This post is long overdue, and I apologize to everyone to whom I have been promising for over a year to write it “soon.”

A little more than 5 years ago I began my publishing journey. I began with little booklets, printed on my home printer and bound thanks to a booklet stapler from a local office supply store. After many late nights, I finally turned to a printer, who printer bulk orders of the first, pocket sized editions of Guerrilla Apologetics.

I began looking at Print on Demand (hereafter “POD”) printing after that, as my little booklets had no ISBN, no barcode, and no distribution system other than myself. Several of these places charge $400 or more to set up (Aventine), some charge nothing (CreateSpace) and some offer tiered payment systems (Lulu).

Who I Did Not Use, And Why

In brief, here’s why I didn’t use some of the more popular self-publishing houses:

Lulu – Great for free distribution of a book without an ISBN, but when you do opt to get an ISBN from them they are listed as your publisher, and it’s more expensive than actually starting your own publishing company. Also,

CreateSpace – This started up since my company started, so I didn’t look into them. However, a local author used them, and while the books look great and was free to set up, his cost per books appears higher and profits smaller, and it is exclusive to Amazon.com. In using CreateSpace, Amazon is trying to strongarm other POD companies out of their business. Not very “distributist” of them.

Aventine – I came very close to working with Aventine, although they in turn were founded on the same system my company runs on, like many, may POD services.

How it Works

I subcontract my printing and distribution services to Lightning Source (hereafter “LSI”). They are owned by Ingram, and are one of the only POD companies not affected by Amazon’s squeeze – they are simply too big, and ship on behalf of Amazon. Full distribution across the USA is only $12 per year (European distribution is also available). Their setup fees are nominal, costing roughly $100 including a physical proof of the book shipped overnight. However, once or twice a year they will offer a free setup promotion – and of course, talk to your LSI sales rep about other promotions, offers, or discounts available.

As one fellow writer said, “But LSI only works with publishers, they won’t talk to me.” That is true, which is why you need to…

Obtain ISBNs, Become a Publisher

You need to obtain a publisher prefix and reserve your first block of ISBNs from RR Bowker. The smallest lot is 10 ISBNs for $250 (that’s only $25 each!)

A brief note on ISBNs: You MUST order them from Bowker. As they state in their FAQ:

Who can assign ISBNs to a publisher?
There are over 160 ISBN Agencies worldwide, and each ISBN Agency is appointed as the exclusive agent responsible for assigning ISBNs to publishers residing in their country or geographic territory. The United States ISBN Agency is the only source authorized to assign ISBNs to publishers supplying an address in the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico and its database establishes the publisher of record associated with each prefix.

Once an ISBN publisher prefix and associated block of numbers has been assigned to a publisher by the ISBN Agency, the publisher can assign ISBNs to publications it holds publishing rights to. However, after the ISBN Agency assigns ISBNs to a publisher, that publisher cannot resell, re-assign, transfer, or split its list of ISBNs among other publishers. These guidelines have long been established to ensure the veracity, accuracy and continued utility of the international ISBN standard.

As defined by the ISO Standard, the ISBN publisher prefix (or “root” of the ISBN) identifies a single publisher. If a second publisher subsequently obtains an ISBN from the assigned publisher’s block of ISBNs, there will be no change in the publisher of record for any ISBN in the block as originally assigned. Therefore, searches of industry databases for that re-assigned ISBN will identify the original owner of that assigned prefix as the publisher rather than the second publisher. Discovering this consequence too late can lead to extensive costs in applying for a new prefix, re-assigning a new ISBN, and potentially leading to the application of stickers to books already printed and in circulation.

In layman’s terms, you do not want to buy a single ISBN from someone else because:

1) RR Bowker is the official agent for the USA territory to assign ISBNs
2) When the prefix is created, that company becomes the publisher of ALL books using ISBNs beginning with that prefix

Setting Up Your First Book

So you order your ISBNs from Bowker ($250), you sign up with LSI and tell them your assigned ISBN prefix (FREE!).

Now you are ready to publish!

Unlike Aventine, CreateSpace, and Lulu, LSI is a printer, not a publisher (remember, YOU are the publisher). Graphic design and layout are your responsibility.

You can download a Quark or Indesign CS3 cover template (at the moment LSI no longer supports Indesign versions CS2 and older) which will include a free barcode (so don’t get cheated into paying for that from someone else either!). However, the interior book block will have to be created from scratch by you. LSI accepts only Quark, Indesign (CS3 or later) or PDF files for submissions, and they MUST be laid out by you prior to submission – you cannot just take your Word document, print it as a PDF, and send it in.

By the way, as I have laid out some 40+ books myself, I am available to do this for clients, even though I am no longer publishing new works from others under my imprint – email me at [email protected] for more information. At the very least I can spare you from having to purchase the expensive software to do the layouts.

You fill out a simple online form, upload your files, request a proof (HIGHLY recommended!) and wait. Depending on how busy LSI is, and how well laid out your book was, you should receive your proof in about a week.

Setup costs are around $75, but may be waived if you place a large initial order or if there is a promotion. The proof costs $30 to be overnighted to you. There is also an option to have your book listed in the Ingram Advance Catalog for about $60; I’ve not tested the effectiveness of this, but it gets your book listed in Ingram’s catalog and sent to booksellers, libraries, etc. Your first year of distribution will cost a whopping $12.

LSI’s distribution service will cover getting your book listed on BN.com, Amazon.com, and make it available for purcahse through all major distributors. If a bookstore wants to order your book, they can get it from the distributors that send them their other books, such as Spring Arbor.

How Much Can I Make?

I don’t want to get too specific in pricing, but a 5×8 paperback book of up to 108 pages will cost you, the publisher, about $2.50. Volume discounts also apply, so it is best to order at least 100 books at a time, though you can order just 1 if you like. When a wholesaler purchases via the distribution channels, they get a fixed discount off the cover price, traditionally 55%, but you get charged slightly less for printing fees. You can specify the discount, but I would not go below 50% lest you get passed over by distributors for being too expensive. You can also specify whether the unsold books are returnable, and if you want them destroyed or mailed to you.

Remember, though, you’re on your own for promotion! Your higher margins also mean you have more expenses in marketing and advertising. Again, I’m available on a consulting basis to help you out here, as I do website design, press releases, advertising, and I’ve had to learn from some very expensive mistakes.

What Happens Next?

In about 2-3 weeks your book will show up on Amazon, with the cover image and the description you entered when you submitted the title to LSI. If you want tags, search terms, the “Look Inside” preview, or an author page on Amazon, you have to do all that yourself directly with Amazon. I’ve not worked too closely with Barnes and Noble, but I believe the timetable for showing up on their site is about the same.

You can sell the book yourself through your own site, but other than shipping the books to you, LSI does nothing in this regard.

Well, that’s the gist of it! For $250 you can become a publisher, and for another ~$100 per book and $12 per year you can get them out there and keep them in print indefinitely! It’s a lot of work, but definitely one of the few businesses that’s a labor of love.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments section!

Reposted from an earlier incarnation of this blog.