Self-Publishing | Distribution
This is the third part of the Self-Publishing Preparedness article series. Now that you’re in the ‘Distrubution’ stage of the process, it means you’ve already accomplished and applied both tips from the previous entries: Self-Publishing Preparedness: ‘Marketing’ and Self-Publishing Preparedness: Formatting. And at this juncture, we’re now going to proceed to another essential part of your self-publishing journey which is the actual release of your book to the readers.
After establishing the hype in pre-publication, as mentioned in the previous entry of Self-Publishing Preparedness: ‘Marketing’, it’s time to prepare your book for a sendoff. Now that you’ve already had it formatted properly for publication, the next step is to focus on how you’re going to distribute it and through what format and method you’ll go about doing it.
So here are the key things to consider:
- The Distribution Method
The first step is to decide on what method you want your book to be released. You can opt to do it yourself by personally making your book available to selected stores or go for a wide release by availing the distribution service of self-publishing company.
Whether you choose to manually distribute your book or seek the help of experts, you’ll have to do your own research about the distribution aspects either way. You need to learn about the pros and cons of both and you especially need to ask questions about royalties, hidden cost, and all other fees. There are stores that may not let you control the price of your book and there are also self-publishing companies like BookVenture Publishing Inc. that also lets you keep as much as 80% if the royalties. So weigh in the advantages and disadvantages before you make the final decision.
- The Required Specs
In the previous entry, Self-Publishing Preparedness: Formatting, we’ve discussed on how to prepare the layout and design of the book. Now, you’re going to have to check on what type of file format the book should take. It could go as simple a Word document or a PDF file or it can get into a more complex format. You have to check which files are ideal before you make a final conversion.
- The Illustrations
If your book has graphics, charts or pictures included then you need to keep these files on hand. Whether you’re doing the conversion of your book yourself or someone else is doing it for you, you’ll need the raw and high-quality files of your illustrations. If there’s a third party handling the conversion, you’ll have to separately send the graphics and give them specifics on where it will be positioned on the layout.
- The metadata
If you’re solely going digital on your distribution then metadata is a must. Metadata is vital for your book’s visibility in search engines. You have to choose the most relevant keywords to your book and you must have it included in the popular categories. Make sure what you’ve included is accurate and will effectively attract the right market. You must also double check the metadata before submitting it to the store because a change on it is very costly.
There are still a few more stages left of the Self-Publishing Preparedness series. Read on for more information about the preparatory stages of your self-publishing journey.