ASK RON: “Why should I let SelfPublishing.com publish my book?”

First and foremost… SelfPublishing.com does NOT publish anything… you are the publisher. By definition, “self” publishing means that you are the publisher. There is no such thing as a self-publishing company. That phrase was invented, in the spirit of George Orwell’s 1984, by the vanity publishing industry to make something with a bad connotation, sound good.

First off… Happy New Year! After a month in the hospital, I was quite happy to spend a quiet New Year’s at home with my wife. I made it just past Lady Gaga in Times Square but have no recollection of the ball dropping, ten minutes later. I guess that’s middle age. Now back to the subject at hand… why buy from SelfPublishing.com?

As I pointed out in the first paragraph, most of you who publish a book believe that you are self-publishing. Unfortunately, very few of you really are. It’s unfortunate, too, because of the thousands of dollars that usually gets dumped into the Vanity Press black hole: the author usually does not find out until it’s too late. Included in this group of vanity presses are Author House (Including Xlibris, IUniverse and Trafford), Outskirts Press, Xulon Press and many, many more. All of these companies utilize the same “Big Lie” and that is, the ownership of the ISBN is not important… that they can assign you a number and it is the same as you owning it. It isn’t. The scary thing about the “Big Lie” is that the author has only to be convinced that this one lie is the truth, and all the other lies… become the truth. It’s scary. What is even scarier is that most of the trade media is so dependent on these vanity presses for advertising that they will never say anything bad about them. The only one who suffers is the author.

Remember, knowledge really is power and ignorance is NOT bliss. If it’s too good to be true, it is… period. Equipped with your own ISBN, in talking to a vanity press is much like being equipped with a cross, when talking to a vampire. No matter what they say… you say you want to use your own ISBN. It’s as easy as that. SO why should you work with SelfPublshing.com? The main reason is with SelfPublishing.com (or BooksJustBooks.com) you own your ISBN. YOU are the publisher… You… “Self” is the publisher… self-publisher.

Purchasing an ISBN is simple enough. RR Bowker is the US Agency and the only company authorized to sell ISBNs. ISBNs can be bought as a single ISBN, or in blocks of 10, 100, 1000 or 10,000. Self Publishing, Inc. has an agreement with RR Bowker to sell singles on their behalf. Purchasing your ISBNs should be one of the first things you do as you establish yourself as a publisher. Keep in mind that you need a different ISBN for each version of your title, not just each title. If you are publishing a single paperback or hardcover book, a single is fine. If you are planning additional titles or different versions (like hardcover, kindle ebook, iPad ebook or audio book) you might want to purchase a block of 10 or more.

My guess is you would never see the above in an article written by the President of Author House. In fact, if you compare the executive personnel at Self-Publishing to Author Solutions you will see another huge reason for letting SelfPublishing.com help you publish your book…. Experience.

I have been involved with book printing and publishing since the early 70’s. This experience includes inside and outside book printing and general commercial printing, owner of a specialized Independent Publisher, successful self-publisher as well as just under twenty years’ experience working with self-publishers as a principal and founder of RJ Communications, now Self Publishing, Inc.

My business partner, Dana Cole, has been in the publishing world since 1979, starting at Alfred A. Knopf, a Random House Company, working with single color books. She then moved on to become the Vice-President of Production at Abbeville Press, a New York based art book publisher and joined me at RJ Communications in 1995.

On the other hand, how deep do you need to dig into Author Solution’s executive staff before you find even a hint of printing or publishing experience? (http://www.authorsolutions.com/about.aspx?id=454) Experience counts. If you are going to go into the publishing business, it helps to have experience in publishing. Would you open an automobile repair shop without learning about automobiles or hiring someone who does? Same thing goes with publishing.

I’ve probably said enough for one issue, but I plan on focusing on the original question over the next several issues. What did we learn today?

1. If a company won’t let you use your own ISBN that you bought from RR Bowker or through an authorized agent like SelfPublishing.com… hold onto your wallet and run.
2. If you can’t find any direct printing or publishing experience among the top executives of a company you are considering….. hold onto your wallet and run.

This holds true no matter how attractive the offer or website looks. Remember… if it’s too good to be true… it is.

See you next issue.

Ron Pramschufer

Ron Pramschufer has been in or around the printing and publishing industry for over 35 years. His experience, including working in the pressroom, bindery, production office and estimating department helped give him a firm foundation to build on when he entered sales and management. He was partners in a small press publishing company in Annapolis, MD in the late seventies and co-invented and marketed two controversial political board games which sold over 100,000 copies in the early eighties. Moving from his home state of Maryland to New York City after his game experience, Ron sold printing services to, primarily, small to mid-sized book publishers for over a decade before founding RJ Communications with an old friend. Ron recognized the potential of the Internet very early as a powerful communications tool. In 1997 he started one of the first printer related websites, www.rjcom.com, which caters to the professional print buyer. This evolved into www.BooksJustBooks.com and more recently www.selfpublishing.com which target the print buying novice, primarily self-publishers. All three sites are still operating successfully and SelfPublishing.com was named as one of Writers Digest’s, 101 Best websites for writers for 2006. Educating the novice print buyer has been a top priority from day one. To help address this issue, Ron co-authored the popular title Publishing Basics- a Guide for the Small Press and Independent Self-Publisher, now in its Third Edition, as well as Publishing Basics for Children’s Books, in its Second Edition. He is the organizer of the monthly Publishing Basics Newsletter where he writes a sometimes controversial Ask Ron column which addresses various aspects of the publishing process. On the same note, he started the Publishing Basics Radio PodCast in 2005 and serves as the show’s host. A wide variety of topics are covered including a very popular series titled, The Truth Behind POD Publishing, where he conducts interviews with a select group of industry insiders. Since its inception, RJ Communications has helped thousands of customers print over 105 million books. Ron is married and has three children. His daughter, Stephanie, teaches second grade and recently self-published her first children’s book in the Oliver the Clownfish series. Matthew, his oldest son, owns a website design business and Erik, the youngest, is enjoying high school.

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