You’ve been writing for a long while. Your book has been edited professionally. At last, it’s time to explore and execute options for packaging and printing your memoir.

Since I have no experience with a commercial publishing house and almost none of the writers I have worked with since 1988 have gone to one, I do not include publishing your memoir via a publishing house as an option—although much of the information here may be indirectly useful to you.

A Printed Product: a “Real” Book for Your Readers

Today, technological advances and centralized distribution systems render self-publication into a viable option for authors who want their books to reach a wider circle than their family and friends. And, it is not true that your book is not worthy to be read unless it has been purchased by a New York corporate publishing house. Self-publishing has many benefits, not the least of which are that you can control production decisions—design, schedule, launch—and can often generate (for the unknown writer) more income than in the commercial route. Of course, learning what you need to know about production, marketing strategy, and regular execution can be a steep learning curve.

Most self-published memoir writers will find their natural “customers” through personal networks of friends (local and scattered), associations and local organizations, clubs, schools, and at library readings, conventions, fairs and festivals. In short—in their own backyards.

Connecting with that audience is part of the pleasure of writing a memoir. Your story will touch many people who will recognize in it their own histories, families, experiences and yearnings. Many authors we have worked with have been amazed (and revitalized) by the response from strangers who have been moved by reading their books. But to get these results, you must have an attractive, well-written book.

Packaging Your Book

You must turn your manuscript into an attractive trade paperback that has all the hallmarks of a “real” book. Opt for a professionally printed book that will be sold in on-line and area bookstores next to those published by the big houses.

To create a professional-looking book, you can:

Know the Difference Between a Publisher and a Printer

Many people confuse publishers with printers.

Print on Demand (POD) vs. Large Print Runs

If you are confident that you can sell thousands of copies of your book—and some writers are realistic in their assessment that they can—then publishing a large print run is the most economical way to go. You will pay a fairly steep price up front for the total printing, but you may earn as much as a dollar or two more per book. When you multiply that by two thousand books, the pay off is decent.

However, most writers are not so sure of what the market for their book will be. Printing their book on demand is the better choice. Some writers publish only 50 books at a time. While their profits are lesser so is their anxiety. If the book does well, such a writer may decide to have a larger run printed in view of the greater profits.

Steps to Publication

1. Pre-press work: convert your manuscript into the form the printer requires. Designing and formatting to create electronic files according to printer specifications is called pre-press production. This is aesthetic as well as technical work that involves many steps and skills. While anything can be printed as a book cover, professionally-produced designs have certain features. It’s unlikely that your niece—the arty one who got high marks in high school art class—knows the required standards unless she has become a professional graphic designer. Use her drawing or painting—but hire a designer to design the cover that will feature it. People really do judge a book by its cover!
2. Brokering your own printing and binding—using your electronic files. Do a cost comparison before settling on a printing option. (In fact, you should do this first because details of the pre-press work should be informed by the particular printer’s specifications.) Prices can vary a lot! So request many printing and binding estimates. Large plants that specialize in books offer lower rates than smaller firms—but if there are long distance shipping costs to get books to you, that will be a disadvantage! Your local printer is probably not a low-cost choice because, like all professionals, printers have specialties. Someone who’s tops at reports and place mats doesn’t necessarily have the best equipment to print and bind books. You must educate yourself about the process in order to make informed choices—and get the end result you want.

What You Can Expect From Self-Publication

The Memoir Network has assisted many writers to produce lovely books. In the 1990’s and the 2000s, these books were printed in runs of 500-1,000 or more. Today, authors usually choose POD. We counsel authors to identify their target markets and sell their books through personal and regional networks. Most large print books recoup their production costs when they sell 400 to 600 copies. Print on Demand books recoup costs more quickly but earn a smaller per book profit. We are repeatedly impressed with how do-able (and enjoyable) it is for first- and onetime authors to sell what others may find a too-large number of books within six months to a year.

The book you produced with me turned out better than I had hoped. So many people have commented on how attractive Twins in a Two-Room Schoolhouse is.

—James Wallace, The Memoir Network Book Production Client

A book-production-service company is not a vanity press. Vanity presses pretend they are selective, prestigious publishers when, in fact, the customer pays (sometimes exorbitantly) all costs for a final product about which he has little choice. On the other hand, a book packager is upfront about offering professional technical services for hire. Editing, design, pre-press and production decisions will be executed with expertise, but you will have as much choice in the details as you want. The result is a real book that looks like you want it to and represents you well as it carries your lifestory to its appreciative audience.

[click here to watch this on video]