Self Publishing

Definition

Self-Publishing by definition implies that the Author has 100% rights over his/her manuscript. This means that he/she has 100% say in what happens exactly to the Book, every step of the way. A self-pulishing Author therefore controls the look of the Book, the typesetting, the cover design/layout etc. He/she is also in control of all marketing, publicity and distribution terms.

As with traditional and mainstream publishers who take care of all the above, TamaRe House offers the latter in forms of our Legacy Publishing packages, our Marketing Tools kits, and Publicity packs - for self-publishing Authors. We also have a selection of add-on services, which complement and assist our featured packages. These include: Copy-editing, Proof-reading and Indexing services.

Disclaimer

By right, any author who claims to be self-published must understand that they are the sole owner of the Book and are in total control of whatever happens to it. Therefore, any Book that has within its copyright pages, a publisher's title or name, which is not owned by the author, cannot be truly called a self-published book. Wherever a book's copyright page discloses a separate publisher's title or name, other than the author's, then that company claims to own the rights to the book. At least, that is how it is with vanity or co-op publishers.

However, as long the publishing contract/ agreement (or terms of engagement) states clearly the rights of the Author, and the rights of the company used, then the formula for self-publishing can thus be taylored. For instance: TamaRe House's Publishing Agreement clearly states that "the Author hires TamaRe House" to perform such and such...

TamaRe House performs a list of mandates as per the agreement on behalf of the Author. And the Author can intervein at any point, should they wish to comment on or make suggestions toward any aspect of the process.

Vanity Publishers

Any publishing company who claims to be providing services for self-publishing authors, and proceeds to use their own publishing title or name on the copyright pages (or imprint page), and without first informing the author of the implications, are known as 'Vanity Publishers'.

Some books are seen to have written on their copyright page more than one imprint title or name. This is sometimes due to the fact that there is a collaboration of the venture; the author's own brand (so to speak) and the contracted publishing services provider.

TamaRe House offers support every step of the way; from Copy-editing, to Proof reading, to producing your print-ready file, and to marketing and publicising your book. We also handle distribution and keep records of sales, invoicing and royalty statements.

Loyalty

Of course, loyalty is a virtue when it comes to author/publisher relationships. It is assumed, generally, that despite the term self-publishing, a major amount of onus is on the contracted publishing services company. And naturally, loyalty toward the agreed terms, are expected of the contracted company by the Author.

Some authors are not interested in getting bogged down with the nitty gritty of producing the finished product and getting it to market. The same is so for some authors who trust the loyalty of the company such that they do not wish to include any indication in the book's copyright and imprint pages that their book was, to a degree, self-published. This has its advantages, because: some booksellers tend to shy away from self-published books, and authors who have contracted publishing companies to print and distribute on their behalf. This is because of the lack of sale-or-return facilities with some self-publishing operations.

Since TamaRe House operates a print-on-demand system, the latter does not become an issue. Our books are printed and distributed as they are firmly ordered by distributors and bookshops. However, we also have a sale-or-return policy, which is very attractive to retailers.

TamaRe House also offers the service of tracking sales, process delivery notes and invoices etc. on behalf of the author; this comes with our Gold and Platinum Legacy packages.

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Motives:

There are a number of reasons that writers choose to self-publish, although one of the most common is that their work is not of interest to a commercial publisher. Publishers must be confident of sales of several thousand copies to take on a book. An otherwise worthy book may not have this potential for any number of reasons:

author wishes to retain complete editorial control over content author is unknown and does not have a substantial resume popular topic but of interest only in a small geographic or cultural area addresses an obscure topic in which few people are interested content is controversial enough that publishers do not wish to be associated with it author wishes to obtain a larger percentage return from direct sales

Occasionally authors choose to self-publish for reasons of control, because they want access to their customer list, or because they love the business of publishing. When working with a traditional publisher, an author gives up a degree of editorial control, and sometimes has little input into the design of the book, its distribution, and its marketing.