I get asked a lot about what I think is the future, you know, of books, printing in general, you know, and there’s, you know…I’ve been involved with the printing industry for 40 years and there’s been people that predicted our demise for all of those 40 years and my theory on books…and again, I’ve been around a lot of years. Certainly, books are, you know, going to be here as long as I’m on this … [Read more...]
General Self Publishing Information - Video Library
This section of the video portion of SelfPublishing411 contains general information about Self Publishing and what you can expect.
Responsiblities of a Self Publisher
What do you think of ebooks?
I guess I got asked a question or answered a question about ebooks, OK? And I’ve…anybody that’s read me in the past tell you I’m still like a little leery of them, although, you know, they’re here and they’re here to stay. People are making money. It’s not…I still say it’s like still the Wild West out there as far as, you know, what’s going to end up happening. I mean Amazon is still the largest. … [Read more...]
How do I get my book copyrighted?
Question, “How do I get my book copyrighted?” Asked that all the time. Your book’s copyrighted as soon as you say it is, OK? You put that C with the circle around it, you’ve seen it on your manuscript that said it’s copyrighted, OK? Can…do you need an attorney to do that? No. There is…the copyright, you can register it to a copyright office after the book is done if you’re particularly, you know, … [Read more...]
How should I price my self published book?
“How should I price my book?” Man, that’s the $99.00 question. People buy books like they buy meat. They buy like kind of by the pound. They pick it up, that book is worth whatever it’s worth, OK? Generally, paperback books, we keep them under like $15.00. Hardcover books, you keep under $29.00. Paperback children’s book, that’s like a no man’s land there. That should be under $7.00 but the math … [Read more...]
When do I need to use a new ISBN?
OK, I get asked the question about, you know, “When do I need to use a new ISBN for the same book?” And I talked about like my publishing basics book. It’s in its fifth edition. Well, every one of these editions has a new ISBN because it’s a new edition. If a particular edition like the fourth edition that we’re in right now has reprinted a couple dozen times, it use…it doesn’t get a new one every … [Read more...]
Does it matter what country issues my ISBN?
As far as your ISBN, I’ve been asked a question. You know, “I’m from Canada. Can I buy an ISBN through you?” The answer’s no. I mean you buy your ISBN. Every country has an agency that’s responsible for that country and it’s a simple Google search, you know, to figure out like, you know, where your agency is. R. R. Bowker’s…you know, R. R. Bowker is the agency for the US, OK, and as long as you … [Read more...]
How many ISBNs should I buy?
Question, “How many ISBNs should I buy?” OK, it used to be…I mean one…I mean we came…a couple of years ago, we came up with this license to sell single ISBNs on behalf of R. R. Bowker at SelfPublishing.com and if you’re only going to…you need a different ISBN for every different edition or type format that you put the book in. It used to be the self-publisher would have a paperback format. That … [Read more...]
Where do I purchase an ISBN?
How do you get these ISBNs? Where do they come from? OK, the ISBN, there’s an agency for every country that’s assigned the task of assigning ISBNs to publishers. In the US, that agency is R. R. Bowker, OK? They’re in New Jersey and they’re the only ones that can legitimately sell you a set of ISBNs and they come in groups of 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000. A couple of years ago, they came up with the idea … [Read more...]
What if my book is controversial?
The old saying goes, “A controversy sells,” OK? And a lot…we’re getting into the time of the year…seems like all…it’s like year round now. It’s like, you know, political times and controversial opinions and controversy, I mean, sells but the problem…I’ll give you an example. I mean back in the ‘80s, I had…I co-invented a game, you know, with a buddy of mine and it was very controversial and we … [Read more...]