Creative freedom, increased clout, and potential profit. These three reasons to start your own publishing company may fuel your decision to take that step, but they do little to help you understand everything that goes into it. Writers who choose to self-publish start an author brand with their first book release. You can leverage the skills gained during that process into starting your own imprint or trade name. However, they’re not enough to make your new business a true success.
In a sea of scammers and publishers that shut down before they attract any attention, take the time to learn how to do it right. These steps will allow you to not only publish your own works with more professionalism, but also extend the opportunity to other hopeful writers as well.
1. Choose Your Why: The Business Plan
Some writers launch a publishing company for their own purposes only. You may want an imprint on your book page and a more professional-looking website. If this is all you ever plan for, simply register a company name and self-publish happily.
However, becoming a publisher offers many other benefits down the road. You can help other writers realize their dreams and build a considerable income over time. Get a proper business plan form online and fill it out with all pertinent information. Decide what type of books you want to publish: romance novels, intense horror, children’s books, etc. This will help you choose a name, marketing techniques, and brand image in the next steps.
2. Register the Publishing Company
Multiple options exist for the official launch of a brand name or company. The business structures range from registering a DBA (Doing Business As) name to forming an LLC (limited liability corporation) to larger corps. In the United States, you may need an EIN (employer identification number) if you intend to hire full or part-time assistants.
If you live in another part of the world, do diligent research about your country’s business launch strategies and legal requirements.
3. Design and Build Your Brand
Create an attractive brand focused on the types of books you want to publish. Take the time to think far into the future. Will you always publish sweet, small-town romances or might you want to expand into steamy stories later on? You may love children’s picture books today, but adding activity books later may expand your business. Your chosen business name should already reflect these types of decisions. The brand design must do so, too.
A professional brand for a publishing company includes:
· Niche-specific, memorable, well-designed logo
· Simpler imprint graphic to display on book covers or spines
· Proper color scheme that aligns with the brand identity
· Typography designs for website, printed matter, and communication
· Brand values, mission statement, and About Us story.
4. Set Up Your Online Presence
Register your domain name, build a quality website, claim brand-specific social media pages, and grow your online presence. Also, make sure you have an official URL email address, a system for opt-in newsletters and author contacts, and a publisher account with your chosen book sales platforms like Amazon, Draft2Digital, Ingram, GooglePlay Books, Lulu, Barnes and Noble, Apple, etc. Choose the appropriate ones based on the types of books you want to publish and your business capabilities. Also, remember to add ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 lookups to your website and include book metadata, such as book titles, descriptions, publication dates, authors, book weights, and so on.
5. Funding Decisions: Find the Money
One immutable fact of the publishing world is that the money should flow to the writer. Startup publishing companies earn most from book sales. The company gets a percentage of the net sales, and the author gets the rest.
Even before you open for submissions, you need capital to open the business. Use savings or earnings from your own books. Small business loans or credit are an option, but only if you have a strong plan and true ability to succeed and grow. With the ease of print on demand, starting on a shoestring is simple and smart.
6. Publish Your Own Books Well
Many small businesses start with the owner’s interest in their service. Writers self-publish their books and want a company to make it official or spread the service to others. Start by publishing your books well.
Quality book development and design includes quality editing done by professionals, neat and artistic interior formatting, skillful, genre-specific book covers, stunning, attention-grabbing blurbs, proper publishing on Amazon or other platforms.
This step is the perfect time to network with editors, designers, and other service providers you can use for your publishing company. No one person can do everything with sufficient professionalism.
7. Launch the Marketing Machine
Every self-published author knows the importance of marketing their books, so they do not get lost in the sea of new titles coming out every day. If you want to open a company that helps other writers make sales, you need expert skills that get results. With proper funding, you can hire personal assistants or outsource to marketers that can help.
What are the best methods of marketing a newly published book? First, figure out where the audience is. This differs greatly between parents looking for picture books for their toddlers and teens looking for the hottest new YA fantasy series. Also, advertising books and the publishing company itself takes different strategies. It makes sense to start by learning how to market books. No one will want to publish with you if you can’t generate sales.
Announce every new book on your website, social media pages, and book-related sites like Goodreads. Send out ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) to get those all-important first reviews. Attract opt-in subscribers to the newsletter. Consider book trailers, blog tours, and book signings. The options you choose depend on the genre, audience interest, and budget.
8. Open the Door to Submissions
You have set up the publishing process, streamlined your marketing strategies, and gathered enough money to take care of everything without charging authors like another scam vanity press. Only after doing all this should you open the door to submissions from other authors.
In alignment with your publishing company’s focus on genre or type of book, use your marketing skills to get the word out. Have a legal, fair, and ethical contract ready. Never make sales claims that you cannot backup with data. Always consider the rights and benefits to the author first.
The writing world needs more quality publishing companies. If you take the time to follow these steps and do it right, you can greatly benefit not only yourself but all the writers with dreams of seeing their books in the hands of happy readers.
