Letting Your Words Bubble Up via Self-Publishing

Given for the Madison Public Library self-publishing workshop, 27 September 2015.

Transcript

1. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Letting your words BUBBLE UP via self-publishing Dorothea Salo the iSchool at UW-Madison
2. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Who am I? • A librarian. • A supporter of libraries. • A trainer of librarians, archivists, records managers, digitizers, digital asset managers, etc.
3. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA A self-publisher
4. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Some self-published authors John Scalzi Jane Austen Martin Luther J.K. Rowling L. Frank Baum Kristine Kathryn Rusch
5. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA And lots more, especially… • Local History and Travel • Local geology, biology, etc. • Family histories • Works by women and authors of color • Backfiles and out-of-print books
6. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA What self-publishing isn’t • The road to riches • The road to respectability • The road to traditional publishing • Easy. (Easier than it used to be, yes. Easy, no.)
7. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Still with me? GOOD.
8. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Let’s talk about making this happen.
9. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Editing. You need it. We all do.
10. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Developmental editing Copyediting Proofreading
11. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Freelancers Online services (caveat emptor)
12. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Decisions, decisions • Print, Electronic, both? • If electronic, .EPUB, PDF, Kindle? • Art and design • … and that’s before we even get to marketing and sales
13. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Print-on-demand • You need to produce a PDF. • Then you find a vendor. • (The vendor may also do ordering and fulfillment for you. That can be great!)
14. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA
15. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA
16. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Ebooks • Amazon wants .kf8/.azw3. • Everybody else wants .EPUB. • (Except Apple. But don’t bother with Apple’s iBooks.) • Here’s the good news: they’re both built on web standards. • So build your ebook in html and css and you’re fine.
17. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA WordPress-based
18. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Ebook sales and fulfillment • Smashwords, Draft2Digital • And other indie/self-publishing vendors • Amazon • Be aware Amazon usually wants exclusive distribution. • Your own website, with a “white-label” vendor • Your own website, with self-installed shopping cart software
19. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA So, you see? Not easy. But YOU CAN DO IT.
20. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA And Madison Public Library is here to help.
21. Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY Background: Ilena Gecan, “Bubbles,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/hach3/2458624643/ CC-BY-SA Thank you! This presentation is available under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license.