Which publishing method should I choose for self-published books?
◎Dashang
Self-published books refer to the publishing method of books in which the author bears the publishing costs himself. For those who want to publish books at their own expense, it is very important to choose the right publishing method. The following are some common self-published book publishing methods:
1. Traditional publishing: Traditional publishing refers to handing the book to the publishing house, which is responsible for editing, designing, printing and distribution. This publishing method requires the author to have certain writing skills and popularity, and at the same time needs to pass the review and editing process of the publishing house. The advantage of traditional publishing is that professional editing and design support can be obtained, and the quality and market promotion of the book are relatively guaranteed. The disadvantage is that the publishing cycle is long, high publishing fees need to be paid, and the publishing house has certain restrictions on the topic and content of the book.
2. Self-publishing: Self-publishing means that the author is responsible for the editing, design, printing and distribution of the book. This publishing method requires the author to have certain technical and financial strength, and at the same time needs to conduct marketing and sales by himself. The advantage of self-publishing is that the publishing cycle is short, the author can better control the topic and content of the book, and can obtain higher royalty income. The disadvantage is that the author needs to find a publisher to cooperate with, apply for a book number for the topic, bear higher publishing costs, and the quality and market promotion of the book may not be as good as traditional publishing.
3. Entrust publishing to a publishing agent: Find a publishing planner (agent) who has rich publishing experience and cooperates with the publisher. The agent has the network resources and editorial and typesetting design personnel who cooperate with the publisher. Some agents can also use their own distribution channels to assist the author in publishing books or promoting them. The manuscript is handed over to the agent. The agent handles the topic selection and application of the book number for the author. After the author pays the publishing fee, the author does not need to ask about editing, typesetting, design and printing. The author is only responsible for the promotion and distribution of the book. It can even use the signed commissioned publishing contract to initiate crowdfunding on crowdfunding platforms such as crowdfunding.com, and do a good job of book distribution at the same time to recover the paid publishing fees. The author of this article recommends that this publishing method can be selected, and the author can be found to be an agent for publishing.
4. E-book publishing: E-book publishing refers to publishing books in the form of e-books on e-book platforms, such as Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, etc. The advantages of e-book publishing are short publishing cycle, low cost, and can be sold and promoted through e-book platforms. The disadvantage is that the market share of e-books is relatively small, and the reading experience of e-books may not be as good as that of paper books.
5. Electronic CD + paper book publishing: There are many domestic publishing houses with e-book publishing qualifications, and they are all registered with the State Administration of Press and Publication to apply for book numbers. The only difference from traditional book publishing is that there is no CIP Chinese version library database number, only book number. There are not many publishing houses that have CDs and books published and priced together in this publishing method. Therefore, when choosing e-book number publishing, you should pay attention to whether you can publish paper books and set prices for paper books. The author of this article is a book publishing planner. The e-book number publishing agent is a regular publishing method that can publish paper books and can set CD + book prices. If necessary, you can rest assured to entrust it.
6. Joint publishing: Joint publishing refers to the cooperation between authors and publishing houses or publishing agents to publish books. The publishing house or publishing agent is responsible for editing, design, printing and distribution, and the author is responsible for marketing and sales. The advantage of joint publishing is that you can obtain professional support and resources from the publishing house or publishing agent, and you can share the publishing costs and risks. The disadvantage is that you need to sign a contract with the publishing house or publishing agent, and you need to comply with the regulations and requirements of the publishing house.
To sum up, there are many ways to publish a book at your own expense, and the author needs to choose the appropriate publishing method according to his or her actual situation and needs. If the author has certain writing skills and popularity, and hopes to obtain professional editing and design support, he or she can choose traditional publishing; if the author has certain technical and financial strength, and hopes to better control the topic and content of the book, he or she can choose self-publishing; if the author wants to publish the book in the form of an e-book, he or she can choose e-book publishing; if the author wants to cooperate with a publishing house or publishing agent to publish a book, he or she can choose joint publishing. Regardless of the publishing method chosen, the author needs to carefully prepare the content and quality of the book, and actively carry out market promotion and sales to increase the sales and popularity of the book.
Contact number for editor and book publishing agent: 13792312628 (WeChat)
Related to the book number and serial number.
Chao Yimin
Recently, someone left a message after the post about book editors' contributions in the WeChat circle, and vowed that as long as there is no cn number, it is fraud. His words are forceful, as if he knew the publishing field like the palm of his hand, and his firm and confident tone seems to be the absolute authority in this field. As everyone knows, such remarks are really ridiculous, even ridiculous. Although both books and periodicals are publications, there are significant and huge differences between them, which are just like an insurmountable gap.
Let's talk about books first. The front end of ISBN usually has four letters beginning with ISBN. No matter domestic or foreign publishers, all books published will have ISBN beginning with these four letters. It should be understood that this is an international standard book number, which is approved and assigned by the publishing house by the examination and approval authority designated by the United Nations, including the country and publishing house code, and its authority and professionalism are beyond doubt. In China, books with international standard book numbers will be equipped with cip database codes and bar codes of China Edition Library. As for the e-book number, there is no cip database code. Some books may not have applied for international standard book numbers, but when they apply to local news management agencies, the press and publication management departments will give them a certificate of issuance, and they can't only mark the cost of the work, and they are not allowed to be publicly issued and sold. It should be noted that the ISBN of foreign publishing houses will not be stored in the CIP database of China Edition Library. Moreover, after the examination and approval, the ISBN can only be used once on the specific books that have been examined and approved, and can never be misappropriated and reused in other books.
Next, let's talk about the international standard serial number, which is the code of continuous publications and can be used continuously. ISSN is the first letter of the international standard issue number, which is approved by ISSN International Center designated by the United Nations. In China, domestic newspapers and periodicals approved by the State Press and Publication Administration will be assigned a unified CN serial number, which is a continuous publication for public publication. And foreign newspapers and periodicals, naturally there will be no China's CN unified serial number. In China, there are also serial numbers of two other serial publications. One of them is issued by the press and publication administration. Although it is not allowed to be published publicly, it is allowed to use the internal materials for publication and communication. Although it limits the scope of communication, it still provides the possibility for specific communication and communication. There is also a kind of one-time quasi-confirmation that needs to be approved at any time, and it must go through the approval process before each publication. In addition, there are some international standard serial numbers approved by foreign publishing houses. Because there is no domestic CN unified serial number, ISSN International Center has put on record, which is also a regular publication, but in principle, it is not allowed to be publicly published in China, and it can only be publicly published in China after going through the relevant approval process of import and export.
So, what is a fake publication? In fact, even those false publications that have not been examined and approved in accordance with state regulations, or published by applying serial numbers and book numbers, are classified as illegal publications and are explicitly prohibited from publication.
Strictly speaking, domestic regular newspapers and periodicals all have double numbers (international standard serial numbers and domestic unified serial numbers), newspapers and periodicals that are publicly subscribed for and distributed through postal services, and there is also a postal code. The works published by such newspapers and periodicals are counted as published results by joining associations, awarding prizes and evaluating professional titles. Works published in newspapers and periodicals that are not allowed to be published publicly can only be used for cultural exchanges. Books published by domestic publishing houses, which are submitted by the publishing houses to the State Press and Publication Administration for examination and approval, are books with international standard book number, CIP database number of China edition library and bar code. Domestic publishing houses publish electronic book numbers, and the State Press and Publication Administration only assigns international standard book numbers and bar codes, and there is no CIP database code of the China version of the library, because such publications are audio-visual electronic publications, which have been approved by the State Press and Publication Administration and are also regular publications. E-book numbers are published. Some publishers only allow e-books to be sold and subscribed online, some only allow CD-ROM sales, some allow CD-ROM and paper books (CD+book) to be priced, and some do not allow paper books to be priced. Paper books can only be exchanged as "instructions".
The so-called fraud in publications should be those acts of publishing fake books and periodicals by applying book numbers and serial numbers to defraud money, that is, the act of cheating by using fake books and periodicals, and its misconduct should be condemned and punished by law.
The author of this paper is a member of a cultural enterprise, which has registered the business of editing historical records, advertising services, network services, tourism services and cultural exchange activities, and has business dealings with many publishing houses, such as book publishing (editing, typesetting, binding and design). The author who needs book publishing and publishing can rest assured that he will insist on regular publishing and recommend it to regular newspapers and periodicals.