January 19th, 2009
Why Self Publish?
Two weeks today, I’ll be releasing the long-delayed self published book of mine, Five Simple Steps: Designing for the Web. Since I originally thought of writing my own book, producing it, and distributing it, I’ve been asked several times, ‘why not go with a traditional publisher?’
I’ve had several offers for this title, from big tech-book publishers, design publishers, through to smaller outfits and literary agents. I’ve turned them all down. Why? Well a few important reasons:
My Voice
Several of my good friends have written books, and I’ve design reviewed a couple, and written a a chapter in one. Not a massive amount of experience, granted, but enough to sour the taste of traditional publishing in my mouth. The biggest concern of mine was losing my ‘voice’. I want a book I’ve written to sound like me. Not some watered down, ‘internationally-toned’ amalgam of me, my editor, a proof-reader, and tech reviewers. I want it to sound like me, and I’m hoping, my readers do too.
The Process
Writing this book has been really difficult. Luckily, I’ve got a good team around me — a designer, a project manager, a proof-reader, and an editor to shape the book (that was particularly helpful early on). But, there’s just no way I could’ve written a book in the last two years if it hadn’t had been on my terms alone. My wife and I had a daughter, we built an extension on our house, and I’ve been building a business in challenging times. To fit a book around this has been tricky, and I needed to have the flexibility imposed by my own schedule, not someone elses.
The Design
Most web design books are terribly designed. I mean, really bad. If I was going to write a book, I was going to design it too. As it turned out, I’ve art directed the production of this book, rather than designed every single page and diagram. But, the point is, it will be a design I’m happy with. I know several designers who have written books who ended up doing the design for them for free!
Financially
Although not the motivation for the book, the financial potential of just one PDF book far outweighs the traditional process (if you have an audience that is). Most author royalties are miniscule compared to the profit the publisher makes. With a PDF distribution my only costs are the time taken to write the book, and the ongoing hosting and Paypal fees.
A Printed Book
Luckily we have the skills in-house at Mark Boulton Design to design, produce and distribute a hard copy book. Currently, we’re looking at producing a limited edition case bound (hard back), high-quality book. BUT, this will only be if the sales of the PDF can support the initial outlay in getting a print run done.
Of course, there are advantages for a more traditional approach. As much as the process of writing and editing is painful, you can be assured of a good product at the end of it – even if it doesn’t sound like you. You don’t have to design it, typeset, proof (again, and again), artwork, production, delivery, customer service. There’s a lot that goes into publishing and I’m learning the hard way. But, it’s fun. The book is coming along nicely, and two weeks today, will finally be released.
It may not be a work of beautifully crafted prose. But it will be me. Warts and all.
Now I want it even more!
As I said before: I would really like a printed version (as it reads so much easier then on screen), but fully understand if you decide not to print it!
Mark,
exciting times for you :) — and those of us waiting for your book to come out ;)
Looking forward to it, even more so now after reading how you’ve taken pride in the design of the book itself :)
Interesting approach, have you considered ALSO offering it on a service like http://www.blurb.com/ which would let the users pay to have it printed. Personally if I was to buy the book I would like to have it in print form but, I wouldn’t be against paying extra to have it printed if it were convenient enough.
@James We’ve looked into Blurb and Lulu for on-demand printing options. It’s certainly possible, but even with 50% of the profit margin of the PDF, a copy printed through Lulu (on-demand), would cost approximately £47. I think that’s too much to expect people to pay for a full colour paperback. Of course, we could offer a black and white version, but it would render five whole chapters on colour theory completely useless!
I’ll be buying the PDF copy as soon as it becomes available and will also happily buy a hard copy, if one is created.
I have been looking forward to this for the longest time. I’m hoping that when this book is massively popular, shortly before you retire to roll around on a mountain of well-earned cash, there will be ‘upgrade’ pricing!
Nice work Mark. And good luck with the launch.
Hey Mark,
Great blog post and interesting to read that you are paying so much attention to detail with the book.
I think I have mentioned before on twitter to you that I for one would certainly be willing to pay upfront if it meant that I could reserve a printed copy of the book. Perhaps others would be keen to do this also?
Good to see you have a great team around you running the business, so you will have more time to write. Something that I am still struggeling with.
Interesting choice of typeface for your book, Jubilat. Why did you choose this typeface? I hope that you also will secure your pdf ebook, now it isn’t. Good luck with the final bits!
I always thought your warts made for great reading. In fact, the warts were the best part. :)
Yeah, as far as I’m concerned, depending on the book and its niche, self-publishing is the way to go. It really was no big deal at all to store the books where I lived and mail them out by carton or one by one, and the payoff was so so much higher than going through a publisher. It didn’t have a gorgeous cover, but I was responsible for every word and could make it whatever I wanted it to be. I still remember the first bound copies arriving from the printer. I sat out on the front steps of my apartment, turning a copy over and over, thinking in wonderment, “It has a spine! Just like a real book!” LOL. But, really, every time I looked at it, I didn’t see a book, I saw thousands of decisions all packed into something that looked like a book. :)
I would surely buy a hard-bound book!
Yeah! I’ve been waiting this for a long time, but looking at the sample chapter it was really worth it. I’ll be buying the PDF and the hard copy as well, even if 47£ should be spent on it!
Congratulations for your efforts, the result looks… well, raised to the level of perfection you accustomed us to see.
Good choice, Mark. I had a similar conundrum when publishing my ebook, but the decision to do it myself and release electronically has paid off so far; both financially and in the creative control and autonomy I’ve retained.
Best of luck with the launch. I’m looking forward to reading it!
It’s certainly a bold step to take on the whole publishing process and one to be admired if it means you produce exactly what you wanted to. I didn’t realise the publishers took away so much control.
Sounds like you’ve got the team in place to do a good job though so I’m very much looking forward to the release. I’d much prefer a printed copy but will probably give in to the temptation and buy the PDF as soon as it’s available. If a printed version becomes available at a later date then I’ll certainly be interested.
Self-publishing houses are sometimes still referred to as the “Vanity Press”.
Considering that the traditional publishers require you to do most of the PR work, and the self-publishers have access to amazon.com(.co.uk) and all the other tools you might need, there is little distinction between the two.
Ah, but with a traditional publisher you can still claim, with full authority, that you are a “published author”. That’s the main difference.
Which is the “Vanity Press” now?
I read your blog entry with interest as I, too, am getting ready to self publish a book. I like how you qualified the financial aspect as you do need to have the audience in order to justify incurring all the expenses yourself. Due to the nature of my subject, my audience is very small. Thus even the local publishing house won’t touch it. But I am proceeding anyway because I feel there is a need for my book. We authors just need to go into the whole process with our eyes (and checkbooks) open.
@Erik
Back when I published my book (on a subject unrelated to the web) there were plenty of Vanity Presses around. They charged exorbitant prices, typically printed a very limited number of copies, and probably did the work for you such as getting an ISBN number, etc. You went to a Vanity Press if a “real” publisher wouldn’t publish your book.
But, there was another route. The States, and I assume other countries, too, have short-run printers, who specialize in printing anywhere from 1,000 to oh, I don’t know, let’s say 10 or 20 thousand books. Instead of the publisher going to a printer, you act as the publisher yourself and choose a printer. I had to do quite a bit of research to find the right one. Local ones, in the Pacific Northwest, cost up to twice as much as specialty short-run publishers in Michigan. After researching all of it, I chose one in Michigan and was very happy with it. I paid the same price a “real” publisher would, and it was put out under my publishing house name. I sent for my ISBN number, made all the choices for cover, photography, etc. etc. (it seemed endless at the time) and sent camera-ready copy to them. The cost was quite reasonable. However, Mark’s book, with all its color photos and his probable choice in paper, etc. would be much more. Back then, the short-run publishers who had the best prices and reputations for handling a lot of graphics and photography were in Asia.…I don’t remember where exactly. Hmm, I’ve gone on and on, so I guess it’s still a big interest of mine. And, you’re right, which one is the “vanity” press now — an excellent question. :)
Since writing two books 5 years ago, I have alternated between forgetting about them entirely and wondering how to go about publishing them. I made cover graphics that I liked at the time, and still do and had my husband read the books through to reassure myself that they weren’t entirely worthless.
My husband said he thought I should get a publisher but I got hopelessly lost on the information highway trying to find out how you do that and went on to other projects.
Recently someone said they’d love to read what I had written and I started thinking about the subject again. Lulu seemed interesting but I don’t know enough about the topic to judge, in spite of having proof-read and edited several books for other people over the years!
Although I don’t know how to do what you’re doing, you’ve inspired me to try and find out how to self-publish electronically and follow through this time.
Thank you for that inspiration and I wish you the best of success with your book in whatever formats you release it in as time goes by :-)
Nice! I’ll be more than happy to purchase a copy of the PDF. I would by the hard copy but I do most of my reading from my laptop or phone.
Can’t wait.
Good luck!
Looking forward to it, Mark.
I like the idea of a PDF for ease of distribution and I’m sure it pays financially. However, I think that if, like you mention, you haven’t produced this book for purely financial reasons, then you could really go to town with the printed hardback version on the profits.
Imagine the fun you could have with the paper, the print techniques, the ink etc. I know that the subject is web design and that is traditionally viewed as a quick method of communication. But I’m sure that you can appreciate the value in making web design a more tactile experience.
Also, I think that this could be one of the classics and PDFs don’t sit well on any bookshelf.
Good luck. I’m outside your shop with a flask of Bovril and a poncho waiting for opening time :0)
Well I wish you all the best with your new book and hope it sells well. Good Luck.
It looks compelling. Looking forward to it.
Did you consider rendering the book as a website? It seems to me that a PDF embodiment only makes sense if if it is printed, so I guess you are confident that you will be doing a print run. (I hope I am making sense.)
I’ll be buying the PDF version. I might be interested in buying the book, but I tend to shy away from hardbacks and prefer paperbacks.
I find that where the binding has been done well, paperbacks generally last long enough to do their job, and at the end of the day it’s a book for use not a piece of art; Hardbacks are too involved for me personally.
I love to have a copy of this book…
Can you please provide me the link from where i can get the soft copy of the book.
Awesome, the book sounds amazing! I would love to buy one of the hard copy ones if you get it printed, I totally love having a physical book rather than reading on screen. Especially if the book is well designed and of good quality.
I applaud you for sticking to your idea and publishing the book yourself. It will be interesting to look at a book not molested by corporate thinking. Looking forward to getting a look at the PDF copy.
THANKS!
I’ve been involved in a fair bit of smallpress publishing via the web. Services like Lulu are great, but as you’ve noticed, can get expensive quickly for certain types of publication. Once you scale to small printruns (100 or so) you end up being better off to use a services like Fidlar Doubleday who do short-run print on demand. The cost can still be low enough compared to traditional offset runs that you don’t need to break the bank. You do end up having to handle fulfillment yourself though, which is where lulu is handy.
Hi Mark
I’ll wait and be in the queue to purchase the printed version of this book as I like the tactile nature a physical book has.
The advantages outweigh an electronic version as you can see the thought that gone into several differing processes: binding, paper stock, foil block, spine treatment, choice of end papers, typography etc etc… fingers crossed a printed version is produced as it would be nice to see the choices you’ve made :)
I know you’ve thought about producing limited hardback versions but if that proves successful how about moving onto mass produced paperback versions to reduce costs?
Anyway whatever you decide, the following book printers list may help:
Wales
mwl (dotcodotuk)
ylolfa (dotcom)
Across the border
cpi-group (dotnet)
mrtbooks (dotcodotuk)
book-printing (dotcodotuk)
printing (dotcom)
butlertanneranddennis (dotcodotuk)
athenaeumpress (dotcodotuk)
Cornwall
mpg-books (dotcodotuk)
Lithuania
eurobookprint (dotnet)
Italy
legolivotto (dotnet)
graphicom (dotit)
clays (dotcodotuk)
……
Great Post Mark and thanks for sharing the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the project end to [well we’ll all wait for the ‘end’ result].
I didn’t realise lulu printing costs blew out that much with colour pages.
Thanks
ps & i’ll buy one
I look forward to reading your book. I have always missed the personal voice that so many web design books seem to lack. It is especially noticeable for those authors who have blogs and I have become familiar with.
The books are providing the experience and knowledge of the author, why not get their voice as well?
Mark, having listened to you talk at @Media I for one am glad your voice will be the one on the pages of your book. It was your martial art references that finally made me got me into typography. So thanks again and good luck with the book!
We’ve known that this book has been on its way for a while, so it’s great to finally see its release and get a bit of info from behind the scenes.
This post has really struck a chord with me. Partly this is because I’ve just finished writing my first book — via the traditional publishing route — and I’m contemplating self-publishing for the next one (and for the exact same reasons you stated). The other reason is that I’m experimenting with the same release model as you for my new music; that is, I’m releasing a download-only version of the EP, and — if digital sales go well — then I’ll release it in a physical format. I think this works for consumers — because they get to buy a cheap product and only invest in a physical version if they really want to — and for the producers — because they only create a physical version once the financial risk is reduced.
I’m hoping this method will work out well for both of us, even though the actual product is different. Either way, I can’t wait to get the book, and you can certainly put my name down for a physical version, too. Best of luck, mate!
Just in case you haven’t read it, a good essay that complements nicely your thoughts on self-publishing: 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly.
I’m sure you have the thousand passionate fans Kelly suggests are needed for independent commercial success.
Looking forward to your book.
Dear Mr Boulton,
Much as I’d like to read what you’ve written, having to pay £12 for a PDF that I then have to print out myself seems a bit steep, especially as there will be no professional person around to ensure correct colour balance on the printed copy.
Speaking personally I am sorry that you’ve chosen to publish in this way.
Yours sincerely,
A Prospective Purchaser
P.S. Having viewed the extract cover and title pages, you’d better stop calling it a book as I think you’ll find it isn’t (legally a book, that is), unless you’ve sent a printed copy to each of the statutory libraries. You may also need to display a valid ISBN and details of the publisher together with an appropriate copyright statement in order to call it a “book” (but I’m not certain about these latter requirements).
@prospective purchaser
Major design textbooks are often higher-priced than other books because they are of such great value to the intended audience. They are also quite labor-intensive because of all the images, and the higher quality design of the book itself. I don’t think the price of this PDF is out of line at all, considering the uniqueness and quality of its content.
Each person can choose for themselves whether to read the book online (my choice) or print it, and certainly if you choose to print it, your choice will cost you much more.
He’s actually chosen to publish in more than one way, and when he reaches his intended goal of doing a hardcover version, your sorrows will be over! Meanwhile, the people who were eager to read the book as soon as possible are given the choice to go for a PDF version.
I hope you’ll be able to purchase it later, and that you’ll enjoy the quality control regarding “colour balance,” though, of course, color reproduction in printed books can be a little dicey sometimes, too.
At any rate, I hope you’ll enjoy the book. I feel like putting all my work aside to dig in!
[…] been following the progress of designers Mark Boulton (England) and Eric Karjaluoto (Canada), both of whom chose to self-publish their most recent books, […]