Videos on the business side of self-publishing from an accountant and ex-auditor. Content warning for diagrams, flowcharts and spreadsheets.
// WHO ARE YOU ANYWAY?
Hi, I'm Deborah!
During my time in audit, I specialised in technology, media and entertainment businesses-and I had a lot of publishers as my clients. I spent five years in post-graduation education (teaching and writing textbooks), and I've also been a beta reader for other published authors. I self-publish bilingual kids books (Cantonese books that rhyme at www.catlikestudio.com) and epic fantasy novels under Delilah Waan (www.delilahwaan).
// MY BOOKS
Cantonese/English bilingual rhyming picture story books for kids aged 2-6: Today is my Birthday! → books2read.com/todayismybirthday Cycling in Spring → books2read.com/cyclinginspring
Debut epic fantasy novel: Petition (Resonance Crystal Legacy, Book 1) → books2read.com/petition
Hello Paper Tiger! You seem knowledgeable and like such a nice person! This motivates me to tell you that it is very difficult to hear what you are saying, which seems a shame. It seems as if you are speaking very very fast, but actually apparently some digital software has compressed the audio time, eliminating all natural pauses after clauses and the end of sentences. You speak for twelve minutes without taking a breath! I suppose this makes it take up less digital space. Also the audio is quite distorted, and would benefit from a mic that is good quality and placed close to your mouth. It sounds like the very cheap and low quality internal mic that is on my Macbook. This is not helping your well thought out message. Thank you for the video, I have subscribed, and will try to decipher the video!
Trad publishing is killing its own structure slowly. If a book doesnt contain lgbtq or leftist policies, there’s a damn good chance it will never be published at all traditionally atm because that’s whats popular and selling.
So, I'm an author and an "AI Artist" (I have some real art skills.) And I've been using AI to create images for book covers. The thing is it takes me anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks to make a book cover, even using AI. You can put a lot into AI, or you can half-ass it. If you know what you're doing, you get characters that look more authentic than an artist who hasn't read the manuscript. And IMHO it looks better than a photo-bashed cover. But the big question is, "Is it ripping off human artists?" It certainly can be, but if you're using AI to create a unique style, one no human can replicate, than maybe that's an indication that it's not.
I am watching this a year later and let me say … it’s no better. I am on day 15. I guess I have another 20+ to go. Amazon KDP is the absolute worst customer service I have ever encountered.
Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this live Q&A, you should check out this author panel on using kickstarter to fund your audiobook: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bihhjFMVods.html
Serializing a book is a deceptive trick on the Customer and really needs to be rethought. Not all of us have the time to read page and pages and pages of material that goes nowhere and many of us don't have the money to spend in order to complete the author's sole book which consists of 3 or 4 parts with no endings and sometimes more. If one is going to do this, then indicate it in the text in the description.
This is an amazing resource for authors who are interested in using Kickstarter to fund their audiobooks. Awesome job putting this together, Delilah! And thank you to all of the authors for their wisdom and experience!
For more deep dives and analyses, check out my breakdown videos on Brandon Sanderson's Kickstarter: 1. Where's the $$$ going?! | Accountant analyzes Brandon Sanderson's Kickstarter funds → ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b9D37-3xrWQ.html 2. Trad Pub is Dead. Long Live NEW Publishing | Self-Published Author Reacts to Brandon Sanderson's Kickstarter → ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-av64WXh_f80.html 3. Counting down to the end of Brandon Sanderson's Kickstarter → ru-vid.comWi1i0VZ71g0
There's quite a few places around now that will do hardcovers in small runs. BookVault seems to be the most popular option after IngramSpark (they are UK-based though just opened a US-based facility which I've heard is not as consistent as the UK one), then 48 Hour Books (they're US-based and I'm not sure if they ship internationally) and Lulu. But $5,000 for 10 books sounds...off, unless you're doing every page in full color on ultra premium paper and it's a LONG book with a large/unusual trim size.
@@PaperTigerProductions Not sure if you are still deleting my comments, but none of those companies offer it. I did not remember their names, but I have been to all of them already. All they print is paperback trash.
I'm not sure what you mean by deleting your comments. I can only see your top comment (which I've replied to, with suggestions for other printers to look into), then 3 more underneath it: the one about IngramSpark and Lulu not doing hardcovers, the comment about your comments being deleted, and this one that I'm replying to now. I'm also not sure what you mean by none of the companies I've listed offering hardbacks. Perhaps I'm not understanding you, so can you clarify what you mean by "REAL hardbacks"?
Right. I put out 5,000 word chapters as often as possible on Amazon for .99 cents as part of an ongoing series. I got enough material to make at least 100 issues. Then I will wrap that story up and start a new one. Rinse repeat.
Thanks for this! You summed up all my concerns about Royal Road and confirmed that, yeah, they basically are true, lol. Considering going over but really just don't think it's my style of writing.
Disagree with your review for 2 reasons. First, every email service is different- the author/preneur has to work with the techs. Second, this review is out-of-date- Book 2 dives deeper into detail. Third, the author has several very inexpensive classes and FREE tipsheets and RU-vid talks available. She is also one of the best human beings on this planet, willing to help as she is able. So yes, more than 2 reasons Newsletter Ninja is a valuable resource.
Thanks so much! I was worried about what the hardback would look like without a jacket. Yes, I like them to answer your question, they make a great bookmark! But now, I'm going to just order a case laminate.
Really interesting video! I have used fantasy map generators before to just mess around and have fun, so seeing the specificity of making it good for printing and self publishing was very useful.
I wish fancy adult full layout novels were more of a thing. There's a lot you can do in epub3 with javascript. Ebooks seem like a second class citizen to publishers compared to print books.
💯 though the process of putting one together is just so painful that I don't even wanna think about trying to do it for my fantasy novels. Maybe one day we'll get some better tools that'll make it easier...
Oof holy shit this spoke to my exact fear right now. I have beta readers with book 1 as I edit book 2 and I’m like “oh… u like that…? Cool can you tell me how I did that?? Lol “ Thank you for putting this out there.
I've ALWAYS had issues with their dust jacket spine alignment! For my last order it was the last straw, so I sent a complaint with a photo showing how bad it was and they were dicks about it. Told me it wasn't considered a bad thing. The fact is, it's hard to try to the realign the dust jacket because the paper is already trained to be in that particular fold. Maybe I should switch to Amazon...
You're not the only one who has vibed their way to the end of a second book (or third or fourth or...) 😆 But, you know, we're writers - the strange, the inspiring, the artistic; everyone expects we have the weirdest writing habits or process, & vibing is hardly the weirdest one I've ever heard of. 😁
Omg! I had two of my composition books unpublished. I never received an email as to why. I only have 3 books on my site. I finally was able to send a chat and was told I would get a reply in 4 days. Still nothing 😫
