Writing the Book, Part Five

This will be the final post in this series describing the steps involved in writing The Descendants of Isaac Casbon in America, which I published in late November 2019. This is also my third post in the Guild of One-Name Studies 2020 Blog Challenge.

In the previous post I described the final steps in preparing a print-ready manuscript. So today, I will talk how that manuscript was converted into a printed book and made available for purchase.

I haven’t mentioned previously that I had decided to publish the book only in printed form—not as an e-book. The reason for this was all about privacy. E-books are very popular and generally less expensive than their printed counterparts. However, due to their easy accessibility and the ability to disseminate them electronically, I was concerned that it would be too easy for information about living people to be shared or possibly misused. Even though I had received permission, I felt that I had a responsibility to limit access to that information.

Before I could print the book, I had to decide which company use for self-publishing. A Google search on self-publishing companies turns up a dozen or more options. After reading about these, I narrowed my list down to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and Lulu.com. They both seemed to have well-developed platforms for publishing and marketing, and there were no up-front fees for either.

I initially decided to use Amazon KDP because of the ability for my target audience to use Amazon to purchase the book. I also figured that many of my readers would be Amazon Prime subscribers and would therefore be eligible for free shipping. I went so far as to print a proof copy of the book before I changed my mind and went with Lulu.com. I’ll explain the reason for the change when I talk about distribution.

The process for submitting a manuscript on either Amazon KDP or Lulu.com is very similar. The manuscript can be uploaded in either Microsoft Word (DOCX) or Portable Document Format (PDF) format. I saved my Word draft as a PDF file before uploading it to Lulu.com. Lulu then converted it to a print-ready PDF which I was allowed to download and review The only difference between my PDF and the print-ready PDF seems to be that the top, bottom and outside margins were increased slightly, so that the edges could be trimmed to the final 6 by 9-inch size after printing—hence the term “trim size.”

However, before the book could be printed, it needed a cover. Both Amazon KDP and Lulu.com have cover creator wizards that allow you to choose from a variety of templates and colors to design a cover. Some of the templates allow you to upload your own photos or images for use as cover art. They also allow you to design your own cover without a template. Once completed, the cover is saved as a PDF file.

With the manuscript and cover uploaded, the book was ready for printing. At this point, I was given the choice of releasing the book to the public or ordering a print copy. I strongly advise anyone considering self-publishing to order a proof copy. This allows you to see the final product and review one last time before sending the book to market. Amazon puts an overprint on their proof copies that reads “Not for Resale.” The proof copies from Lulu.com are the same as what will be sold to the public—the only difference being that the proof copy is available at a reduced price.

After reviewing my proof copies, I was ready to start selling books. But first, I had to decide on a price. Both Amazon KDP and Lulu.com have calculator tools to help you with pricing. The calculator subtracts printing costs and publisher’s profits from your target retail price, allowing you to decide how much, if any, profit you want to make on the book. My goal was to provide an affordable book to my readers, not to make a profit. After all, this wasn’t intended to be a best-seller!

Once the price was set, all I had to do was push a button on the computer and the book was available for sale, with its own product page on the website.

Why did I finally go with Lulu.com instead of Amazon? It all came down to privacy again. Since the book contains private information about living people, I wanted to have the ability to limit sales of the book to family members and others of my choosing. Lulu.com provides this ability through a sales option called Direct Access. With Direct Access, the book can only be sold to people who have received a link to the product page. The book does not appear on Lulu’s search page or online catalog. Amazon KDP does not have this option, so the book would have been available to anyone. I didn’t realize this until I had already received my proof copy from Amazon, so I switched to Lulu.com at that point.

As an aside, since I received proof copies from Amazon and Lulu.com, I was able to evaluate the print quality of both. Both were excellent quality and the graphics came out very well. The only difference between them was that Amazon seemed to use a slightly heavier weight of paper, so the book was a little bit thicker.

The final step was letting people know about the book. I did this through the same means I had contacted people to send them permission forms and family information sheets. I announced the book on the Casbon Family Facebook group, asking them to contact me for the link if they wished to purchase copies. I sent emails to everyone I had email addresses for and I sent letters by regular mail to those who don’t use email or the internet.

After almost a year of work, the book was finished! I’m very happy with the final result and have a great sense of accomplishment. I’ve already learned of a few corrections that will need to be made and I’m looking forward to providing an updated edition sometime in the future. But for now, I’m happy to get back to blogging and spending time doing anything other than working on the book!