Nicole Eva Fraser

How to Publish With Your Own Imprint

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by Nicole Eva Fraser

I love my traditional publisher, Second Wind Publishing LLC in North Carolina. Second Wind released my first novel (The Hardest Thing in This World) in October 2013.  So why did I decide to self-publish my second novel and a nonfiction e-Book in 2014?  Simply because I wanted to learn the DIY side of the business, and take charge of getting my books to market at a faster pace.
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imprint

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To publish with my own imprint (= publishing business), I followed the basic steps below, which you can adapt for the state / province where you live and the self-publishing service company you work with.

First, the definition of “imprint”
An imprint is a publisher name. Your own imprint is simply the publisher name you choose, clear, and register according to your state business laws to use in self-publishing your own books. 

File your imprint name in your state
I live in Ohio, so once I settled on my imprint name—Bench Press—I had to check its availability in Ohio and register it as a trade name. The steps should be similar in your state.

  • I went to the Ohio Secretary of State website.
  • Went to Business Services page.
  • Reviewed their Guide to Business Name Availability.
  • Did a Business Search by Name and by Exact Name.
  • Bench Press didn’t come up in the searches, so I filed the Ohio “Trade Name (Name Registration)” form and paid the $50 fee to register the name.
  • I was granted the Trade Name Registration for Bench Press.
  • The registration must be renewed every five years.
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How does your self-publishing company handle author imprints?
Considering to use the POD services and retail arms of Amazon and Smashwords, I researched all their policies. You will need to research the policies of the company you will working with well before you are preparing to publish.  Here’s what I found in my research in February 2014:

Amazon CreateSpace (paperback): 

  • Yes, you may publish with your own imprint, but must buy your own ISBN to do so (more on ISBNs in a minute).

Amazon KDP (Kindle): 

  • Yes, you may publish with your own imprint and are not required to buy your own ISBN.

Smashwords: 

  • Yes, you may publish with your own imprint and are not required to buy your own ISBN. However, if you elect to get the free ISBN from Smashwords, be aware that: 

1.     Smashwords will be listed as the publisher in the Bowker Books in Print database; and

2.     Your imprint will be listed as the publisher in your e-Book.

 

ISBNs: to buy or not to buy?

I did decide to buy an ISBN for the paperback of my novel I Don’t Think It’s That Simple because I want Bench Press (not CreateSpace) to appear as the imprint in the paperback.

I decided not to buy ISBNs for GPS for New Novelists because I’m releasing it only as an e-Book, and I’m satisfied with the Smashwords arrangements regarding their free ISBNs.

To learn more about purchasing ISBNs, visit Bowker Identifier Services.

 

More opportunities to consider

  • You could choose and buy the domain name of your imprint and create an additional website for your book(s), with all the corresponding exposure and marketing opportunities.
  • You could incorporate under your imprint name. Incorporation is a complex legal process and you will need a lawyer.
  • You could invite other authors to publish under your imprint and build a collective. Consult a lawyer before you do.
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Conclusion
Publishing with your own imprint requires you to do your due diligence upfront.  Be sure to allow enough time in your pre-production schedule for the research and the decision-making that are involved.

About the Author
Nicole Eva Fraser is the author of I Don’t Think It’s That Simple, forthcoming in Summer 2014, The Hardest Thing in This World (2013), and GPS for New Novelists: Navigating the 5 routes to publication (2014).

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,030 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

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http://www.111publishing.com

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Tagged: block of ISBN, buy the domain name, CreateSpace POD services, Guide to Business Name Availability, Nicole Eva Fraser, Publishing with your own imprint, Trade Name Registration

From Blank Slate to Cool Cover

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How to find the right cover designer for your novel
by Nicole Eva Fraser

I’m not usually a procrastinator—but I delayed getting a cover design for my novel I Don’t Think It’s
That Simple till after I’d polished and proofed the manuscript and prepped it for e-Book formatting. Why? Because Cali MacKay, who designed the cover for my first novel, The Hardest Thing in This World, was no longer working in the profession, and I was going to have to start my designer search from scratch! Finally, when I couldn’t procrastinate any longer, I dove back into the process.
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First Steps
I wrote the cover blurb for I Don’t Think It’s That Simple. After that, I jotted down a list of key ideas and
their visual translations. This gave me starting points to share with my new designer…whoever she
or he might turn out to be.
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Here’s My Cover Blurb:
Do you think Evan Leighton is a stalker—or a good guy looking for love in all the wrong places?
And how about Julia Atwater—is she an innocent flirt or a shameless manipulator? The one sure
thing is that they both love Julia’s teenage son Hunter—then a surreal accident changes the course
of all their futures. Evan and Julia may touch your heart, they may frustrate or infuriate you, but you’re
guaranteed to recognize someone you care about—even yourself—in their story.
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My List of Key Ideas Boiled Down To:

  • loneliness
  • love (romantic love and love for a child)
  • the solace of nature, especially the Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan
  • basketball

My Very Basic Visual Translations Included:

  • a man or woman walking alone on a beach, seen from behind to keep the figure universal
  • maybe an inset silhouette of a young man playing basketball
  • maybe an inset of a man and boy, suggesting a father and son relationship

I sketched the visuals into a rough cover and added the title and my name in the layout.
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Next Steps
I decided to search for existing book covers whose color palettes, layouts, specific images, or
overall feel resonated for me. I searched Google Images for contemporary fiction and contemporary
romance covers, eventually finding some I connected with
Then I began searching for cover designers whose portfolios resonated for me and whose services
fit my budget. Book Cover Designers (list at DuncanLong.com), Book Cover Artists & Illustrators
(Goodreads forum), and Affordable Book Cover Designers (list at RebeccaBerto.com) provided
great leads. Eventually I switched to a basic Google search, “book cover designers,” and found
Fiona Jayde Media. Her site and portfolio captured my interest and I felt she could be The One.
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Working With the Designer
I queried Fiona, attaching my rough sketch and notes. She sent me a personal reply, attaching her
questionnaire for potential clients, including questions about the mood of the novel, main character
profiles, and emotional keywords, and she requested links to the fonts and other visuals I’d been
considering.

After reviewing my answers, Fiona sent me her ideas. She said my idea of a woman walking alone
on a beach, seen from behind, was a strong central image; and that an inset silhouette of a
basketball player would be too busy, but she could incorporate basketball imagery in the font. She
also suggested fonts with more impact than the ones I’d found.

That all sounded good to me, and I felt relieved to be in the hands of a pro. At that point, Fiona and I
agreed to work together, I paid a 50% deposit of $67.50, and the project moved forward in earnest.
Fiona selected a stock photo from one of her preferred sites. She adjusted the colors to a moody,
natural palette I wanted, selected the fonts, and devised the layout. Her very first draft was close to
perfect and I requested only a tweak before signing off on the final cover; click here to see.
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Wrap-up 
As you can tell, getting from the blank slate to the cool cover was a somewhat painstaking process that, for me, couldn’t be rushed. Be sure to allow enough time in your pre-production schedule for your ideal book cover to be professionally designed.
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About the Author:
Nicole Eva Fraser is the author of I Don’t Think It’s That Simple, forthcoming in Summer 2014; The
Hardest Thing in This World (2013); and GPS for New Novelists: Navigating the 5 routes to
publication (2014).

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars  Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/ to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,030 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

.

Hyper Smash

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Tagged: affordable book cover designers, blurb for cover, cover design, cover design for novel, find the right cover designer, Fiona Jayde Media, Nicole Eva Fraser