Publishing - How?

What are the steps to Publishing?

Books, Cards or both.
Self Publishing
Being Published by a 'Publisher'
Magazine and Periodicals

Steps, Procedures, Considerations, Resources, websites!!

Any ideas out there from our talented pool of Aeclectians?

Blessings
Elven x

Oh goodness, this is such a huge topic that I'm not sure where to start. I think the Creation forum here already has several good threads on publishing - both with a publisher and as a self-publisher. It's well worth reading those.

In general I'd say read as widely as possible - there are several very good websites for writers and artists, and places like the Publishers' Marketing Association and The Midwest Book Review give excellent pointers on how to become a publisher. I'd also say beware of "subsidy" publishers - recently I read more and more negative stuff about the larger subsidy publishers.

I'll try to fish out some links.

baba-prague

Thankyou so much!! I have had a look at quite a few threads and sites and for some reason, Im not seeing the way ahead very clearly. Submissions, editors, 'subsidy' publishers, LOL!! I think I'll start with a glossary of terms!! Plenty of information but no system to it - its the capricorn in me

Thankyou for your reply - some resource links would be great!!

Mods: are there threads in other sections about publishing which could be put into Professional Tarot? Just a thought.

Many Blessings
Elven x

So for starters, here is the reputable and reliable Mid West Book Review. It's primarily what it says, a book review site, but if you follow some of the "writing and publishing" links you'll find some excellent stuff.

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/

As far as book publishing goes - it would take a whole thread! In fact, I think I did discuss it somewhere a long time ago but have no idea what the threads were called! (Damn Alzheimers!)

Other than self publishing or 'publish on demand' getting a book published is a long process and not for sissies! My best preliminary advice to you:

Go to your favorite bookstore and look at what already exists along the same lines as your idea for a book. Can the world support another one? What will make your book better? Look at the publishers of those books and jot down their websites. Go online and look them up- go for 'Contact Us' or 'manuscript submissions' or whatever is similar. If they say they do not accept unsolicited manuscripts you may have a chance by writing them a book proposal first; if they say they do not accept manuscripts unless you have an agent- forget them! Cull your list that way - postage gets expensive!

Read their submission guidelines and follow them to the letter! If it says one thing and you do another they will throw your manuscript away- they don't have time to bother with people who don't know how to read!

Be prepared to wait for interminal amounts of time - at least 12 weeks minimum.

Meanwhile I'll try doing a search for my former thread.

Found it! in 'Chat' - "Authors, Royalties...and Profits". The little money you can make unless your name is Stephen King is amazing ! I'll bump it up for those who may have missed it.

All the big tarot publishers have submissions guidelines either on their site (you have to dig sometimes) or available for the asking.

There's also the book that comes out every year (found at Barnes and Noble or at any library in the reference section) called Writers Market 2005 (or 2006 for next year, etc.). The magazines and publications use this, it's got the names of all the current editors and addresses and things. The library should also have books on publishing, that is if the library is large enough.

If you're going to do it yourself and want stores to carry your item, you HAVE to have an ISBN number assigned to have warehouses and bookstores able to order it. It's a must if you want to have your item out to the public via the standard routes.

Books are getting easier to make, thanks to technology and better production capabilities. You can do the vanity press route or do it yourself if you like. OR have it downloadable from off the internet even. The standard Office Depot/Office Max/Kinkos does all sorts of binding as well, but look for price breaks to get yourself the best deal.

Thankyou so much cormac (who pm'd), baba-prague,Tarotbear and HudsonGray!
I am researching at the moment. First things first! Trying to gather enough information so I can make choices relevant to the project. Self publishing is an option for me, and the web idea is wonderful as well!

The first thing I am buying is a large book to throw all the references, addresses, websites, editors, and publishers, ideas, questions, etc into. Nothing worse than if the computer goes down and I cant access to my information - or worse - loose all the information. Oh yeah - paper and a new ink cartridge too.

Off to the shops!

Thanks for your help. Its a godd start.

Many Blessings
Elven x

Elven,

How apropos. Thank you so much for starting this thread.

The funny thing is that I know there will be publishing hurdles and lots to learn (and hope to find lots of tips in this forum), but ultimately I feel I can handle all of that. It was the actual WRITING that was the problem.

I've been offline for a bit, working on the last couple of chapters for the first draft of a Tarot book. It lived in my head for more than a year, and I kept saying, "I've got to write that book." But I felt that I never had time to write.

In July, I put myself on a schedule. And that is working. I also stopped editing myself into oblivion - trying to perfect every single sentence is a real show-stopper. Now, I write a segment, mark it off my outline, and move on. I'll edit later ... after my mentor and a couple other folks have read and made suggestions.

Still on track and should be done by the end of October. While the first draft is circulating, I'll start researching potential publishers and the option of self-publishing (that's probably the best option for me at this point). I figure by the time I have that narrowed down, the second draft will be ready.

Of course, I have to stay on track now, because I've told so many people that I'm working on a book. They all think I'm so organized that they expect to see a finished product sometime late in 2006. And once folks know that you are writing a book, they keep asking when it will be done. I recall being pregnant, and folks kept looking at my belly in dismay and asking about the due date. It feels rather like that, except it's going to take much longer and I won't have to nurse when I'm done. Oh, the self-inflicted pressure.

So, have you decided yet what you are going to write about? And how is that process going for you? Is there anything in particular that helps or stifles your creativity?

Mnem

The best advice I can give is :JUST WRITE !! And Keep Writing! Don't try to be a perfectionist - it will hold you back in too many ways. Just write and write and write and when you get tired go back and edit it ... later. Remember, when you get your book into a legit publisher's house - you will get an editor who will help you turn your book into a masterpiece. I rewrote my entire book once and had three major edits done to it - and it's selling well. I did not want to be Ernest Hemingway from paragraph One. If you haven't read Stephen King's book 'On Writing', the second half where he explains just how he creates a book is fascinating. He set himself a goal - something high like six thousand words or six pages a day - whichever came first - and he had to stay in his office until one of those goals was achieved!

It took me nine months to create my first book ... and two years to get the second one written. Still searching for a publisher, but now I have Bill Greer (yes, that Bill Greer) designing a deck to go with it, so it will probably need another revision befor we are done!

My second bit of advice is DON'T GIVE UP NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU HEAR 'NO.'

Hi Elven,

If you are thinking about writing about your Cafe Diary, there's an Aussie magazine (think it's called MYTH, MAGICK & MYSTERY – WITCHCRAFT) that you could send some articles to.

A friend of mine has written a handful of articles for them. I've had the unpaid job of editing them . And, I think your writing style and topic would be well-suited for their magazine.

If you want a hand editing a "test" article, let me know.

with love
purple_scorp