Self Publishing

Self Publishing

Many writers in the Netwest area have indicated they would like to self-publish their work, but don’t really know how to do this. If you start searching the internet, you can find many self-publishing sites. But when you look at their sites, you will find a vast array of services and costs. It can be very confusing. What will it cost me per book? That is the question.

Here is a way to get a close approximation of what your book will cost. Go to:

www.morrispublishing.com. Morris is one of the major POD publishing houses in the US.

Click on Download Center, then click on Download Order Form PDF. This file is 4 pages long, so you may want to just view it on the screen rather than print it out.

Answer the following questions:

Production Time: normal

Book Specifications: 5 ½ by 8 ½ .

Number of books: 200 (Note. This is the minimum order for this size book, with perfect binding.

(Note 2: The actual contract specifies 200 books with up to a 10% overrun. This is common in the printing business. They print more than required to cover for any glitches. There were none in my case, so they shipped and billed me for 220 books.)

Number of Pages: 70 (From this you can calculate the cost from their publishing guide)

Technical Details:

“I have filed for the following items:”

LCCN

ISBN

Create the following items for me:

Create a bar code with ISBN#

Print bar code: with price bar

Print bar code on: outside back cover

Binding Style: Perfect Binding

Cover Design Assistance Needed:

Full-Color Stock Cover: CJ2 (They have 18 stock covers available at no cost)

Cover Information: Title and Author’s name

Text on back cover: Included as a separate attachment

Cover Inks: black

From all this, you can calculate the price per book, including shipping, in this format. Other POD houses will have different costs and fees, but this will put you in the ballpark.

For poetry chapbooks, there are different costs. For this, I suggest you contact Tom Davis at Old Mountain Press in Fayetteville. The number is 910-484-5887.

Tom Davis was a presenter at our conference at Hinton Center in the Spring of 2006. OMP can do much shorter runs for very short works, like chap books. These will be set up to be saddle stitched, which you can then take to Kinko’s or similar to be finished. Call Tom or see the Oldmountainpress.com website for details.