I swapped some comments with Dick Margulis on his blog, words / myth / ampers & virgule, today and he made the comment that some self-publishers take the “self” part of that too literally.
I think he’s right, but more than that, however, I think there are many who are “self-publishing” and doing it without knowing what they are doing. They think they will make their fortune and that what they have to share will give them an autopass onto the Jay Leno show or even Oprah. They don’t really understand that contrary to popular belief, looks to matter and editing isn’t a luxury–it is a necessity. Content may be king but even the king needs to present regally to be taken seriously.
I’ve seen far too many books that suffered from having horrid covers and even more horrid editing, if any was done at all. And almost to a book the total design done was “times new roman, single-spaced, bold titles set in a larger font, page numbers on the bottom right, or center.”
Ick.
Yes, I mean that–Ick. For a novel TNR, SS, basic page numbering is fine. This is especially true of a paperback novel. Notice, however, that almost all paperback novels using minimal interior design have gorgeous covers. Publishers understand that novels are first sold by the cover, then by the cover content (author and story overview). Only then will the buyer open the book to peruse the interior. If they are like myself, they will read (or scan) the first 5-6 pages to get a feel for the author’s voice. If that doesn’t quite close the sale for me I’ll turn to the middle, scan a page or two .. if I’m still looking to be convinced I’ll go back to the cover text, usually inside cover and re-read that.
Notice what I don’t read? Testimonials. Why bother? Is anyone ever going to include a comment like “this book was the suckiest thing I’ve read in the last 20 years!!!? ” No. While I understand the supposed mind game being played here I just don’t play it so it is a wasted ploy for me as a purchaser. Notice what I’m not looking at/for in novels? I do not look at the interior design at all. In a novel I don’t much care. I devour fiction in a few hours. I rarely return to the same book within several years, most are one off deals for me.
Now, other books, such as textbooks, non-fiction self-help, spiritual, and technical books are a whole other game. I still see the cover first and I pay some attention to the cover text, but now I’m seriously looking at a TOC, Index, and design. These are books I return to–frequently and sometimes for long periods of time. I not only want them to be pleasing and easy on my eyes/brain but I need them to be. I need white space. I need appropriate graphics and pullquotes. I need good annotation. I want well designed sidebars and illustrations. I need ample margins and typefaces that are light on the page. I don’t care if the illustrations are “original ART” or line art obtained from iStockPhoto.com as long as it looks and feels professional.
Considering all of these criteria for me to even consider parting with my money for a book that costs from $7 – $150 why does a self-publish writer think I’m going to be cheerfully willing to plunk down his $14.50 for a book that has a cover that screams “self-published!” and an interior that I can see, within 10 seconds, that an editor or book designer hasn’t been near?
While I realize that getting professional covers and interior design and editing done costs money, doesn’t it make sense that if you are only charged $150 by a company that will “publish, edit, and design your cover and interior” is going to result in a pretty shabby product? There’s one company out there that charges less than $150 to do an “advanced” layout for a 100pg book and less than $350 to add to that a “custom cover using high quality photos.”
In case that sounds like a reasonable price, head over to Veer or Corbis and see what higher quality photos/illustration cost. Prices for high quality (300 dpi/ppi minimum) start at $23 0 and go up! High quality photos AND creative processing AND design inside and out .. all of that .. for under $350??
Ain’t no way.
Hi res? Sure. Hi resolution does not mean high quality or even good. Advanced design for interiors? That should mean more than a few bolded, centered titles with underscoring.
Self-publish? Sure go ahead and do it. Just do it right. Be the publisher but hire an editor and a book designer. It doesn’t matter if you get 1 or 2 different people to do the cover and interior. Some do both, some don’t. But please make the investment into the book you wrote to make it look as appealing as you believe the content to be. If you can’t afford to do self-publishing this way then I would suggest holding off until you do. If you decide to proceed anyway and use one of those one-stop wonder shops that promise the completely undeliverable, don’t be overly surprised when your treasure goes undiscovered because you’ve locked it into that chest lying on the bottom of the ocean and there aren’t many divers around to unearth the riches.
Best,
Char
