Self-publishing, is it for you?

By Vella Munn

Self-publishing has been around for a number of years but its uncharted territory for anyone who hasn't done it. The concept sounds great, doesn't it? No longer do we have to spend months and sometimes years looking for a publisher willing to hand us a contract. The creations we worked so hard to write will effortlessly be available to buyers at Amazon, iBooks, Nook, Kobo, etc, and the money will start pouring in.

Maybe. Maybe not.

My purpose in presenting the self-publishing workshop at the 2015 Women Writing the West conference was to give members as much information as possible in a condensed form so hopefully they can answer that maybe. I've learned a lot in the process of self-publishing about ten titles and don't want to keep my knowledge to myself.

I started preparing for the workshop with a question I hope writers are asking themselves—is running the entire show of going from idea to finished and published project for me? Do I have it in me and do I know what I'm getting into? Can I do the job better than a publisher?

Does that sound scary? Not to fear. There's a wealth of help and hand holding out there. When I initially took that leap of reckless abandon with several older contemporary romance novels whose rights had reverted back to me, that wealth didn't exist. It was a kind of Wild West. Now hundreds of sites/blogs exist to support writers during their journey. (And some exist to separate writers from their money).

My handout includes the sites I found most helpful when it came to getting avellamunn@gmail.com. In it I list the primary retailers like Amazon and identify the most experienced uploaders. I give some direction about where to look for editors and copyeditors as well as a list of promoters that give writers the most bang for their promotional dollars. There's even help on where to look for reviews and which companies handle print distribution.

grasp on the pros and cons of joining the publishing revolution. If you'd like a copy of the handout, email me at

That said, if I could tell writers just one thing about educating themselves about self-publishing, it would be to Google the name Marie Force. Marie was in the right place at the right time with the right books and with so much energy she makes my head swim. She is making a fortune as her own publisher now with a marketing team behind her. What has me praising her is her willingness to share her knowledge. Plain and simple, she's a businesswoman. She started the selfpublishing Yahoo group that now has thousands of members. For $20 a writer can take her comprehensive workshop via https://marieforce.com/virtual-workshops  I took it a couple of months ago and couldn't recommend it more.

My journey has been exciting/scary/and everything in between. And now that I've done it, what do I think of self-publishing? That's a subject for a different blog but I can be bribed.
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Vella Munn and her books can be found at

http://www.vella-munn.com/
https://www.facebook.com/vella.munn
Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/qedbsrz

A Wilder Rose Goes to the Library

by Susan Wittig Albert

I’ve been writing traditionally-published fiction and nonfiction for nearly three decades. But this year, I decided to publish a stand-alone novel—A Wilder Rose—under my own imprint, Persevero Press. All things considered, I’m glad I chose to take this route, but there have been bumps. A few potholes. Big trees across the road. Getting the book into libraries, for example.

A Wilder Rose is a biographical/historical novel about the collaboration of Rose Wilder Lane and Laura Ingalls Wilder in the writing of the award-winning children’s series, the Little House books. Since most libraries have copies of Little House in the Big Woods and the other seven books in this pioneer series, I had the idea that a book about the Little House books might be a pretty strong candidate for library acquisition. I decided to try to get A Wilder Rose into libraries.

But I ran into a few roadblocks, and I learned that even libraries that might want an author-published book may find it difficult to purchase it. If you’d like to see your book in the libraries, here are some things to consider:

1. Of course, you’ve already seen to it that your book is absolutely the best work you can produce—well-written, edited and copy-edited, and with a professionally-designed cover. It should also have a standard copyright page that lists your publishing information, including the ISBN number. As well, libraries prefer books that have a CIP-data block: a Cataloging-in-Progress data block that makes cataloguing your book easier. The Library of Congress produces this for publishers, but not for self-publishers. However, you can obtain a CIP-data block from a vendor. (I did.) Joel Friedlander has posted a good discussion of this process, along with helpful links. http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/03/cip-what-it-means-how-to-read-it-who-should-get-it/

2. Your hardcover book needs a sturdy binding, but it doesn’t need a dust cover. A case laminate cover is excellent. (Here’s Joel Friedlander again, explaining.) Libraries also buy paperbacks and trade paper editions, which they may rebind. But again, make sure the binding is sturdy.

3. Public libraries almost always prefer to buy from their usual distributors: Baker & Taylor and Ingram. I chose Lightning Source as the print-on-demand (POD) supplier for the library edition of A Wilder Rose, because Lightning Source distributes books through both Baker & Taylor and Ingram. Libraries may be more likely to buy your author-published book if you offer the standard institutional discount, 30-40%.

4. Before libraries can acquire your book, you have to let them know it’s available and entice them to order it. For this, you’ll want a press release (print or digital). It should describe your book in beguiling terms and (of course) feature your cover. Mention appealing extras such as index, photos, resource list and/or bibliography. Describe the book’s binding and be sure to include ordering information. One librarian told me to put all of this all on one side of a 9x12 page, or on a postcard. Several librarians reported that they did not want emailed releases.

5. I bought a mailing list of public libraries that serve populations over 40,000. I mailed postcards advertising the book to the 1284 libraries on that list. I have also taken advantage of the mailing services offered through the Independent Book Publishers Association (As a member of this organization, I have used several of its marketing programs. The staff is very helpful.)

6. Consider placing your book on NetGalley. I’m told that librarians often preview books there. I posted A Wilder Rose on NetGalley in July and the book is still being downloaded by reviewers, including librarians.

7. Librarians would like to see a review of your author-published book in at least one of four major review venues: Booklist, Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly. Of the four, only Kirkus and Publishers Weekly offer reviews to self-publishers and indie authors—for a fee. Uncertain whether you should pay for a review? Read Susan Gottfried’s helpful post on assessing the value of paid reviews. I took advantage of both the Kirkus and PW indie programs and earned starred reviews from both. The Kirkus starred review led to two feature articles (one in September, the other in November) in Kirkus’ print and online publications—coverage I wouldn’t have had without the review and definitely worth the up-front investment.

8. On your book’s website, offer resources for libraries, to tweak their interest. You can take a look at what I’m offering here.

9. Your local library may be a good place to begin your marketing efforts, with an offer to talk to library patrons or a Friends’ group about your book. And don’t overlook your state library association. I’ve given talks to three groups of Texas librarians since the publication of Rose, and have been invited to talk (and sell books!) at the Texas Library Association conference in April, 2014.

I’ve found a way to measure the success of these efforts: the number of libraries that are acquiring Rose. I’m keeping track via WorldCat, which lists the holdings of more than 10,000 libraries around the world. As of the day I wrote this post, 159 libraries had ordered or already shelved one or more copies of the book. (Some large library systems have ordered a copy for every branch.) And since only about a third of U.S. libraries belong to WorldCat, it’s reasonable to suppose that Rose is already on the shelves of quite a few more libraries—and that the numbers will continue to grow.

These are the strategies that have worked for me—but I’ll bet there are others I haven’t tried. And of course, library technologies are changing as fast as the publishing industry. I haven’t even thought about trying to get the eBook edition of ROSE into libraries, for example. That a whole ‘nother kettle of fish!

If you’ve had experience in getting your books into libraries, please share. The more we know, the easier this will be—or at least, so we hope!

First written by Susan Wittig Albert for Blood Red Pencil 

"If you loved Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books about her pioneer childhood, you should read A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert. If you are reluctant to believe that Laura’s daughter Rose may have written the books, you must read this novel...." Linda Hasselstrom