Book design, book reading, Editing, goals, marketing, networking, publishing, self-publishing

Publish or Perish, or just Put your words out there?

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Publish or Perish is a common phrase in British academia. If you don’t publish papers you’ll never advance your career. Guessing that we’re more interested in just putting our words out there, even if we never achieve that great writing career, Sheila offered a few ways we might use to let others see our words. You can find her presentation online at https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230319-publishing-presentation.pdf (pdf file) or https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230319-publishing-presentation.pptx (powerpoint presentation file).

We started by looking at:

  • Books, Zines, Articles, Poems, Pictures…
    • “Published” is if everyone can read what you’ve written.
    • “Published-ish” is if you are in control of who’s reading, and the number of readers is limited.
  • Start a blog –
    • IT’S PUBLISHED (and publishers will care)
  • Create a calendar or other special gift – choose the words and images –
    • IT’S PUBLISHED-ish (assuming you only give it to friends and family)
  • Write a poem, illustrate it, and hang it on your wall –
    • IT’S PUBLISHED-ish! You put your words out there (but it’s still not published) if you just send it in an email too, or share it with a friend. When it’s publicly available, hanging on the wall in the town hall say, then it’s published.
  • Stick pages together with Duct-Tape – someone collected “cooperative poems” from a group and created a hardcover book, nicely bound with the aid of duct tape.
    • IT’S PUBLISHED-ish, (He only made 12 copies)
  • Staple some pages together and make a Zine –
    • IT’S PUBLISHED as soon as you sell it!
    • (poems, stories, essays, diary… whatever! If it’s publicly available, publishers will call it published.)
  • Make a Photo Album, with captions, and give it to someone as a gift –
    • IT’S PUBLISHED-ish (and it’s private)
    • You can make cool picture storybooks for your grandkids this way. Not sure how Sheila’s grandpuppies and grandkitties would react.
  • Use a website, like https://www.storyworth.com/ to get weekly prompts for a family history book. Sheila and her mum were given a subscription and they’ve bought their book.
    • It’s PUBLISHED-ish – only their family get copies.
  • Enter a contest and win, or submit a piece to an anthology and get it accepted –
    • IT’S PUBLISHED – Definitely published BUT
  • Enter a Writers’ Mill Contest – it’s not “published”
    • IT’S PUBLISHED-ish – our members can read it.
    • Publishers will not consider it published because our site is password protected, with a limited number of people receiving the password each month, so it’s a great way to try out your chapters on some readers.
  • Submit something for the Writers’ Mill Anthology
    • IT’S PUBLISHED! (No longer password protected, therefore definitely published)
  • Ebooks or Print Books –
    • If it’s for sale, IT’S PUBLISHED
  • Find a publisher or self-publish
    • Even if you never sell any copies, it’s published as soon as it’s for sale.
  • Picture Book, Poetry Book, History Book, Cricket Book, Chess Book, Novels, Novellas and More –
    • PUBLISHED
  • Or you can just write a letter to a friend… which is not published; IT’S PUBLISHEDish! (email counts too!)

Introductions

Sheila then went around the zoom room and the library room, inviting everyone to introduce themselves by answering three questions:

  • What’s your name?
  • Are you published, or published-ish? And
  • What sort of “putting your words out there” do you most aspire to at this moment?

If you weren’t there, try answering them just for yourself (though you probably already know your name).

Some of us aspire to be published. Some are already delighting in the fact that they are published, both with publishers and with self-publishing. Some books from our members include:

I apologize if I missed anyone out. Please reply and let me know. Members’ interests included:

  • Communicating with and supporting young prodigies
  • Exploring the realm between the physical and the spiritual
  • Offering enrichment to readers
  • Recording the past in essays
  • Fulfilling a childhood dream to be an author
  • Publishing a collection of novellas, stories or poems
  • Presenting a children’s book at a library or at Starbucks
  • Curriculum development, technical papers, etc
  • Writing a sci fi novel that doesn’t read like a science paper
  • History and family history
  • Poetry – facebook poetry, poetry anthologies, etc
  • Ezines
  • Spy fiction
  • Children’s Bible stories
  • Fantasy… and more

We hope, as a group, to offer a comfortable place for sharing a passion for writing, whatever your particular interest, and to provide advice and encouragement to our members, to help them achieve their dreams or simply expand their enjoyment of the love of words.

Twenty Questions

We didn’t get to all the questions in our list of twenty, so please reply to this email if there are ones you really want to see covered in more depth. I’ve tried to include the conversation from the chat, as well as what went on aloud. Please let me know if I’ve missed anything important:

1) How do you find places to Send Your Writing?

2) How do You Find an Agent or Publisher

3) How do you Find an Editor?

4) What if you haven’t got an Editor?

  • https://www.grammarly.com/ (free)
  • https://prowritingaid.com/ (“Grammarly on steroids”?)
  • https://hemingwayapp.com/
  • There’s a new Editor tool in Word on the Review tab, and you can use Excel to keep track of characters’ haircolor etc.
  • Read aloud – Word can do that too!
  • Read backwards… I don’t think Word can do that!
  • Look for repeated words – we all have our favorites: so, but, and, …
  • Join a critique group – writers helping writers!

5) How Long is a Book?

  • Picture book                      1,000 words – ish! These are all – ish
  • Short story                         5,000 words
  • YA/Middle grade              50,000 words
  • Novella                               30,000 words
  • Novel                                  70,000 words
  • Historical novel                 90,000 words
  • Epic                                     100,000 words

6) How do you write about Real People?

  • Memoir – there are some legal guidelines
    • better to write about people who are dead,
    • but descendants might have concerns
  • Family history – maybe let people read it before it’s published
  • Fictionalize it (see below)
  • General history
    • “Based on” means it should all be true, but
    • “Inspired by” means you can use your imagination to create new events
    • “Fictionalized” means none of it has to be entirely true

7) What about writing in collaboration with another author? Or being a Ghost-Writer?

  • Ghostwriting?
    • Sometimes editing turns into something closer to ghost-writing
    • Jim worked with someone to help and/or ghost-write their story
    • Team up with someone else in a group?
  • Collaboration? It’s not easy matching writing routines and styles
    • Maybe you write alternating chapters in a novel, or alternating stanzas in a poem
    • Could try having one author write one character’s pov and another author write another’s.
  • Could be a fun exercise for a contest sometime?

8) What about series?

9) What happens after you get an Offer?

  • Timeline to publication? You might hear nothing for a year or more
    • What if it’s taking too long? Be patient, but make sure the publisher is still publishing.
  • Editing process?
    • What if you hate their edits? Meeting face to face (zoom) and talking to your editor as a person helps you realize they just want to help. You might not have to accept all their edits
  • Book covers? You can’t decide how the cover looks, but you can have input
  • Advertising material?
  • Getting paid? Hope for the best. Some pay on Paypal. Others (Amazon) want your banking information. Some will only pay you once you’ve earned over some set amount of royalties.

10) What about Copyrights, First Publication Rights, eBook Rights… and Lefts?

  • If you write a blog or content for a website, that piece of writing is published.
    • Most publishers want “first publication rights” and would therefore reject it
    • Some are willing to accept “exclusive rights” (not available elsewhere) and might republish something if you remove it from your blog
  • How do you protect yourself when you share your work? How many lawyers can you afford?
  • Your copyright is yours as soon as you write, but
    • You might want to register it with the copyright office (costs money – not much, formfilling – of course, and copies) in case anything goes wrong, but
    • The copyright office won’t help you if it’s copied, and lawyers cost a fortune.
  • You “give/sell” your first publication rights (maybe others) when someone publishes you.
    • A contract will state exactly which rights, and over what period of time. Read it carefully!
    • Writers’ Mill just wants permission to publish, even if it’s not the first publication of your piece. You have to be sure you have the rights to republish if it’s already been published elsewhere.

11) How do you Advertise Your Books?

  • Give a talk: local library, historical society, bookstore – would depend on library’s programing, book’s audience, etc.
  • Contact people you know:
    • high school alumni magazine
    • Neighbors – maybe advertise on https://nextdoor.com/ or write something for your neighborhood association newsletter
  • Attend an event:
    • Beaverton city library’s local author’s fair,
  • News release to local papers, but lots of papers don’t do book reviews anymore
  • Social media – Facebook page, Instagram, TikTok (video)
    • Join facebook groups, meet people who might like your book. Meet other authors – you help them and they help you (but don’t exchange book reviews – Amazon will notice and remove them!)
  • Create a “signature” line for your emails, advertising your book.
  • Make a website (Zita has given various presentations on how to do this and might be willing to do another one)
  • Bookmarks, Flyers, etc. You can make your own with  Word, https://www.canva.com/, MS Publisher, InDesign. and save as a PDF, then take it to a printer: Kinko’s, Staples …Full color costs more.
    • Cedar House Media Printing on Allen Blvd.
    • Minute Man Press, Beaverton.

12) How do you Sell Your Books?

  • Amazon (takes a cut, sets a minimum sale price)
  • Independent bookstores (but they don’t like Amazon)
    • Sell on consignment – you deliver the books. They sell them and give you a percentage of the sale price.
      • You might want to make sure you’re still making a profit!
    • List on Ingram to make available outside Amazon, but this cuts into your profits
    • Print with IngramSpark as well as with Amazon (but still hard to get into stores)
      • The whole “returns” thing is a disaster waiting to happen. Bookstores like to be able to return unsold books, whatever condition they are in, and you have to pay!
  • Go to local bazaars, farmer’s markets, etc (Some authors have booths at local farmers markets, but they may have to “register” their business first)
  • Give talks and hand-sell – you get a better profit that way, even if you reduce the price!

13) How /why would you decide to self-publish?

  • Enjoy the challenge?
  • Got bored with getting rejections?
  • Want more control over style and cover?
  • Want to control when the book is released (e.g. if it’s immediately relevant)?
  • Just want to get it finished?

14) Is Self-Publishing Difficult?

15) What Tools do you need to make a Zine?

With thanks to Robin for these answers:

Definition – a publication you make and distribute yourself – booklet, CD, comic… any topic, offers free expression outside of formal publication. A Zinester is someone who makes zines. For more info (and help) try:

  • Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) https://www.iprc.org 318 SE Main St. Suite 155, Portland, OR 97214, (503) 827-0249, Hours: Mon.,Tues. & Sat. noon-6pm Wed. 6-9 p.m. Thurs. & Fri. noon-9 Sun. Closed Facebook: IPRCDPX
    • Annual event: Portland Zine Symposium www.portlandzinesymposium.org pdxzines@gmail.com Most recent event was in September 2022, at Portland State University. Previous ones were in August. Info updated within a few months of the coming symposium. In addition to the weekend event, related events are held. You can get on the mailing list for email updates. Facebook: PortlandZineSymposium

Things Sheila says you might need:

  • Long stapler
  • Printer, paper, and ink
  • A way to get things on the right pages
  • A program that lets you move text and images around on the page
    • Or access to a good photocopier

16) What Tools do you use to Format a book?

17) What Might I need to know about Book Design?

  • Why left-facing pages matter (left-facing = odd-numbered. Chapters or sections often look best starting on left-facing pages, and it’s a good idea not to have a page number on the blank page facing them (if its blank of course).
  • Why you don’t want single-word lines at the ends of paragraphs (Word helps with widows and orphans, but sometimes you need “manual line breaks” to make things look better)
  • Why white-space matters (poor white space gives a poor reading experience – not so relevant for ebooks though)
  • Where to put the copyright information (top of first right-facing page after title)
  • You can download templates for the size of book you are creating. The template will have good page sizes, margins, gutters… even fonts and page numbers… (but it might not be right for a book with colored pages!)

18) How do you make or purchase a cover?

19) What Might I need to know about Cover Design?

  • Fonts
  • Spacing of text – for a good visual effect, you’ll want to control the space between lines)
  • Colors – do you choose contrasting or matching colors for text compared to image
  • Width of spine – is there room for any text? (Kdp can be picky, because the print process sometimes offsets the spine and they don’t want purchasers rejecting your book)
  • Back-cover blurb – can be same as blurb on the Amazon page
  • Reviews – these look good on the back cover, but then you’d need readers before you publish

20) What Genres are we writing in?

We’ll ask this one in a later meeting, but this was my best guess.

  • Scifi/Clifi/Fantasy
  • Romance
  • Action/Adventure/Spyfic/Warfic
  • Mystery/Police Procedural
  • Travel/Foreign settings
  • Kids/Picture books/Chapter books
  • YA/older middle grade
  • Mixed genres, multiple genres, and sub-genres?

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