Book Publishing Basics

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 Book Publishing Basics

© 2008 Five Rainbows Services for Authors & Publishers

a subsidiary of Slipdown Mountain Publications LLC
All Rights Reserved

No portion of this book may be be copied, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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Edition 1.0
 Contents
How Should I Publish My Book? 5

What About Self-Publishing? 6

Publishing’s Hard Truths 6

Who’s Going to Read Your Book? 8

Evaluate Your Competition 9

Editing 9

Book Interior Design and Typesetting 10

Book Cover Design 12

Indexing 12

Marketing 13

Summary 13

References 15
Five Rainbows Services
P
ublishing is a high-risk business, and you must
be prepared to lose your investment. After all, no
amount of market research and clever promotion
can guarantee success. There are just too many factors
beyond your control. Be sure you start your publishing
quest with your eyes wide open and only after learning
everything you can about the business.
There are three basic ways to get your book pub-
lished, and your choice will affect your chances of
reaching your goal:
»» Traditional publishing (you sign a book con-
tract with a publisher and receive a cash advance
up-front and/or royalties later)
»» Subsidy publishing (you pay up-front costs for
publishing services and high per-book prices for
limited opportunities for success)
»» Self-publishing (you assume all publishing
responsibilities, costs, and risks...and keep all
the profits)
Unlike many companies on the Internet, we will
not try to convince you that any one program will pro-
vide the one best solution for your publishing needs. In
our opinion, that is a ridiculous claim. Before anyone
can tell you how best to publish and print your book,
they must know more about you than just your credit
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card number and must understand your goals and how
much you can afford to spend.
Yes, we do offer a 20-week program, if true self-
publishing is determined to be your best fit. And we
will soon have at least two other programs based on
other recommended publishing and printing options.
But we won’t try to convince you that one solution will
fit all.
It just ain’t so!
How Should I Publish My Book?
Steer clear of anyone who says they have the one
right answer to the how-to-publish question. In reality,
the answer depends on several factors, but the two
big ones are:
»» Goals—what are your specific goals for your book?
»» Risk—how much you can afford to risk?
There are other factors that should be evaluated
carefully before making a final decision, of course. For
example, your book’s genre may affect your choice of
publishing solution—for example, e-books work quite
well with sci-fi and romance audiences in addition to,
or instead of, a printed book.
The content of your book also matters—number of
photos, need for interior color or color photo inserts,
5

etc. No overview can delve into all of the myriad fac-
tors, just the biggest ones. So, any recommendations
are only likely answers, not necessarily the absolute
“best” solutions.
As a starting point, you can take our quick, free
online How to Publish Quiz to help you determine the
best way to get your book published.
What About Self-Publishing?
If you decide that self-publishing is the path you
want to follow, let’s think about all the myriad tasks
that must be considered and for which you must plan
(and budget).
If you’re serious about producing a high-qual-
ity book that can compete with all those books from
Random House, Simon & Schuster, et al, there are
some things you just cannot afford to scrimp on.
A poorly edited book may cause some readers to quit
before discovering your gems of wisdom.
A poorly designed or typeset book can cause
reader annoyance or negatively affect reading enjoy-
ment, even if the reader has no idea what the root
cause might be.
A poorly designed cover might prevent potential
readers from even taking time to look further.
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Book Publishing Basics
So, consider carefully when deciding which pub-
lishing tasks you can learn to do yourself and which
you really need professional help. If your book carries
all the hallmarks of a professionally produced book,
the fact that it is self-published will be only a minor
handicap.
Publishing’s Hard Truths
Before even thinking about self-publishing, you
really need to consider some basic statistics about
the industry. They aren’t pretty and may tend to be
discouraging. But would you rather jump into these
treacherous waters with a head full of platitudes
and myths…or with a clear-eyed view of how things
really are?
Book publishing in the U.S. has exploded over the
past few years. Here are the number of new English-
language titles published per year in the U.S., as
reported by R. R. Bowker (the keeper or U.S. ISBNs
and publisher of Books-in-Print):
»» 195,000 titles in 2004
»» 295,000 in 2006 (51% increase in two years)
»» 411,000 in 2007 (39% increase in only one year)
In 2004, there were just under one million books in
print (new and backlist). In 2007, almost three million.
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Why do you suppose the number of new titles more
than doubled in just three years?
The plethora of self-proclaimed “self-publishing
companies” or “POD publishers” running rampant on
the Internet, that’s why.
Three decades ago, only 357 publishers listed books
in Books-in-Print. Today, there are only six major (New
York) publishers, maybe 400 mid-size publishers, and
almost 100,000 small/self-publishers. More than
10,000 new (mostly small) publishers go into business
each year. Of course, many fail every year, too, but
that’s common in most businesses.
The six major New York publishers are:
»» Random House
»» Penguin Putnam
»» HarperCollins
»» Holtzbrinck
»» Hachette (formerly Time Warner Books)
»» Simon & Schuster
Of those, only Simon & Schuster is still American-
owned. Every wonder why more and more foreign
authors are being published by major “American”
publishers?
So, just how many books are actually being sold?
That is a far more difficult question to answer reliably,
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since publishers are notorious for overstating actual
book sales. However, we can turn again to Bowker for
some statistics:
»» 93% of ALL titles sell less than 1,000 copies
»» Average sales for ALL titles is about 500 copies
»» 7% of titles account for 87% of sales (mostly from
the big NY publishers)
So, where are those books actually sold? If you
guessed mostly in bookstores, guess again. Here’s the
breakdown (the ranges are because it depends on what
source you rely on):
»» Chain bookstores: 25–33%
»» Independent bookstores: 3–10%
»» Online book retailers: 21% (mostly Amazon.com)
That means 36–52% of all book sales come from
non-bookstore outlets. What’s a non-bookstore out-
let? Gift shops, grocery stores, drug stores, “big box”
stores (Wal-Mart, Costco, etc.), book clubs, back-of-
the-room sales, direct-to-consumer sales, and on and
on. The opportunities are limited only by your imagi-
nation and marketing efforts.
You can choose to self-publish and compete in the
bookstores for that 28–43% of the total market, which
means you’re competing against Random House, Simon
& Schuster, et al who can afford to buy those end-cap
7

and front window display locations. Or you can choose
to compete primarily in the online and non-bookstore
markets that represent almost half of all book sales.
The choice is yours and should be driven by your
detailed marketing plan for your book. You do have a
detailed marketing plan, right? If not, you can get our
downloadable Marketing Plan Instant Guide.
Who’s Going to Read Your Book?
Most writers find that a difficult questions to
answer. However, it is also the most important.
If your answer falls into the all-too-common “well,
everybody will want to read it” category, you’re not ready
to throw it into the brutal publishing marketplace.
No book ever written appeals to everyone. Not
even the Holy Bible.
So—preferably even before you write the book—
ask yourself, “Who’s going to want to read it?”
Start with yourself. You must have an interest in
your book and its subject or genre. What kind of a per-
son are you? What are your interests? Where do you
buy books? How do you find out about new books in
which you might be interested?
I hope your answers do not include the fact that
you don’t read many books. Any writer who hopes to
8
Book Publishing Basics
succeed should read a lot and, preferably, not just in
their own writing genre. You should read enough of
the classics and the new stuff being published today
to recognize when your phenomenal “new” concept is
really just a rehash of what has gone before.
Now, find out where your potential readers hang
out—both online and off. Don’t forget conventions,
festivals, etc. Are there magazines that cover your
main topics…and for which you could write an arti-
cle? What are you passionate about? Find the maga-
zines that others with the same passion read. Your
proposed articles can be excerpts from your book or,
for fiction, articles about subjects that play prominent
roles in your novel. The magazines could be print
publications or online ezines (depending on your tar-
get audience, ezines might be your primary article
market).
Once you’ve finished writing your manuscript, you
should have 6–12 months before publication date—
even if you’re self-publishing. That allows time for a
professional edit, quality typesetting, an eye-catching
cover design, and acquisition of blurbs and pre-pub
reviews. Skipping any of those steps only makes the
marketing mountain ahead of you that much more dif-
ficult to scale.
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So, right now—don’t delay—determine who is
going to want to read your book. Find them. Figure out
how to reach them. The sooner you start, the better.
Evaluate Your Competition
Do you think your competition for book sales is
primarily other books? Maybe, maybe not. Remember
that books are mostly discretionary purchases, mean-
ing those dollars could be spent on a wide variety of
other discretionary things—from attending a movie to
buying burger and fries at McDonalds.
In other words, your sales message must convince a
potential buyer that he or she would be more entertained,
educated, and/or enlightened by reading your book than
by attending that movie or eating that burger.
Of course, books also must compete with other
books, particularly if they’re being purchased in a
bookstore (whether online or off). After all, it is fair
to assume that the potential buyer came in to look at
books, right? Maybe, maybe not. Probably depends on
the bookstore. Your would-be reader might be looking
for a magazine…or calendar…or music CD…or movie
DVD…or even just a latte grande.
For online sales venues, maybe they’re looking for
a book by John Grisham but happen across your book
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on brewing yak beer. How can you convince them that
your book will be a better use of their, typically lim-
ited, funds?
But don’t forget to thoroughly research the other
books in your genre. Use every resource at your dis-
posal—libraries, bookstores, and online retailers (par-
ticularly Amazon.com). Read the summaries and
reviews. Pay attention to publication dates as books
more than a year old with lackluster sales may or may
not be relevant. And don’t just look at books by the
big name, bestselling authors. The more you learn
about the competition, the better you can focus your
marketing.
However, never assume that your competition is
just another book in your specific genre, or even a book
at all. Cast your research and evaluation net wider!
Editing
You really should have your book professionally
edited. You’ve probably heard the old saying that law-
yers who represent themselves have fools for clients.
That could also be applied to writers who decide to do
all their own editing.
You cannot really edit your own writing and expect
to catch all the many errors that naturally will work
9

their way into the manuscript. You’re just too close to
it, and your mind (which has been exposed to it over
and over and knows what you meant to say) will sim-
ply see what it expects to see.
That does not mean you should not edit your own
work. Just don’t be the only one who does. A relative
or friend, who understands that you really do want
constructive feedback and won’t take offense at what-
ever faults are found, can be a valuable editor…but
still should not be your final editor. A college English
professor may not even be your best choice, unless
the professor has considerable experience writing
and/or editing commercial books rather than just
academic tomes.
Commercial fiction and nonfiction represent a very
different approach to writing than academic works.
If you want to understand what goes into prop-
erly editing a book, see if your local library has a copy
of The Chicago Manual of Style by the University of
Chicago Press. It’s a very thick book and has become
the bible of commercial editors (academic editors use
other similar references). A good editor will know and
understand the whys and wherefores of proper appli-
cation of the “rules” provided by Chicago (which is
how professionals in the business refer to the book).
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Book Publishing Basics
We can only emphasize that, for your book to look
and read like a professional product, you need to hire a
professional editor.
Our subsidiary, Five Rainbows Services for Authors
& Publishers, offers three levels of editing service.
Regardless of whom you select, be sure you are clear
about exactly what they will and won’t do, how the
results will be provided, and when it will be completed.
Most editors will insist on reviewing your com-
plete manuscript before providing a firm price quote
and will offer to edit the first few pages for free (to
ensure you are comfortable with their approach and
style). Remember, you do not have to accept all the edi-
tor’s recommendations, but do take time to understand
why they were made.
Warning: Make absolutely certain that your book is
being edited by a native speaker of the English lan-
guage. There are a lot of overseas companies solicit-
ing editing work on the Internet, so you have to look
deeper into their websites to be sure what you’re
buying. Caveat emptor, indeed.
Book Interior Design and Typesetting
This is another area where hiring a professional may
actually save you money and time (which is, after all, also
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worth money). However, if you prefer, you can take the
time to learn the techniques, buy the software, and do it all
yourself. Just keep in mind that professional book design,
layout, and typesetting is more than just following a
series of canned steps and using the right software.
There is still more art than technology in a good
book design.
Industry professionals will be able to identify
immediately an amateur product. Most readers won’t
know what it is about a poorly designed and typeset
book that makes the reading less than enjoyable (even
irritating at times) but their reading enjoyment will
suffer and they may even give up on it, without really
knowing why.
Many studies have proven direct connections
between the quality of a book’s design and typeset-
ting and their reading comprehension and satisfaction.
Even the choice of typeface (font) and size will affect
the overall impression and either support your book’s
tone and content or work against it.
Caution: Please don’t use Microsoft Word, or any
other word processing program, to typeset. Those
packages are excellent word processors but just can-
not compete with real typesetting software in pro-
ducing professional results.
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Can typesetting be done well in Microsoft Word?
A qualified yes. If your book is all text and you take
the time to tweak MS Word’s settings, you can do a
reasonably good job. If you insist on taking that route,
I highly recommend that you buy and study Aaron
Shepard’s Perfect Pages. Aaron is the reigning guru
of typesetting with MS Word. Even so, I don’t recom-
mend it.
In the past, I have done a lot of typesetting using MS
Word, including one novel, but have vowed never to do
it again! Too much aggravation and wasted time.
If you want to understand what goes into good
book design and typography, buy or borrow from your
library the books listed on our website’s Book Design
& Typography page (see the References page at the end
of this guide).
If you are willing to invest in the relatively expen-
sive software (the current industry flagship software is
Adobe’s InDesign) and learn the ins and outs of good
design, it can be enjoyable. But there are no shortcuts
to a quality book design.
There are also a lot of book design and typeset-
ting companies on the Internet who have the work
done overseas (a lot of them are in India). Personally,
I would not want my book typeset by those who don’t
11

speak English as their native language. Some people
insist it really doesn’t matter, but I’ve typeset a lot of
books and cringe at what could happen if that work
were done by somebody for whom English is a second
language even if they do work cheap.
The choice, of course, is yours. It’s your book and
your money.
Book Cover Design
Don’t judge a book by its cover, right? Wrong.
Everyone does just that.
What’s the first thing you see when cruising the
shelves in a bookstore? The spine, which is part of the
cover (most books are shelved spine-out). It had bet-
ter be readable from six feet away and have a title that
grabs you and pulls you in closer.
Next, a curious browser will take the book down
and look at the front cover, giving it maybe 10 seconds
to engage their interest, based on the title, an intrigu-
ing or explanatory subtitle, and dynamite graphics. If
it fails, your potential reader will just put it back.
If it succeeds, your would-be customer will turn
it over and read the back cover, giving it maybe 20
seconds to convince them to open the book and see
what’s inside.
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Book Publishing Basics
For a nonfiction book, only then will the browser
take time to look at the table of contents and, if that
interests them, flip through the book for photos, eye-
catching headlines and sub-heads, and general layout,
maybe pausing to read a paragraph here or there.
So your book’s cover better do three things within
those critical first few seconds:
»» Grab their attention
»» Intrigue them
»» Give them a reason to look further
Your book cover is, therefore, another key element
in your book’s success. One that should never be done
on the cheap.
A good artist may or may not be a good cover
designer. There’s a lot more to creating an effective
book cover than just good artwork. Be careful if you,
or your designer, use stock photos or artwork, as the
photo or art you choose might be found on other book
covers as well. Do you really want to find your cover
art on somebody else’s book?
Indexing
For a nonfiction book, a good index can make a big
difference in sales. A well-designed index will make it
easier for your readers to find what they’re looking for.
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Librarians are more likely to buy a book with a good index.
You can even make that index a strong selling point.
Just be aware that a good index is a lot more than
just a list of words with page numbers. A qualified
indexer can help you decide what should be indexed
and how it should appear in the book.
Marketing
In reality, it doesn’t matter how you publish your
book (traditional, subsidy, or self-publishing), ulti-
mately you will be responsible for its success or
failure.
You’re going to have to spend some time developing
a careful, well thought out, plan for how to market and
promote your book. Unlike the movie Field of Dreams,
if you publish it, nobody is likely to come unless you
give them a reason and show them how.
You have to make sure the world (or at least the
portion of it most likely to want your book) knows
about your book, where to find it, and how to buy it.
And you have to make them realize that your book
will solve at least one of their problems or concerns
better than any other similar book on the market.
Your marketing plan for your book is your road map
to doing just that. You might reach your destination
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without one, but the odds are far better if you have a
good map.
Who is your target audience?
How can you reach out to them so they know about
your book?
Where do they shop (and not just for books)?
What do they care about?
Why is your book better than any other similar
book already on the market?
Why should your potential readers spend their
hard-earned money on your book instead of the com-
petition…or maybe instead of lunch at McDonalds or
some other discretionary purchase?
The realistic answers to these, and many more,
questions will help you conceptualize a meaningful
marketing plan. If you need more help, consider our
downloadable Marketing Plan Instant Guide.
Summary
Before plunging into the deep waters of publishing,
it is important to learn as much as possible. Sort of like
learning to swim and tread water before jumping off a
boat into deep water.
Publishing can be rewarding, gratifying, and even
profitable.
13
 Book Publishing Basics

Or, you can lose your complete investment. So,

make sure you do two things before starting:
»» Vow never to mortgage the house or max out your
credit cards to fund your publishing endeavors.
»» Take the time to do it right, so as not to (to para-
phrase the old adage) fail in haste, repent in
leisure.
»» Research your market, your competition, and
your publishing options…before spending any
money on actually publishing the book.

Good luck!

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References
How to Start and Run a Small Book Publishing Company
by Peter I. Hupalo

Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers

by Shel Horowitz

1001 Ways to Market Your Books for Authors and Publishers

by John Kremer

Publishing for Profit

by Thomas Woll

The Self-Publishing Manual

by Dan Poynter

Five Rainbows Services “How-to-Publish Quiz”

http://www.FiveRainbows.com/course/index.php

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15
 Five Rainbows Services
for Authors & Publishers

List of Available Instant Guides

as of August 11, 2008
Be sure to check our website often for new additions!
http://www.FiveRainbows.com

Book Publishing Basics (15 pages, Free)

Book Publishing by the Numbers (17 pages, $6.95)
How to Set Up Your Publishing Company (8 pages, $3.95)
Pre-Publication Book Reviewers (10 pages, $4.95)
Promotional Blurbs for Your Book (11 pages, $4.95)

Remember—If you have a publishing problem, we have a solution!

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