What to Expect When You're Self-Publishing with Katie Carroll

Author Katie Carroll started in traditional publishing in 2012, but tried self publishing for the first time in 2017 and found it very empowering. She’s published YA, MG, PB, as well as non-fiction titles.

Katie provides 7 questions to ask yourself before self-publishing, here are a few of those:

Do I have the time and money to invest in self-publishing? Katie provides some cost breakdown links for an idea of what that might entail.

Is the ‘prestige’ of traditional publishing important to me? Consider what that means to you personally and whether you’re ready to give that up.

Am I considering self-publishing to get a traditional book deal? There are a lot of hybrid authors these days, but Katie recommends considering self-publishing as the end goal in and of itself, not as a vehicle for getting that title into traditional publishing.

Katie shares the steps of self-publishing and how they diverge from traditional publishing, namely all the production/marketing/distribution of a title that a publishing house would normally do for a creator after the final manuscript/art is done.

Even if self-publishing you are going to want to hire editors, and Katie talks about the various types of editing you’ll need: Developmental/big picture edits, line edits, copy edits and proofreading edits. Katie recommends asking other self-pubbed authors for their personal recommendations of the various editors they’ve used. You can also check a book’s acknowledgements and copyright pages. As always, be aware of scams.

Katie shares details of what to think about when hiring an illustrator or a cover artist, for example a picture book illustrator could be paid between $1,000 to $20,000 by a self-published author, and there will be contracts, print parameters, schedules, and payment schedules to be considered on top of budget. 

She shares a number of formatting considerations for print and e-book interiors and cover as well as a list of book distribution channels, retailers that will take on self-published titles, and libraries (which can buy direct from a self-pubbed creator but also acquire via other outlets like Baker & Taylor or Overdrive, among others).

Katie shares a list of book launch steps and marketing opportunities, at the top of which is the one thing a creator can control, their personal website. 

Can you make a living self-publishing? Katie shares the results of some surveys done in the last few years and roughly—a quarter of authors are making 0-$1,000 a year, a quarter are making over $100,000 and the rest are at a median yearly income of about $20,000. That last number is up about 50% from the last survey done for income done in 2021. 

Katie believes we’re in a second ‘golden age’ of self-publishing and part of that is due to great online resources for DIY (one of which is from Team Blog’s own Debbie Ridpath Ohi! As well as SCBWI’s Essential Guide).

Rubin Pfeffer: EBooks and Apps

Rubin Pfeffer is famous for challenging children's book writers and illustrators to think of ourselves as "Children's Content Creators."

He is a veteran of the children’s and adult trade industry. He has served as President and Publisher of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, SVP and Chief Creative Officer of Pearson, and as SVP, Publisher of Children’s Books for Simon & Schuster. Pfeffer joined the East West Literary Agency in December 2009, as a partner and established the Boston base of the agency. He works with such luminary talents as Patricia MacLachlan, Marion Dane Bauer, Steven Kellogg, Susan Cooper, Judy Sierra, David Diaz, Richard Jesse Watson, Jesse Joshua Watson, Jeff Mack, Mike Austin, and a host of other published and new talents. In addition, he consults regularly on digital content for the Ruckus Media Group.

Rubin Pfeffer presenting his session on EBooks and Apps

Rubin starts off his breakout session by describing the spectrum of digital publishing, on one end: ebooks which are simply screen versions of the printed book.  In the middle: enhanced ebooks, where the story is enhanced with other medium: audio, animation, sound effects, things like that.  At the other end: Apps, that don't necessarily even look like a book anymore.  If the App is based on a book, they might leverage the world or characters of the story to include activities or games.

He's running down the current technology (ipad, kindle fire, nook, droid, kobo, and other proprietary devices) and sharing some eye-popping statistics on the growth of tablets.

There are six macro trends that he wants us to consider.  Here's one:  The demise of brick and mortar stores... Though he has a hunch that we will begin to see a Renaissance of niche Children's book stores!

We're learning about Zombie books (the ability to bring back old books that were considered "dead") and the impact on reluctant readers of being able to change the font size - which changes their experience of reading a book, and so much more!

Rubin challenges us to imagine the opportunities of this statement:

"New technology always creates new content."

He's sharing so much more, and answering questions from the floor, including a discussion of self-publishing and credentialed alternative publishers.

Overall, it's a very inspiring, thought-provoking session.