I love working from my home office. The time I spent preparing for work and commuting is now spent working on projects, my own and those of my clients.

And I’ve worked with some wonderful people on great projects. My clients are enthusiastic about their books and websites; they’re not just ticking off a requirement on a checklist. It makes me feel that the work I do for them is important and needs my best effort.

The “self” in self-publishing means it’s all — production, distribution, marketing — on the self-publisher’s shoulders.

In traditional publishing, the publisher who purchases your manuscript arranges for copyediting, cover design, and typesetting. When you self-publish — and using a print-on-demand (POD) service essentially is self-publishing, even though your book will come out with the service’s ISBN — these tasks are among the many functions that become your responsibility.

If you choose to self-publish and want to produce a professional product, your manuscript must be edited for grammar, punctuation, and style. Every manuscript needs a fresh pair of eyes before printing, when corrections are still comparatively inexpensive. (A long-standing print industry maxim is “Fast, Cheap, Good: pick any two.”)

Readers do judge books by their covers. While readers commonly say they choose a book because they like that author or after reading the summary and skimming the book’s pages, what causes them to pick up a book they’ve never heard of in the first place?

Before you decide to self-publish, I strongly suggest you read at least one book on the subject. The most recommended book, Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual, covers the basics, from writing to book production to promotion. (While I disagree with some of his suggestions about layout and writing, his explanations of ISBNs, CIP data, and the publishing calendar are a terrific primer for new publishers.) Other helpful titles are The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Marilyn Ross and 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer.

Considering publishing through one of the online POD services? Talk to others who have self-published that way. And read up on self-publishing so you’ll understand what the POD service tells you. Before making a decision, find out just how much help the POD service will give you in producing and selling your book, and whether you will be locked into a long-term agreement.

Please note that POD is the acronym for print on demand, not publish on demand. But you don’t have to take my word for it: What is Print on Demand?

For more information about self-publishing, search Google or visit the Sac Publishers Publishing 101 page.

Advice for unpublished writers

• Part 1: Critique groups
• Part 2: Suggested reading for writers
• Part 3: Book doctors
• Part 4: Self-publishing
• Part 5: Publishing resources (offsite)

Book doctoring goes beyond grammar and punctuation to address pacing, characterization, story arc, plot, language, theme — the same issues addressed by a good critique group.

While book doctors can’t guarantee your manuscript will be published, they can advise whether you have a saleable manuscript and suggest revisions that will improve your manuscript’s chance of publication. The services provided by book doctors vary; some will give you a written critique while others will work with you to fix the manuscript.

Their fees aren’t cheap; they offer professional services. If you plan to make a career out of writing, you’re much better off attending writing workshops and joining a critique group. Book doctors are most useful for single-book writers or persons who are using the book to promote other endeavors.

If you decide you need a book doctor, select one with care. Ask prospects if they have been published themselves, what books they’ve worked on that have been published, if they’ve ever worked for a publisher, and how they evaluate manuscripts.

Use caution! For information about scams visited on writers, visit Writer Beware or the Preditors & Editors site.

Advice for unpublished writers

• Part 1: Critique groups
• Part 2: Suggested reading for writers
• Part 3: Book doctors
• Part 4: Self-publishing
• Part 5: Publishing resources (offsite)

The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers

The title says it all: Chicago is the standard style guide for U.S. books. There are nifty sections on The Publishing Process (the different parts of a book and their content, rights and permissions, more) and Style and Usage (punctuation, how to handle foreign words and quotations, more). As a writer, you don’t really need to know all these fine points of style. The copyeditor will take care of this stuff. But don’t you want to make your manuscript as foolproof as possible?

Words into Type, Third Edition

Why buy WIT if you already own Chicago? While they cover much of the same material, they have a different layout and, more important, different examples. If the examples in Chicago don’t exactly match your problem, try WIT. Words into Type also contains a list of cliches, a section of words and the correct preposition to use with them, and more. A very useful book. You will need to order a used copy.

The Gregg Reference Manual

Gregg is my first resource for questions about grammar. The index is superb — no thumbing through the book trying to find the right rule. Here’s a short list of how the index handles one of writing-s most troublesome areas:

Commas — in addresses, with adjectives, with adverbs, with afterthoughts, with ampersands, with appositives, with as well and similar expressions.

There are over 50 comma index entries! And the explanations are written in plain English.

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged

Words are your tools. You need a good dictionary, whether this one (the house dictionary for The Chicago Manual of Style) or another one such as The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, or The American Heritage Dictionary.

The Elements of Style

A simple, common-sense guide for people who don’t like a lot of rules — many writers swear by this book. The original 1918 version (which was self-published) is online.

Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew

This book by Ursula K. Le Guin, a set of writing exercises used in a workshop she ran, includes a great explanation of viewpoint.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print

Easy-to-follow examples and clear explanations by Renni Browne and Dave King. I suggest reading this book after your first draft is complete and making a review pass through your draft for each issue covered.

Writing the Breakout Novel: Winning Advice from a Top Agent and His Bestselling Client

This book by Donald Maass is an excellent companion for Self-Editing for Fiction Writers; whereas Self-Editing covered the bricks and mortar of novel construction, Breakout delves into the architecture of a memorable novel. He discusses elements of plot, theme, and character that create a bestseller. Read this book while writing your first draft and again after the draft is complete.

This list includes just a few of the many excellent books about writing. You don’t need to go broke learning the art of writing: make your public library your second home.

Advice for unpublished writers

• Part 1: Critique groups
• Part 2: Suggested reading for writers
• Part 3: Book doctors
• Part 4: Self-publishing
• Part 5: Publishing resources (offsite)

Why spend money having your manuscript checked for misplaced apostrophes if whole passages lack oomph? My two cents: get the big problems with plot, pacing, and characterization out of the way before hiring a copyeditor.

Working with other writers in a critique group will hone your writing skills. As you study someone else’s manuscript, you’ll more than likely recognize faults that crop up in your own writing. You’ll learn if readers sympathize with your characters, or if some plot element is simply unbelievable. And — for the cost only of your time — you’ll receive pointers for fixing your manuscript.

When selecting a critique group, look for one that concentrates on the work, not the writer. Criticism should be professional and aimed at helping you improve your manuscript. If none of the critters in that group can point out where your manuscript needs improvement, find a tougher crit group.

Many crit groups meet online. Search Google for critique groups in your genre, or try Forward Motion for Writers or Absolute Write Water Cooler. Writers’ conferences often include a workshop; you can find a list of upcoming conferences at the Shaw Guides and Writer’s Digest websites.

Brush up on style rules online by reading The Standard Deviations of Writing by Roger MacBride Allen or The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. (1918 version).

Advice for unpublished writers

• Part 1: Critique groups
• Part 2: Suggested reading for writers
• Part 3: Book doctors
• Part 4: Self-publishing
• Part 5: Publishing resources (offsite)

See the gap between the menu and the next post/previous post links?

Google is my friend. I owe a big thank-you to people who take the effort to document these idiosyncrasies. Life is now good again.

And this image shows how the links and sidebar are supposed to line up.

Stephanie Chandler discussed the current e-book market and marketing for authors. (An interesting factoid: PDF e-books are still selling strongly!)

I discussed my experience building e-books and gave out a handout explaining the steps for building an e-book based on the InDesign file for the print version of the book. While I took screenshots of the process, the handout includes just the facts, ma’am. Maybe in another blog post . . .

Download the handout: How to Build an E-book (PDF)

There is no fee to have a book published if you go the traditional publishing route. The publisher pays the author.

You may be thinking of using a subsidy publisher (sometimes called a POD publisher or self-publishing company; both are misnomers) or of self-publishing. A subsidy publisher makes money by getting authors to buy its services. You should not expect any support beyond delivery of the books you purchase.

If you self-publish, you are responsible for purchasing your ISBN and arranging the editing, design, typesetting, and printing. You are also responsible for marketing and distribution.

Here are some resources to help you get started. You might also check out the Independent Book Publishers Association and any publisher associations in your local area.

How a Book Gets Published
Warnings About the Schemes, Scams, and Pitfalls That Threaten Writers
Preditors & Editors

Good luck!

From Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary:
Writers and speakers have supplied this lack by using the plural pronouns: “and every one to rest themselves betake” — Shakespeare; “I would have everybody marry if they can do it properly” — Jane Austen; “it is too hideous for anyone in their senses to buy” — W. H. Auden.

Also see this blog post discussing singular they filed under “Prescriptivist Poppycock” at Language Log.

First of all, you can use images with headers without hurting SEO. The text is either shoved offscreen or covered with a graphic.

There are also some more complicated (to my mind) text replacement methods using Flash and other techniques.

Most current browsers support @fontface (a CSS method) but you have to upload multiple font versions for the different browsers. The font files can be big (bad for downloading) and when I’ve tested @fontface on pages, the text looked funny. There may also be a problem with font licensing; your desired font might be restricted from being stored on a server.

For body text, here’s a list of fonts you can expect computer users to have.

If you’re not building the pages yourself, just tell your Web production person what you want and let them take care of it.