Getting Your Book Published... Psych!
One of my all-time favorite cartoons without a doubt has to be the lovable kids from Peanuts comic strip acclaim. The late Charles Schulz masterfully orchestrated some 18,000 Peanuts comic strips in over 2,600 newspapers. In its heyday, the lighthearted, laughable and lesson packed strips appeared in 75 countries and 21 languages.
Over their nearly 50 year publication run, Peanuts characters including, the blanket bearing Linus, the freckled face tomboy, Peppermint Patty, the keyboard virtuoso, Schroeder, Linus' older and seemingly always grumpy sister, Lucy are just a few personalities that make up this adorable group. The cast would be incomplete without its most popular non-human characters, Snoopy the beagle and his best friend, Woodstock the whistling yellow bird.
Still, no Peanuts character is more popular than the sphere domed and perpetually insecure Charlie Brown. It is his naivety that sets the tenor and tone for the many misadventures in which this troupe finds itself embroiled.
One of the most enduring and funniest scenes throughout Peanuts lore is that which finds Charlie Brown fixated on accomplishing a feat he had been unable to complete up to that point... kick a football. His good friend Lucy and yes the football's holder routinely encourages young Charles to attempt to kick the oblong obsession only to pull it away at the last minute. Disgusted and having fallen flat on his back after the routine deception, Charlie Brown can be found looking up to the heavens and wondering when his "time" would really come. It is this "football gag" that by some accounts occurred in over 40 or so Peanuts strips and productions. This in fact describes the emotional gymnastics many aspiring authors experience when seeking to publish their literary works.
This brings me to the specific dilemma many unestablished authors face when taking the self-publishing journey. Probably the best way to describe it is a cross between having your tonsils taken out while simultaneously dreaming of the tons of Bryers ice cream you will eat to soothe your throbbing pain. Simply, the process can be both painful and discouraging on the front end and yet rewarding all at the same time.
As presently constituted, securing a literary agent to facilitate your publishing dreams is difficult at best in so much as many agents have client rosters full of authors who they currently represent and advocate on behalf of. Taking on newer and unproven literary talent is a risk many literary agents are simply unwilling to do.
So how do you get your work out there? How do you create, print and publish a literary work minus the convenience of an established literary agent? How do you avoid getting ripped off by "self-publishing" companies who charge ridiculously high service rates in exchange for poor quality?
Inquiring minds really want to know.
Here are a few tips when self-publishing:
1. Create a budget. Self-publishing often means self-financing. Contrary to what the industry purports, my experience has shown that much of the work prior to printing including cover and layout design is relatively inexpensive. It is printing that can become costly with ranges of $3.50-$7.00 (or higher) per copy depending who you enlist to print your project.
2. Always hire a professional cover and layout designers. The complex specifications related to color bleeds and text content are often much better communicated and solved by those who do it every day.
3. Consult with a professional editor. One of the worst feelings in the world is to pour yourself into a literary project only to have the finished project rife with punctuation, grammar and contents gaffes. A rule of thumb is to consider editors who will provide a comprehensive edit of your project to include a review of all punctuation, grammar, content flow, sentence structure and the like.
4. Avoid "short run" print companies if possible. "Short run" printers are printing companies that claim to specialize in fulfilling print orders that may range between fifty to five hundred or so copies. These companies tend to charge extremely high per book rates. More established printers will also take your business and often will provide incentives and discounts to those printing in small quantities with much better customer service.
These are just a few considerations to ponder when you line up to kick that publishing football. Don't let Lucy fool you again! Happy publishing!
Over their nearly 50 year publication run, Peanuts characters including, the blanket bearing Linus, the freckled face tomboy, Peppermint Patty, the keyboard virtuoso, Schroeder, Linus' older and seemingly always grumpy sister, Lucy are just a few personalities that make up this adorable group. The cast would be incomplete without its most popular non-human characters, Snoopy the beagle and his best friend, Woodstock the whistling yellow bird.
Still, no Peanuts character is more popular than the sphere domed and perpetually insecure Charlie Brown. It is his naivety that sets the tenor and tone for the many misadventures in which this troupe finds itself embroiled.
One of the most enduring and funniest scenes throughout Peanuts lore is that which finds Charlie Brown fixated on accomplishing a feat he had been unable to complete up to that point... kick a football. His good friend Lucy and yes the football's holder routinely encourages young Charles to attempt to kick the oblong obsession only to pull it away at the last minute. Disgusted and having fallen flat on his back after the routine deception, Charlie Brown can be found looking up to the heavens and wondering when his "time" would really come. It is this "football gag" that by some accounts occurred in over 40 or so Peanuts strips and productions. This in fact describes the emotional gymnastics many aspiring authors experience when seeking to publish their literary works.
This brings me to the specific dilemma many unestablished authors face when taking the self-publishing journey. Probably the best way to describe it is a cross between having your tonsils taken out while simultaneously dreaming of the tons of Bryers ice cream you will eat to soothe your throbbing pain. Simply, the process can be both painful and discouraging on the front end and yet rewarding all at the same time.
As presently constituted, securing a literary agent to facilitate your publishing dreams is difficult at best in so much as many agents have client rosters full of authors who they currently represent and advocate on behalf of. Taking on newer and unproven literary talent is a risk many literary agents are simply unwilling to do.
So how do you get your work out there? How do you create, print and publish a literary work minus the convenience of an established literary agent? How do you avoid getting ripped off by "self-publishing" companies who charge ridiculously high service rates in exchange for poor quality?
Inquiring minds really want to know.
Here are a few tips when self-publishing:
1. Create a budget. Self-publishing often means self-financing. Contrary to what the industry purports, my experience has shown that much of the work prior to printing including cover and layout design is relatively inexpensive. It is printing that can become costly with ranges of $3.50-$7.00 (or higher) per copy depending who you enlist to print your project.
2. Always hire a professional cover and layout designers. The complex specifications related to color bleeds and text content are often much better communicated and solved by those who do it every day.
3. Consult with a professional editor. One of the worst feelings in the world is to pour yourself into a literary project only to have the finished project rife with punctuation, grammar and contents gaffes. A rule of thumb is to consider editors who will provide a comprehensive edit of your project to include a review of all punctuation, grammar, content flow, sentence structure and the like.
4. Avoid "short run" print companies if possible. "Short run" printers are printing companies that claim to specialize in fulfilling print orders that may range between fifty to five hundred or so copies. These companies tend to charge extremely high per book rates. More established printers will also take your business and often will provide incentives and discounts to those printing in small quantities with much better customer service.
These are just a few considerations to ponder when you line up to kick that publishing football. Don't let Lucy fool you again! Happy publishing!
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