Publishing and Custom Publishing?!
I was in awe this morning when my busy relatives decided to ask me what I do. Okay, fine, they really truly don’t ever pay attention… just keep reminding myself be nice, and be nice, and yes I’m a writer. Then they ask what about custom publishing or when will you be publishing?
I almost wan to ask them don’t you know anything about writing? well they don’t write and have great snobbery for those who do. (If I hear one more time when are you getting a girly job, this laptop is going down on some one’s head! Okay maybe not it’s a new laptop!) Most of them use their books as paperweights, or and levelers for their desks, which don;t have papers but people magazines. Custom publishing? I almost want to ask them what planet they dropped off of.
Yes there is such as thing, depending on the person it can range from publishing with a say. (Meaning I got some say in my book after I edited it) to all out self-publishing. (meaning I’ll do it myself to the point of buying my own ISBN and getting a collection of books to inventory. I believe that publishing and custom publishing in particular fall somewhere in between.
Again not really talking about vanity presses here, you know the kind no bang for your bucks, I don’t call these a good publishing system at all. ( you should by now also know the kind I don’t like and don’t suggest) At any rate there are many ways yo publishing and may ways to decide on what people will enjoy.
As writers we aren’t created the same, we’re all a bit unique. Which is why to think of something as vast as “publishing” can be put into a box is wrong, that why there’s “custom publishing” this I would say is the very thing that all writers do, even in the traditional publishing industry they work to make their work the best. This is my mind is what custom publishing should be about.
Still for most it’s self-publishing under a new word. So with that in mind…
Okay three self-publishing places who have more and better information than I do
Michael at Book Making. Some days a kick in the pants but always a great read.
Author 101 at A book Inside great information, and interesting things to read. (Note they do publish infrequently, but when they do it’s always a good read)
Then, Christy at Christy Pinheiro
My question for you to day is this: What is custom publishing to you?
2 Comments
Christy Pinheiro, EA ABA
Gosh– everyone is talking abot this today. I went to my newsgroup this morning (SPAWN–for writers, it's a yahoo group and worth checking out) and there was a long discussion about the different types of publishing. Everyone had a VERY different opinion about it. Some of the wrters thought that vanity publishers were okay, while some others thought they were like vultures– just out to get the author's money.
I think that if you are a true self-publisher, you purchase your own ISBNs, and you actually pay for your own editing, formatting, etc. Then you promote the book yourself. You need a little money to get started. And success is much greater with non-fiction. But there have been some serious success stories– Aaron Shepard, Dan Poynter, and Patricia Fry are all successful self-publishers. Oh, and me too!
Brian, the old man
Thanks for the information and the links. I love to write and I am working on developing my first book. I write a few blogs and really do enjoy it. Thanks again. Have a great day.