Adventures in Self-Publishing Part 3

Getting Your Book Out To The World

ISBNs

If you would like to sell your book, you will need an ISBN. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, and it is a unique number that is assigned to each published book in the world. The ISBN can be identified by the bar code on the back of any book. If you plan to sell different versions of a book, such as a hardcover and a paperback, you will need a different ISBN for each. You do not need to have an ISBN if you are not planning to sell your book.

There are two ways of getting an ISBN: Free from some printing companies or purchasing them directly from Bowker, the company that sells all the ISBNs. Visit Bowker.com for more information. If you are looking for a quick and easy way of getting your book produced, using a printing company such as Blurb.com or Lulu.com might be your best option. Do keep in mind that while they provide a free ISBN, you might not be able to keep using the same number again if you need to make a change to your book. When I released Sun Night in 2018, I didn’t know this important fact. This means that every time you change or update something on your book, you will get a new ISBN and stores will have a hard time defining which ISBN is the most recent for your book, creating more work on your end. The ISBNs cannot be deleted once assigned. Lastly, the production cost of your books on these sites will be much higher than other print companies.

Purchasing ISBNs from Bowker allows you to own the number and you can make as many edits as necessary to your book while keeping the same ISBN. More on this later. In my situation, because I knew that I needed more than one ISBN, I decided to purchase 10 ISBNs at once. When I re-released Sun Night in December 2023, I assigned one ISBN for the hardcover version and another ISBN for the paperback edition. I also assigned one ISBN for the eBook, but this is not required if you only expect to sell your book on Amazon. I recommend assigning one to an eBook for easy referencing and to have the most available options for selling across all shops worldwide.

INGRAMSPARK

Once you have assigned the ISBN to your book, you can either go to a printer of your choice to get your book produced or use IngramSpark.com. I have used IngramSpark for my book production because Ingram is the company that distributes all books around the world and once you upload your data to Ingram using the IngramSpark website, your book will be pushed to all bookstores around the world within hours or days.?IngramSpark is also much more affordable.

Once you have your book files ready for production, create a free account with IngramSpark if you do not have one yet. You will need to know some important details about the book to set it up on their website. Those details include the ISBN, dimensions of your book, page count, cover type (hardcover, hardcover with dust jacket, paperback), interior paper type and color, book price, etc. You will need a PDF of the exterior cover and interior pages of your book to set it up.

To create the cover that includes the ISBN bar code on the back of the book, you can use a handy resource available for free on the IngramSpark site under Resources.?To use this feature, simply include all the details of the book (book dimensions, page count, type of paper, ISBN, a price if you choose to show it as part of the ISBN bar code, etc.). You will then receive an email from IngramSpark within minutes with the file type you choose so that you can design your cover(s). When I define cover(s), some books such as a hardcover with dust jacket will require two art files, one for the interior hard cover itself and another one for the dust jacket. Some books could use the same artwork but do keep in mind that the specifications of each one will be different so you cannot use the same art file for both. Using the free tool to create your cover files will ensure they are designed to the appropriate dimensions. Once you have set up all your book details, IngramSpark will go through an extensive review process of your files and the details you entered. The great thing about this process is that it is free (it used to cost $25 per book upload). The review process can take up to 5 days. Be patient. If 5 days have passed, I would suggest contacting Ingram to find out the status. I have encountered this issue before, and they were able to correct it right away. This process shouldn’t take more than 2 to 3 days but expect delays during busy seasons such as the months before Christmas. Once the files are reviewed and approved, you will receive an email with a link to a PDF where you can review what your book will look like. Follow the steps carefully and ensure that the PDF looks the way you expected. If you encounter any issues, make the changes on your files and re-upload them again repeating the same process. When you are completely satisfied with the way your files look, then select the appropriate approval box. This will automatically make your book available for printing with IngramSpark. Note that you can make as many edits as possible to your book files within 60 days of first uploading the file to Ingram. After 60 days, you will be charged $25 per update made, including changes to your book cover, interior pages, paper type, etc. I recommend printing one copy of your book to make sure you are satisfied with the product you’ll be selling. Remember you only have 60 days after your book is uploaded to make any changes/updates to it for free. The printing process can take from 1 to 3 weeks depending on the number of books ordered.

MARKETING YOUR BOOK

When I wrote Sun Night, I did it to honor my brother’s life and the moments we lived together.?I wanted to share my book with others and to do that, I needed to market it. You might feel uncomfortable putting yourself out there, but it is necessary if you want others to know you have taken the time to write something worth reading. Be proud of your work by creating a well-rounded marketing campaign. There are a variety of ways to accomplish that. The traditional direction is working with publishers that could take your book and market it with their spending power, experience, and resources. This is a huge effort that might take a lot of time without any guarantees. There are several ways you can accomplish this on your own:

• Use the power of social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) to announce the book release and other news about the book. You can achieve this by creating a separate author social channel and building it by inviting your friends, family, and fans. Don’t forget to use related tags to expand the visibility of your post.
• Enter book competitions. This helps spread the word and add face time to your book to others.
• Create a website about your book with an author page, book details, a link to purchase your book, praise your book has received, fan photos, a blog, competition announcements, etc.
• Create an Amazon account where you can personalize your book page with more details about it including graphics of praise, book photos, etc.
• Print postcards or bookmarks with cover art and details including a link to your website or QR code. These are must-haves if you are doing a book signing or marketing in person at events.
• Write a blog that could be part of your website. When visitors stop by your website, invite them to sign up for your blog. Every time you have a new entry, they receive an email about it.
• Attend local and national book fairs where you can sell your book.
• Reach out to local bookstores to do a book signing. Many bookstores can even help market the author signing while you also market on your social channels. Be prepared to bring signage and a healthy number of copies. The bookstore staff can give you an idea of how much inventory authors sell during the signing events.
• Get a book review from a reputable source. Book reviews will help your book get noticed even more. A couple of those services include Kirkus Reviews or Booklist. There is a fee for these services.? You can also get a free review from Readers Favorite. Amazon book reviews are also helpful but hard to get. People who read a lot may be more comfortable writing a review than others, be patient with these. Unless you are a well-known author or celebrity, expect the reviews to come in slowly.
• Run a Book Giveaway. These are a good way of marketing your book and Goodreads.com has an affordable way of doing this. You can give away hard copies or eBook versions. It is also a good idea to have an author account page created with Goodreads so that your audience sees you are a serious author.
• Write articles about your book on LinkedIn. I’ve come to embrace this mode of marketing because it is free. I can include links to my website.
• Create limited edition artwork inspired by your book as an additional way to market the book. You could give away the artwork or sell it on your book website.

MARKETING STRATEGIES

• Create a social media release date countdown to build excitement about your book.
• Advertise your book on magazines or websites related to the type of content you write. Some trade magazines such as Booklist or Publishers Weekly could help.
• Every time your book earns an accolade, make news about it. Write it on your blog, include it in your social media channels, and talk about it to friends and family.
• Make news every time you do a giveaway, a signing event, attend a book fair, or win a competition. The more people see your content the more top of mind it will be. Remember that people are being bombarded with all types of media on their phones, computers, emails, and social channels, so you need to find a way to stand out from all that noise.
• With their permission, use photos of people reading your book, holding your book, opening the package of your book, at signing events, book fair traffic to your table, book shots, etc.
• IngramSpark now offers a free shareable link for readers to buy your book directly from them. For example, you can use this feature for a pre-sale or to sell your book at a lower price for a special event you’ll be attending. All you need to do is get the shareable link from the IngramSpark eCommerce menu, create a QR code, and use that on your marketing for that particular marketing strategy.

This wraps up the three-part series of my adventures in self-publishing. I have learned quite a lot during the last five years, but I don’t know it all. If you have any tips or ideas about self-publishing, write me a note or leave a message on this article. I look forward to your thoughts. Thank you for accompanying me on this journey.