Self publishing and colour printing

I'm proud to be a self publisher. I love the fact that I have control over my books, and if I want to have lots of colour pictures in there, then that's what I'm going to have...

Why is it that the so called self publishing companies put authors off colour pictures in books? Some will even charge all the pages of a book at the higher rate for colour printing... It doesn't have to be that way, and if you truly self publish with your own ISBN you can shop around and get a reputable printer to produce the book you really want.

Of course that does mean that you're responsible for your own merchandising, but then you usually are anyway...

Book signings are a great way of getting self publish books into the public eye, and a great way of getting feedback on what people think of your books. And yes they do judge a book by it's cover - that's the first thing everyone sees, but if you have a cover to be proud of then that isn't a problem.

Of course social media and a website are great platforms to promote books, and if you're reading this, then I'm doing something right, so how about checking out my Bookshop, see the covers and read the blurbs, and if you like what you see - don't be shy, fill your virtual shopping cart and go shopping :) 

And then of course there's the off the wall sort of merchandising like knitted sheep, which customers at book signings love - and have been getting quite a bit of attention online.

Self publishing - making the book you want to make...

Hi there, I know I've got your attention - the stats don't lie, so why is nobody talking to me...?

Well, as nobody is going to say anything, it just leaves me to ramble on a bit more...

My next project:

I've made a start on my next project, well, when I say I've made a start, I'm making a start on  the illustrations and formatting - the text is already written, and it's an exciting story, although I do say  it myself.

It could be said that this book is taking me back to my comfort zone - it's another picture book. But on the other hand it means getting my paints out again, which is always a little out of my comfort zone - words always come easier than pictures, which is odd, given my very visual imagination...

So I'm going to be sploshing around with paints for the next few weeks - I can't think of a better way to spend a summer...

But launching into a new book is always an adventure - and the problems that jump out at me, are never where I expected to find them.

My latest book Outnumbered by Cats seemed on the face of it, as if the illustrations were going to be easy, after all  they are photos. But, first I got distracted by all those lovely photos of my cats and kittens, then my cat came to join me and was sat avidly watching videos, and listening to her kittens from when they were tiny - it was a pretty special moment.

Then I couldn't decide which photos to use, and had a terrible time editing them down to a whopping 82 colour photos... at which point my usual stubborn streak kicked in and I decided that as it was my project I would have all the photos I wanted - you can never have too many kitten photos can you...?

Next I had trouble with the picture quality, after all the work editing the image sizes down, it turned out I should have left well alone and just inserted them at original size and fiddled with them from there. Anyway where there's a will there's a way and after a lot of reworking my photos are all there in colour inserts.

So if anyone tries to tell you that a self publisher can't do a book with colour photos - don't listen, be stubborn and make the book you want to make - isn't that the point of self publishing after all...?

Self publishing, and why I'm not trudging around the bookshops with my books

My new books are here and ready for sale, so why am I not out there trying to get my books into the bookshops?

Well it's a case of been there, done that, and taken the losses when the bookshops go out of business, and it's not just the small shops, it's the big boys too. Why do bookshops expect to  take their stock on sale or return? I don't order a print run on sale or return, I buy in what I'm confident of selling.

So my position is, I'm happy to sell to bookshops, or supply to them through distributors, but I'n not pushing my books on sale or return anymore.

So my books will be selling mainly from my website and book signings. I'll sign  books for that personal touch, and I'll hand number all copies of my first print run of Outnumbered by Cats, as it's a short print run of just 100 books.

Why such a short print run? Because it's been quite an expensive project to do, it's got colour inserts containing 82 colour photos, and that was after some hard editing down. But the good news is that if you're quick it's at a launch price of just £7.99!

Proof reading what was all the fuss about?

So, after all the procrastination, I finally got down to my proof reading - and what was all the fuss about?

Proof reading, sat on the sofa with my feet up and the sun coming in through the window, looking for all the world like I was taking an afternoon off... The down side was that I did find some errors, but I'm trying not to beat myself up about it too much... after all it is only the proof copy, and though it would be nice to find nothing wrong at all - it's not the end of the world.

Struggling with my promotions hat... which seems to have shrunk...!

Struggling with my promotions hat... which seems to have shrunk...!

It's been two weeks now since I zapped my files off to the printers, and since then I've been trying to be creative in a different direction, namely I've been blogging and putting posts on facebook and generally trying to squeeze my head back into my promotional hat... but it doesn't quite fit, much like a pair of jeans freshly washed - and shrunk!

This is the time when a mainstream author would have a backup team (who presumably all wear their promotions hats every day, and are comfortable in them...). But as a self publisher I feel a bit on my own - even my cats seem to have deserted me in favour of cat baskets and beds about the house.

My mind is now getting distracted by thoughts of designing a new promotions hat... one that will not shrink while I'm busy wearing my author hat or editing hat. It needs to be a design that will inspire out-of-the-box thinking, possibly something flamboyant, but without being big and flappy, it's quite gusty outside today...

Maybe I should take inspiration from Aline's hat in A Face Full of Snow - the one that Eric thought was a alien on her head... It has eyes on stalks, and looks as if it could see round corners to search out new ideas...

Limited editions and gingerbread moose...

I now have my print quote, and number mashing has given me a headache - I think my brain runs better on words than numbers, a bit like putting the wrong fuel in you car...

As a self publisher I need to decide how many books to have printed, the bigger the print run the cheaper per book they are to print, but the figures soon add up, and this one was never going to be a cheap book to produce with all the colour photos that I just couldn't leave out. So I'm thinking I might do a limited edition on this one, and then future editions will have fewer photos... we'll see.

Meanwhile, I got distracted as I tend to do and baked some gingerbread moose...