Publishing

You likely have the answer to this question already stirring in your heart. That is, in part, why you're here. A book puts your passion in black and white. 

Here are some important reasons to write your book:

• Writing a book impacts you as well as your audience. 
• Writing a book solidifies and legitimizes your message.
• Writing a book focuses all of the elements of your passion
• Writing a book grows your message through research, organization, and processing.
• Writing a book helps you to fulfill your calling, your purpose.
• Writing a book keeps that story within you from fading away.
• Writing a book connects you with your audience.
• Writing a book can change lives and impact the world!

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING: 

Traditional publishers will often pay an advance for your work ... if they accept your submission. This type of publishing is not a reality for 98% of authors. Unless you are world famous and have a massive "platform" (more than a million online followers), you likely won't get through the door. If a publisher invests in our manuscript, it may take a year or more to see your work published. This is still the "gold standard" in terms of being published, so depending on your vision, It may be worth it to try.

The drawback, besides the risk of a host of rejection letters and un-answered queries, is that the publisher owns your rights and at least a portion of your royalties. Once they buy your manuscript, you no longer have 100% control over what happens to it.

 Your best bet in getting published traditionally is to hire a publishing agent. We know quite a few good ones; contact us for more information.

VANITY PUBLISHING:  

Vanity publishing will charge authors a premium to publish their book.  Authors will pay with money for certain; often a contract will require you to sign over book rights and royalties as well.  Traditional publishers will pay an author for the right to publish; vanity publishing will charge the author. The final product is substandard as vanity publishers often publish almost any manuscript they receive, as long as they receive their payment. Some vanity publishers run legitimate businesses but many are actually scams to be avoided. 

The drawback to vanity publishing is that you often have little control over the process. The costs are often between $3,000 and $10,000 and the return on investment is not often there. Editing maybe minimal or non-existent, while formatting and design can lack quality. Something else to be wary of is that should you want to re-publish your book or utilize its information, the rights you signed over to the publisher as part of your contract could prevent you from doing so.

SELF-PUBLISHING: 

Self-publishing is more accessible and less expensive than ever before!  Write, edit, re-edit, proof-read, format, design a cover, create front and back matter, elicit beta readers for feedback, get an ISBN number, up-load, and you're published. If that seems overwhelming, it can be. It is possible to put out a high quality book as a self-published author.  When you self-publish, you retain 100% of your rights, royalties, and control.

You can publish on-line on sites that will distribute your book to Amazon, Apple, Barns and Noble, and many other outlets. There, you can make your book available to brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries. They distribute in paperback, hardback, e-book, even audio book. Both you and customers can order books that are printed on demand.

The drawback to self-publishing is a lack of checks, balances, and professional assistance in place to monitor the quality of your work. Most self-published books look self-published and lose credibility from the moment a potential reader sees the cover. You may end up hiring specialists for parts of the process that you are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with handling yourself. Finding someone to edit your work — something even the best authors need — can be daunting. All of this can be time consuming and overwhelming. Publishing with a publishing house gives your books a credibility that self-publishing does not.

Should you choose to self-publish, our master class covers the how-tos  of self-publishing and you can contact us for individual services that we offer for editing, formatting, and more.

HYBRID PUBLISHING:

Hybrid publishing combines elements of  traditional and self-publishing.  A publisher works with the author throughout the entire publishing process. The author maintains final say, control, royalties, and rights.  The author chooses services like editing, ghost writing, cover design, ISBN purchase, back and front matter, publishing, and pays for the services that they utilize.  Authors can price their books, republish them, make any changes, and retain all of the proceeds.

The result is a professional, high-quality publication while partnering with a reputable publisher.

The drawback in hybrid publishing is that you, the author must pay for services. In the long run  you pay less for services than you lose in potential royalties to other forms of publishing.  A typical book deal  with a traditional publisher nets authors 10-15% in royalties for a hardcover, 8-10% for a paperback, and 25% for an e-book.  With hybrid you make 100% forever.

FIND YOUR VOICE Offers a host of publishing and editing options. We consult with you to find the best options for your project and personality. We can help you self-publish, connect you with respected publishers and PR agents whom we've worked with throughout the years, or in some cases publish under our label.

FIND YOUR VOICE PUBLISHING:

We walk with you through the publishing process. You pay only for the services you need. We get paid only for the work we do for you. You, the author, maintain complete control of the process, your creation, your rights, and royalties. 

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:

Start with a free consultation and evaluation of your synopsis and, if available, 10,000 words from your project. If we believe your project is ready we give you options for moving forward with editing and publishing choices. 

• Ghost writing
• Editorial assessment
• Developmental editing
• Line and copy editing
• Proof reading
• Formatting
• Cover creation
• Front and back matter creation
• ISBN creation
• Audio book creation
• Referrals to trusted publishers and agents
• Publishing for e-book, audio, & print
• Publicity assistance

There are many steps of editing that every manuscript should experience before it becomes a published piece. Editing helps to insure that your work becomes a quality book that is worthy of the time and effort you put into it.  Your book can be like your baby; you want the best for it. 

Here is a list of editing services for authors to consider:

Ghostwriting: Your story written for you by one of our professional writers. You get the credit.

Developmental: Helps you refine your manuscript with a "big picture" perspective, such as plot holes, character arcs, pacing, action sequences, and dialogue. Essentially, a professional walks beside you in your writing process.

Copy Editing: Involves identifying and fixing errors in spelling and grammatical typos, tone, style inconsistencies, awkward syntax, and poor word choices.

Line Editing: Your editor works intensely line-by-line, looking for pacing, logical flow. They will tighten up sentence structure so the language is sharp and clear, producing a perfected outcome. In many ways this is a more refined, detailed version of the copy edit.

Proof editing: Proof reading can be done by friends and family, but having a non-related fresh eye to make sure nothing is missed is the final step in the manuscript editing department. Find  Your Voice will send you a proof copy of your manuscript for this purpose.

Formatting: Formatting  puts your manuscript in the correct format for uploading, publishing,  and printing, such as chapter heads, pagination and other vital elements. This is an essential element; your book cannot be published if it is not properly formatted. 

What should I pay for?

Professional editing services are not a necessity. However, for in-house publication FIND YOUR VOICE does require some level of professional editing to ensure the highest standards are met for all involved. 

Time it takes from the moment you decide to publish a book to the time you hold a copy in your hand will vary. There are many determining factors like how ready your book is pre-edited, who you publish with, their client load, your editing and cover choices etc.  Additionally, the time the author takes to make decisions, tweaks, and choices contributes as well. If you self-publish and do not care if you have a quality product, you can publish in days.

Having your book ghost-written takes the most time. Each step of editing can take about a month.  

If you self-publish or work with FIND YOUR VOICE, you could be published in 60 days! But on average many books can take between 3 to 14 months. 

There are many amazing publishing houses out there that care about your work and can put out a quality product.  We work with some of the best! Contact us for a free consultation.

The publishing portion of the process is fairly inexpensive. Technology has made uploading, publishing, and distributing your book much more accessible. That means that expressing your voice has never been easier!

What costs the most is the editing process, with good reason. No one should be the editor of their own book. Additionally, there are professional nuances of publishing that keep your work from looking like an obviously homemade project.  It is recommended that every manuscript go through at least three levels of editing, then proof-reading. Then it's ready for publication!  

There are additional costs to consider for items like cover art creation, formatting, ISBN registration, and audio book recording.   Traditional publishers do it all and pay you to boot.  But the loss of creative control and of most of the profits makes the investment of self-publishing or hybrid-publishing worthwhile for many authors.

If you go the traditional route, hiring a literary agent that can connect you with a publisher is almost always a necessity. Literary agents traditionally take 15% of your advance and a percentage of the royalties you receive.  We are happy to recommend trusted agents.

BELOW WE'VE CREATED A CALCULATOR TO HELP YOU ESTIMATE THE COSTS OF YOUR PROJECT USING FIND YOUR VOICE'S SERVICES