Have you ever thought of writing your own book, and bringing your ideas to reality?
It could be any book, like a novel, memoir, self-help guide, motivation, or even an adventure story.
Once you’ve written the book you’ll need to figure out how to distribute the book. You need a publisher. How do you accomplish this dream of writing a book and making available to the masses?
Easy. The answer is self publishing.
As more and more companies are offering self-publishing services, you have a great chance to make your dream of publishing a book into reality.
Due to technology, self-publishing has become a common term for writers and authors all around the world.
As a matter of fact, self-publishing has been growing rapidly every year. In the year, 2020 self-publishing saw a drastic increase in the number of books self-published. As people were staying at home, it gave an opportunity to the writers to write the books. Thus in 2020, According to Bookscan sales of printing books increased by 7.8% over 2019. This is the largest increase since 2010.
Self Publish VS Traditional Publishing
First of all before we get started, let’s discuss the difference between self publishing and traditional publishing with a quick comparison.
Self Publishing | Traditional Publishing |
|---|---|
You write the book | You write the book |
You pay for and start the publishing process right away | Wait to receive an offer/publishing contract |
You oversee the publishing process (Mindstir Media assigns you a manager to help with this) | The publisher oversees the process |
You choose how to publish and market book | Publishers markets and launches book |
Receive royalties |
Receive Royalties |
Pros of Self Publishing
Well, traditional publishing can possibly sell more books, but there are a lot more hoops to jump through. There are no upfront fees, but it can be very difficult and a lengthy process to get signed with a publisher. You’ll also need a literary agent.
While self publishing can also be a learning experience, the pros to self publishing your book are:
- You are guaranteed to publish the book
- Quick to market
- You have full creative control of your book
- You have full control over how your book is marketed
- Control your book pricing
- Generally higher royalty fees (you do however have upfront costs)
- No limit to how many books you can publish.
- Full rights to your book
One of the most popular self publishing companies in the USA is MindStir Media. Here is our review of MindStir Media.
What is MindStir Media?
MindStir Media is a creative, award-winning self-publishing company. They offer self-publishing packages that include custom book design, editing, marketing, endorsements, and more.
Mindstir Media was started by J.J. Hebert who has actually found great success as a nine-time award winning author as a self publisher. So he knows exactly how to navigate and launch a successful self published book.
Mindstir Media is a great choice to bring your book ideas to life. In fact, it is among the top best self-publishing companies in the USA. It is rated as Top self-publishing company by prestigious websites Penny Matters, BestTechie, iTech Post, and Kev’s Best.The interesting thing which I liked in MindStir Media is that they include everything you would need. For example, the base package includes custom cover design, interior layout, ISBN assignment, barcode generation, and ebook conversion. You will surely find what you need during the process of publishing a book.
They have a great marketing program to sell your books to consumers. Customers will be able to order your book through the Mindstir Media distribution network including:
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- Powell’s, Books-A-Million
- Ingram
- Baker and Taylor
In total, their distribution reaches approximately 39,000+ retailers, booksellers, and wholesalers in 195 countries.
The Detailed Self Publishing Process
The self publishing process with MindStir Media is quite simple, but it is detailed. Each self publisher should walk through these 11 steps:
Choose Mindstir Media Package
The first step is to study and review their self-publishing packages. Once you select a package and the payment is received, they’ll assign a project manager, and a professional publishing team to you and your book Project Manager. The Project Manager will also be known as an “Author Representative”.
Design your Self Published Book Cover
Your Project Manager will work as a liaison between you and your book designer/ illustrator and editor (if your selected package includes editing). The Project Manager will consult with you with regards to the front book cover design.They’ll want to hear your overall vision for your book cover and they’ll work hard to meet your expectations. You’ll be given an opportunity to offer feedback and approval. Revisions are included for free until you are satisfied with the cover design.
Editing your Book
Your editor will use the track changes feature within Microsoft Word software to show every single edit made to the manuscript and track if any mistakes or errors are present. You’ll be able to approve or reject each individual change.
Adding Illustrations
Illustrations are the images or drawings found within your book.
Their illustrator will follow their 3-step illustration process. The turnaround time for illustration depends on the total number of illustrations your book needs and the current workload of your illustrator. Your Project Manager will keep you updated on the illustrator’s progress.
Layout Design
Now you are entering the final phase of the book creation. Now that your cover has been designed and the error-free manuscript with all images is ready to go, it’s time to put it together. The interior layout design is just as important as the cover illustration. This is what your reader will spend the most time on.
Your manager will make sure you follow book publishing industry standards to create your interior. You will also want to ensure you use a similar style to your cover design, even including your font.
Your interior layout will include a couple key components of your book:
- Copyright page (includes copyright notice and ISBN)
- Table of contents
- Chapter headers
- Footnotes
- Page Number
- Hyphenation
This next proof will be the exciting part where you can see the totality of your book together in a PDF format. You will be given the opportunity to provide revisions for free at this stage too.
Wraparound Cover
Continuing with the style and design of the book cover, your wraparound cover will be designed next. The back cover includes:
- Edited book description
- Back cover copy
- Author Photo
- Author Biography
- MindStir Media logo
- Barcode (with embedded ISBN and price)
The outer cover usually consists of your author name, book title and MindStir Media spine logo.
Printed Proof
Now it’s time to feel and see your book come to fruition. This is the most exciting step where you can see the cover and interior finalized. This is the first printed copy of your book!
Distribution
The distribution will begin automatically after you approve the printed proof. 39,000+ wholesalers, retailers and booksellers in over 195 countries, including product listings on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and Booksamillion.com will have access to your book.
Marketing
You might already have an idea about how to market your book, but the team at MindStir Media are experts in book launches. You’ll be able to discuss book marketing with your Project Manager. In addition you can setup a consultation with bestselling author J.J. Hebert during this process.
If your publishing package includes marketing/publicity services, they’ll implement those at this point as well. Some of the ways that you can choose to advertise your book include:
- Social media marketing
- Online PPC advertising including Google, Twitter and Facebook Ads. (don’t make these common PPC mistakes)
- Design and Launch a Author and/or Book Website
- Create Goodread Author Profile, the #1 social networking website for book lovers.
- Create Amazon Author Page
- Launch a Premium Book Press Release.
- Author interviews and/or blog website reviews.
- Book Review Service.
- Book Exhibitions, join in domestic and international book fairs.
- Traditional advertising including magazine and catalogue ads.
Order fulfillment
The best part about choosing a company like MindStir Media is that they also handle every order that you receive. No need to go to your book storage and mail each order out yourself as they come in. They’ll handle all the order fulfillment through our distributor/printer and vendors. You simply receive an email when an order is placed and fulfilled.
Royalties
Every time an order comes through, it’s fulfilled through MindStir Media. Then each quarter you will receive an officially royalty statement with a check.
MindStir Media Packages
They have 10 core paperback/ebook packages, starting from $1,899 in which you can get your book designed, published, barcoded, and distributed.
The highest Package is $24,999 which includes an endorsement from Shark Tank’s Kevin Harrington. They also recently introduced a package at the same tier level that allows authors to get endorsed by actress and author Mariel Hemingway, the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway.
Full color children’s books and hardcover books are also available with different packages.
Conclusion
Mindstir Media is a great platform for self-publishing. The self-publishing process is very smooth, all the steps are well managed and done professionally. Which is so important if you have never published a book before.
So, if you really want to bring your book ideas to life, then you should definitely try this platform.
Go download their self-publishing guide at https://mindstirmedia.com/publishing-guide/.