Self Publishing is the publication of an author's work without the help of any publishing house. The author takes full responsibility for the publishing process, and they print and sell it using either alone or with the help of self-publishing service providers. The author has the freedom to make independent decisions. The author will have complete control over the manuscript selection, processing, printing, marketing and distribution of the book. This presentation talks about the various approaches to the self-publishing of books.

1. Self-publishing
Vimal Kumar V.
Technical Assistant
Mahatma Gandhi University Library
Kerala
http://vimalkumar.info
Webinar on 26 May 2020.
Organised by Chetana College of Media
and Performing Arts, Thrissur and
Department of Library and Information
Studies, St Thomas College, Thrissur.

2. Summary
Traditional book publishing
Self-publishing
Copyright
Copyleft
Manuscript preparation
Prepare book for publishing
Publishing methods

3. Writing is hard
Publishing is easy

4. Book is a “non-periodical printed
publication of at least 49 pages
excluding covers.”
UNESCO

5. Traditional publishing
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6. Book Price
(One copy)
No. of books
sold
Royalty Income to
publisher
Total amount
100 1000 7,500 92,500 100,000
140 1000 10,500 129,500 140,000
200 1000 15,000 185,000 200,000
250 1000 18,750 231,250 250,000
Estimation of royalty to authors@7.5%
Royalty rates in India (Approx) 5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5%, and 15%.
Royalty matters

7. Traditional publishing Pros and Cons
Book publish under a brand name.
Professional approach.
They manage promotion and sales of the books.
Time consuming process.
Rigorous review process.
Expensive.
Don’t expect a decent income.
Copyright problems.

8. Why writing is not a full time job?
Publishing houses charge the expenses in advance.
Discount to customers also affects the author's royalty.
Twice in a year, the royalty transfer to the author after the tax deduction.
Very few well-known authors receive a higher rate of royalty.
Only lucky authors get translation, publishing, and film rights.
Popularity, and the respect from the society are the prime factors.

9. Bad tendencies
Mechanically publish books without quality.
Ghost writing.
Book writing for promotion and salary hike.

10. Self-publishing
Independent publishing process.
Author takes the full responsibility.
Freedom to take independent decisions.
Complete control over the publishing processes.

11. Various approaches in self-publishing
Online publishing
PDF, EPUB, Kindle, HTML, etc.
Paperback
Print on Demand, Offset printing
Mixed method
Both ebook and paperback copies.

12. Self-publishing Pros and Cons
Publish within short period of time.
Author himself can select professional services.
Publish with the support of cutting edge
technologies.
Ebook and print editions can publish
simultaneously.
Make available books to anywhere.
Lot of misconceptions on self-publishing.
Expensive, if author can’t manage processes
alone.
Pricing of print on demand books little higher.
Author need a good peer group support to sell the
books.
Need to invest more time and money.

13. Book publishing and copyright
Often copyright of the books goes to publishers.
DRM also restrict the circulation of digital version.
IPR restrict the wider circulation of books.
Limited number of books sell through
traditional channels.
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14. Copyleft
Usage increases when it available for free.
More readers get the opportunity to use.
Opportunities for authors to interact with the
readers.
Copyleft licenses ensure copyright and the free
distribution of works.

15. Creative Commons
Suitable for copyleft distribution of creative
works.
It covers books, movies, plays, music, articles,
photographs, website and blogs.
Developed in 2002 under the guidance of
Lawrence Lessig.
Four conditions: Attribution, Share-Alike,
Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives.

16. Manuscript preparation
Use a word processor for the document creation.
Use one you are familiar with.
Traditional style word processing with MS Office, LibreOffice.
Cloud based, Google Docs and MS Office 365.

17. Acquire ISBN
The ISBN agency in India is the Raja Rammohun Roy ISBN
Agency, located in New Delhi.
Online application at http://isbn.gov.in.
Publishers and individuals can apply.
Aadhaar card, passport and PAN card details need to provide.
ISBN for print edition (paperback, hardcover) or e-book.

18. Acquire ISBN…. Cover

19. Acquire ISBN…. Title Verso page

20. Acquire ISBN…. Title Verso page...

21. Where to publish?
Open Access method
Websites and blogs
Academic social networks
Digital library/repository
Book selling
Self-publishing agency websites
Book selling websites

22. Where to publish?...
Websites/Blogs
Build a website/blog using Wordpress
or other content management system.
Make use tools to know usage
analytics (e.g. Google Analytics)
It’s possible to collect feedback and
comments from readers.
Academic social networks
Research Gate,
Academia.
LinkedIn etc.

23. Where to publish?...
Digital library/IR
Deposit in working organisations DL/IR.
Deposit in any public DL/IR.
e.g. Internet Archive.
Commercial sites
Self-publishing agencies website
Book selling sites. e.g. Amazon

24. Publish through self-publishing agencies
Prepare your manuscript and cover.
Checking process of book meets content and quality guidelines.
Enter book details.
Choose royalty plan.
Publish and promote book.
Sales report.

25. Self-publishing in India
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Notion Press
Pothi.com
Partridge
Indulekha
DC Books

26. Hybrid method
Prepare manuscript yourself or with the help of others.
Print the books in local press.
Sell through Amazon.in
No GST on books
Get paid every 7 days

27. Earnings from Amazon

28. Promotion
Social media
Webpages
Search engine optimisation
Friends circles
Professional groups.

29. Conclusion
Self-publishing is suitable to both academic and non-academic
sector.
Easiest method to manifest the publishing process.
Books get global reach.
Author has to acquire the skills to manage the publishing process.
Self-publishing authors have to invest more time and money.

30. Thanks
My books will be available soon at
vimalkumar.info

31. Helpful links
Can Indian authors afford to pursue writing as a full time career?
Creative Commons License chooser
What is the difference between DPI, PPI, resolution and image size?
Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency for ISBN
Amazon Seller Central
Internet Archive
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Swanthanthra Malayalam Computing Fonts