delivered one part at a time. With Book Creation, you can also get sequential lessons and videos, with no waiting. It is adjusted as feedback comes in and is regularly updated. There is a commitment contract to yourself and to the school. This is a good idea and we might implement this later. There are some common…

January 28, 2023

Self-Publishing

Dodge the Vanity Press and Do Your Own Publishing

Self-publisher support companies — like Balboa Press and Austin Macauley — are everywhere. On Amazon I found someone else passionate about saving authors from the clutches of uncaring vanity presses, or as they call themselves, hybrid publishers. Yay! Michael N Marcus seems to have dedicated a good portion of his life to warning authors and informing them on how to self-publish independently. Such idiotic titles as ‘Can I really publish a decent book with Microsoft Word? Yes!’ and ‘How to Not Get Screwed by a Self-Publishing Company’ first made me wonder at the quality of advice. However, on his How to Not Get Screwed Amazon blurb, Michael makes a great point: Self-publishing companies enable anyone who can type to quickly become a “published author” and compete for the attention of the reading public. There is no longer a need to go…

October 15, 2020

Book Writing, Self-Publishing

How to Publish a Book in Australia

Even though this is meant to be light relief, hopefully you’ll also learn a lot about how to publish a book in Australia, without losing your shirt. First step, ignore all ads that start following you around the internet. Those are likely to be vanity press/support companies who want your dollars. Next, write a list of simple actions you will take to get this book published. Here’s a fun look at the usual book publishing steps for Australians. 1. Decide on your publish path. Choose whether you want to pitch for your life to Literary Agents (or do Friday Pitches by email to big publishers)… or Self-Publish and pay for everything. It’s tougher to get wide bookstore distribution as your own publisher. 2. Determine your costs, if going indie. Expect to pay around $3,000 to $8,000 for two rounds of…

February 20, 2018

Book Marketing, Self-Publishing

A Tale of the Printing Press and POD

In 1450, in the town of Pearlessence, Sir Rupert was talking to his lightly-paid servant, Eric. It seemed the world of technology had moved on without Sir Rupert, which young Eric was only too happy to point out. (Bear with it, this parable does have a point). “Sir, it is a futile effort that you make, copying your manuscripts by hand. Even by woodblock, it takes a week to set up for one book! Have you not heard that in Mulberry city they have a new Gutenberg press, a POD 400*. Its metal, moveable type and mechanized process makes it very fast!” “I don’t care, Eric, I am good with my hands and have all day long to make my books.” “Aye my Lord, but the POD 400 means you could not just copy out a book a fortnight and charge 10 guineas,…

October 24, 2016

Self-Publishing

Why do I need an ISBN?

An ISBN is an International Standard Book Number, and it identifies a book format and title to all booksellers, readers and libraries. It is not a book cost which you should cut from your plans. While you can choose to publish privately for company profiles, client guides, etc, having an ISBN opens up your book to be ready for purchase through traditional book retailers, online bookstores, libraries and book finder tools. (See my favourite book price checker, https://booko.com.au/ – try a book search on your own book.) The Benefits of Using an ISBN Having an ISBN assigned to your title enables you to obtain a CiP (Catalogue in Publication) entry from the Australian National Library. This in turn means that your book can contain data helpful for librarians when cataloguing your book. ISBNs are the global standard for identifying titles. ISBN 13s are used worldwide…