Welcome to the PUBLISH-IN.eu website

The web association PUBLISH-IN.EU was founded by a group of authors, publishers and distributors, with the aim of helping each other achieve the common goal of publishing literary and related works. On this page you will find useful information on how to publish, market and distribute your copyright work in print or web form, as well the contact information of people, institutions and companies that can assist you in the process.

YOU HAVE WRITTEN A LITERARY WORK. HOW TO PROCEED?

Should I self-publish or find a publisher? The following describes the various options and necessary steps of becoming a published author.


1) Self-Publishing Your Book

Self-publishing is the publication of a book by its author without the involvement of an established publisher. The author covers all the expenses associated with the publication of the book.

Preparation

First, it is advisable to examine the legal provisions governing your work, especially if your work includes texts, drawings, photographs, graphs, etc. of other authors, or if multiple authors have produced it. The law also stipulates the content of the copyright page. Secondly, you also have to prepare a budget that includes all the steps required for publishing your work. The more work you can do on your own, the less money you will require.

Proofreading and design

When your work is written and proofread, you need a designer who will edit the hardcopy of your book and design the book cover. The designer can also produce an electronic version of the book for mobile devices and computers. You also have to obtain the ISBN number and the book barcode.

Print

Next, you have to select a book printer and decide how many copies to print. The larger the number of copies the lower the price, but you should be careful, not to print too many copies, because they may eventually end up as waste paper, which will consequently increase the price per book.

Presentation and marketing

The book may be written and printed well, but without marketing it will most often go unnoticed on the bookshelves. At the beginning of your writing career, the most effective way of marketing is to perform ‘live’ presentations of your work. For that you need time and money for travel expanses. You can often get a place for book presentations free of charge. In addition, online platforms such as WebEx, Zoom and others allow you to present your work ‘live’ to anyone no matter where they live. Paid methods, such as publication of articles in newspapers and other media are often too expensive in relation to desired results.

Sales

There are several ways to sell your work. You will keep the most profit if you do the sales yourself. Before you begin, check the legislation to confirm that you are allowed to do this and in what way. The downside of selling your work on your own is that instead of focusing on your work, you will have to dedicate time to receiving orders, writing invoices, and shipping books.
In Slovenia, the usual rebate required by bookstores or distributors is 40% to 60% of the book’s retail price. The regular rebate for web stores ranges from 30% to 40%.

Publication of a book in a foreign language

Two biggest challenges for self-publishing are: publication in a foreign language and finding distribution opportunities in a foreign country. In addition to the cost of translation, publishing your work in a foreign language, will require all the steps described above. It may reuqire even more work, depending on the requirements and laws of the land in which the book is published or sold.

How can you make your work of self-publishing more easier?

Some publishers, in addition to the usual possibilities of author-publisher cooperation, offer the possibility of cooperation in which the author retains the role of self-publisher, and the publisher only provides specific before agreed upon services. Publishing houses tend to have lower publishing costs due to higher volumes of books. For the author, such an arrangement can be a winning combination as the author has less ‘back office work’, while his costs remain the same or are even reduced.


2) CO-PUBLISHING YOUR WORK

This method requires the same steps as described before. The only difference is that the investors share the costs and profits of publishing. Which costs, profits and what percentage of them is shared among investors is open to negotiations.


3) BOOK PUBLISHING WITH PUBLISHER’S HELP

A publisher is a company that provides the necessary funds for the issue of content. The publisher carries out previously described steps alone or with assistance of other partners. With this option, the publisher assumes the risk of all potential losses, but is also rewarded with a larger share of potential profits.