Folks I need some pointers on independent publishing. This is not an idle query for an intern or someone who once read a book about it and wants to dabble. I need to talk to a veteran professional who can hit the ground running with a serious project back by serious capital in the unlikely event this turns into more than an info gathering lark.
The Zingularity
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I’ve self-published two print books (well, the same guide book in English and Spanish) and one ebook, but I’m in Spain and your main market is presumably the USA, right? Feel free to get back to me, but I expect that you’ve got readers who can help you better than I can.
On-topic but probably of little help: I’ve seen lots of good posts and comments on this at http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/ (mostly by Jim Macdonald) – but I can’t find a search-box there, and nothing of relevant use on their front page now…
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Are you talking about e-publication, print publishing or what?
Tsu, print and probably formatted for e-readers too
What do you mean by “independent”? Are you looking to sell to a smaller publishing house, or publish it yourself? Do you need outside help with the non-writing parts of the job – editing, graphic design, marketing, distribution? (I’m not the veteran you describe, but I’ve been working on a similar question for a while, so I might be able to point you onward to my own sources.)
A good blog on ebook publishing is JA Konrath’s “Newbie’s Guide to Publishing” http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
John Scalzi has written some posts that touch on it, also he just did a series of posts about what kinds of contracts to never sign.
If you’re talking about a ‘serious project backed by serious capital’, then talk to an independent publishing house that has published similar books to whatever you’re considering. If your idea is good enough, and you present it professionally, they’ll bite.
If you’re looking for advice/assistance on POD, design, layout and proofreading, I’ve published seven books independently, but generally I only give free advice/assistance to people publishing on a shoestring. If you have serious capital I feel you should expect to pay for expert advice, the same way everyone else does.
Recently read a wonderful novel published (eBook and Paperback) by http://unbound.co.uk