Joanne E Sprott, Book Shepherd

by Joanne Sprott on October 19, 2021

ISBNs and Bar Codes for Your Book

I’ve noticed a certain amount of angst as well as some misunderstanding of the American fee-based method for obtaining an ISBN (that 13-digit number for your book), and figuring out what the barcode does for you and where to get that to add to the back of your book.

So, here’s the current truth that my research and experience have uncovered.

ISBNs

The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) keeps an eye on all kinds of standards to keep things predictable, from bribery prevention to clean rooms. They also sponsor informational standards, like the ones used for book indexing, actually, and also the International Standard Book Number (ISBN). Since 1967, published books have had ISBNs, although now they have thirteen numbers instead of nine or ten (e.g., ISBN 978-3-16-148410-0). If you want to get geeky with it, check out the article on Wikipedia.

Required, or Not?

An ISBN is required for every edition of every printed book distributed by agents and organizations that sell books (this means Amazon, Lulu, Barnes and Noble, etc.). And this requirement applies to online print-on-demand and brick-and-mortar book sellers. You won’t go to jail if you don’t have an ISBN, and no one will bother you if you don’t have one and are giving your book away on your website. But if you are selling your book through any kind of distributor (like Amazon, IngramSpark, BookBaby), that distributor will require one.

For ebooks, it’s yes and no, depending. If you sell an ebook on your website yourself, or if you sell only through Amazon, you don’t need a separate number for your ebook. Other distributors may require one, though.

Cost of the ISBN

Each country has its own set of numbers to hand out, so the cost of getting an ISBN varies from free to fairly expensive ($125 from RR Bowker in the USA for a single number) depending on the originating country’s setup. In the U.S., as with lots of other things, ISBN assignment is a privatized effort, and so the fee.

The important bit to remember, and something one of my clients didn’t know, is that it costs a whole lot less to get ISBNs in bulk than to buy them individually. So, if you know you’ll be doing a series of books, take heed, because 10 ISBNs will only cost $295 total. That’s a huge discount per number. My client was publishing an updated edition of his book every year, and paying for one ISBN each time. He was quite pleased when I let him know that he could buy them in larger quantities and save quite a bit of money.

Also, if you do want to distribute your book from different sources (Amazon and IngramSpark, for example), you will likely need multiple ISBNs to cover ebook versions, and what if you want to publish a color printed version and a black-and-white version? They have to have separate numbers.

Where to Get Your ISBN

To register an ISBN in the USA, head on over to Bowker’s Identifier Services site and they’ll take you through the process. They also sell barcodes to put on the back of your book that have the ISBN embedded in them for scanning at checkout and keeping track of inventory, but there are cheaper ways to do the barcode thing once you have your ISBN.

Barcodes

So, now you have your ISBN number, which needs to be pasted into the copyright page of the inside of your book as well as on the back, but a barcode would look kind of cool, official-looking, and useful for our heavily “scanned” consumer world.

You can pay all kinds of fees (at Bowker and elsewhere) to get the barcode printed (with or without a price included in the code), but I found this nifty site where you can get one generated for free (at Bookow.com). Now, if you want a bunch of barcodes, there will be a fee, which I think is fair enough, but as Bookow says, it’s worth it to them to provide self-publishers in particular with a free one for the occasional book project.

The image file that you get from the barcode can be either a PDF (better quality for print) or a PNG file (better for ebooks), or you could get one of both. I thought the instructions were simple and the product worked just fine.

Then just add it to the electronic version of your cover (back bottom right corner) (or give it to your book designer to add), and you are set.

Now back to the more time-consuming part of finishing writing the book and getting it properly edited!

by Joanne Sprott on October 11, 2021

Not What Do You Offer? But Why?

I know most folks in freelance businesses focus on what they have to offer, presenting their services like products on a shelf in the store and advertising the availability and quality of those same services through social media and/or advertising.

But before you put those services on the shelf, make sure you’ve asked a couple of why questions, or you may miss out on the keys to a good customer-provider relationship.

Why are you doing this thing (or things)?

Right, so you thought I’d start with the customer’s needs. Nope. If you don’t have core values underpinning what you do, you won’t get very far in whatever business you choose, including publishing-related ones.

Look, lots of people are doing editing, proofreading, book design, and some are even doing book indexing (which is where I started). What makes your services unique will be found in the answer to the why question. Because it speaks to your values as a service provider.

So, time to spit out your core values. What facets of your service give you the most satisfaction? These will be clues to your business values. Maybe it’s accuracy, maybe it’s speed, maybe both (!). Maybe it’s your sunny personality via email. Notice that these “facets” are not names of your products or services.

Just to give you a starting off point, here are my top four core values: quality, responsiveness, flexibility, understanding (of the customer’s subject). I take the time to produce a quality editorial assessment; I am checking email all day every day and responding promptly; got a delay in manuscript or page proof availability? I’ll work with you; wondering if I can truly understand what you are trying to say as an author? I’ve got the intellectual and empathic talents to “get you.”

So, what are your top four? You can also add a couple more, but try not to make this a long list.

Also, what’s your vision, for yourself and your business, that is? You will want to check in with this vision at least once a year, because it may shift. I know mine has. I used to be focused on my book indexing business, but am now more into manuscript evaluation and copyediting activities. My vision is to help an author see their story from a savvy reader’s point of view, the kind of reader who will become a fan (like the fans of Game of Thrones!), who will be hooked into their story, whether fiction or nonfiction.

What’s your vision? One sentence, please, with no more than two clauses or three modifying phrases.

Why would someone want your services?

Once you see what you are in this for (and therefore find your passion in it), then you can ask, what’s the customer in it for?

If you look at my website front page, you’ll see under my intro that I focus on the needs of potential clients. I don’t just list what services I provide; I actually write out the questions as if I were a potential client.

Think about it. When someone comes to your website, what are they thinking? Right, they are thinking about a problem they want to solve or a goal they want to reach. The question is whether or not you can help them with that.

Remember, unlike the folks at Nabisco, who have pretty packaging and sweetness or saltiness to create a need in their customers, we have to start with the need they bring to our site. So, I think it’s most effective to start with an understanding of that need. Then you can show them how you will fill it.

Think about what questions folks may come to you with, show them you have anticipated their need, and then link them to the place where their need can be fulfilled, and since this is a service business, also how you will be a good match for filling that need. If you’ve taken care of the why question in the first section of this post, you will know how to attract a good customer match.

Work these two aspects together (why you are here and what needs you can fulfill), and you will find your most suitable customers.

by Joanne Sprott on September 21, 2021

Benefits of a Publishing Team

I’ve been book shepherding (more than just editing) for several years now, and I’d like to focus on one aspect of helping individual authors navigate through the publishing process: the importance of using a team, and not just one person.

Yep, I can do it all (well, almost), but having me carry out all the production tasks for a book is not necessarily in the author’s, and therefore, the reader’s best interest. Definitely more money for me if I do everything, but there are drawbacks to putting one’s book production tasks all in one basket.

Proofreading and/or Editing

I love proofreading, for example, but I am not the best candidate for your proofreading need if I’ve also been working with you on developmental and copy editing. We often say that it’s not a good idea for the author to do all the editing of their own work, and this advice also applies to the editor doing proofreading. I don’t care how awesome your critical eye is, fellow editors, another pair of eyes (preferably professional ones, though), will always catch errors you’ve missed from reading through the material too many times. With my book shepherded authors, I always recommend using a different person for proofreading.

Book Design

In book design, I am mostly an interior girl. I like doing interior layout, getting fonts right for the author’s style, the trim of the book, the content itself, for headings, titles, and regular text. I like checking page flow and image placement to create the best use of space and continuity with the story or information (=fun!).

I can also lay out the book’s cover, but I definitely need a detailed checklist to get everything right (image resolutions and spacing in particular). I am also not a skilled visual artist. And that’s all OK. If the cover is simple and the client wants me to do it, I can pull it off, but I do need to be firm that original illustration, and possibly the entire cover layout, may best be done by someone else, depending on what the author needs. It’s very important to make sure that as a book shepherd, I help the author find the best combination of my skills and the skills and perspectives of others in order to create the best book for them and their readers.

Distribution, Printing, and Marketing

And then there’s printing, distribution and marketing. I don’t have any of the tools necessary to print books, of course, but I do have experience with setting up books at providers like Ingram Spark and Amazon/KDP. I also know the procedures for getting ISBNs for books.

Although I do keep up with some aspects of promoting one’s book, a large-scale book launch or a niche audience will require input from other experts.

It really does take a village to create a book.

I recommend that book shepherds keep contact info for any of the publishing production tasks that are better done by others and not get hung up on doing everything themselves.

Yep, I can do almost all of it, but that doesn’t mean I should do it all.

by Joanne Sprott on March 23, 2021

The Red Pencil Is Your Friend

We editors and proofreaders rarely use a literal red pencil anymore (although I do know some who still print out their text and put those cryptic proofreading marks all over it—I do agree that it’s still easier to see errors in print than on screen). I still get the definite impression, though, that writers of all kinds of materials still greet us with an air of apprehension and a glance to locate their author shield for easy access in case of the need for defense.

So Many Judgments!

The editorial/proofreading eye is designed to make judgments, so writers and web page designers tend to feel judged when we discover things they didn’t see. It’s all about finding mistakes, which are always a little embarrassing. I can see the desire to avoid confronting one’s mistakes, and also the tendency to think that the editor or proofreader is also judging you personally and thinking you’re a “bad” person because you didn’t catch all the mistakes. Not so, though. We’re evaluating the text, not you as a person. Really!

The Fresh Set of Eyes

I can’t speak for all editors and proofreaders, but I’ve talked to enough of them to know that, yes, we do take pride in seeing what others might miss. But we also tend to have someone else proofread our stuff. Every mind makes assumptions, especially about material we’ve seen over and over again. I would never claim that this blog is error free, for example. That fresh set of eyes can make all the difference.

Preferences

Lots of grammatical judgments in particularly have subjectivity written all over them. What works for one style of writing or one publishing house is forbidden with another. Just check out the Chicago Manual of Style. It’s filled with recommendations and preferences; less is set in stone than one would think. I have numerous style sheets for different clients to keep all their preferences straight. The main pattern we editors are often looking for is simple consistency for the benefit of the reader. You can stretch and even break “the rules” if you do it consciously and consistently. And one thing the editor can do for you is to make sure you are consistent within your own system (capitalization of important terms that are not normally capitalized comes to mind).

Flexibility in writing and editing is the way I like to work. It allows me to collaborate creatively with my writer and/or publisher to make for the best read for their audience. A scholarly book is not going to look like a stream-of-consciousness fiction. We have to be just as flexible as required for the folks we collaborate with.

So, contrary to “popular belief,” we proofreaders are not angry at mistakes or the ones who make them, nor are we out to puff up our egos by waving our “we’re right and you’re wrong” flags all over your story. 🙂

Seeking the Smooth Read

What do we really want? We just want to make the reader’s experience of a site or book or whatever, smooth and easy, and we want to avoid having that reader make negative judgments about the site and the person who’s offering the products or services based on some silly typo. These natural judgments that people make (that the person’s service lacks quality) are probably totally unjustified, but a little extra attention from a second set of eyes can be very valuable in projecting quality and gaining trust.

Yes, we and our “red pencil” really are your friend. The idea is to make your work the stuff people want to read.

by Joanne Sprott on September 25, 2020

Relationship Marketing, Editor Style

Awhile back, an author client of mine emailed me, asking about marketing himself as a copyeditor/proofreader. He was planning to leave academia and NYC to head west for the mountains and a more rural lifestyle. Way cool idea!

My response turned out to be a pretty nice synopsis of connections and resources for someone starting out in the biz, at least from my point of view as an editor.

The following includes style resources, professional organizations that I know about, using social media and my usual marketing approach.

Contacting Publishers

Yep, there are still publishers to work with (although most if not all are not as old as Herr Gutenberg here). Not everything is self-publishing, at least not yet, although many of my most recent clients have been self-publishing authors. I do still recommend selectively contacting publishers. Just ten to twenty that seem to be small-to-medium sized and focused on the kinds of subject matter you want to work with seem to be best. Big publishers are OK if you can find a way in, but I’ve found a pretty low return on effort with them, and they often push down hardest on rates, even after they’ve outsourced overseas and returned because the quality wasn’t up to par.

Also, big publishers tend to outsource their entire production effort to packagers in lower-wage locations like India. You may end up in a relationship with the production editors at the packager, who will also be looking to lower their costs by paying you less so they get their “cut.” It might still be worthwhile to work for them, but just be aware.

Couple ways to find direct publisher contact information: 1) Go pay for a week’s subscription to the Literary Marketplace. You’ll get some info all in one place about possible contacts (managing editor or production editor is best) as well as being able to search by size and subject matter; 2) you can also check out individual publisher websites to see if they give out more contact info there than at LMP. I normally send a physical post card on eye-catching stationary followed by an email a couple of weeks later. My return on the time investment for ten publishers is usually one or two that put me on their lists, usually after I take an editing test.

Website

Your own website should be the hub for your marketing effort. There may seem like a slow, organic growth of visibility with a new site, but be patient. In the end, this is your online territory (you don’t own your space on social media sites), and you can develop a long-term influence reputation with a regular blog. I use WordPress.org (not WordPress.com; pros and cons to each version) and recommend Siteground or Hostgator for web hosting. Hostgator is cheaper, but still decent as far as a user interface. Siteground has more extras they take care of for you for a higher price.

If you need help with this piece, check out my WordPress site design biz. I specialize in freelancer and other very small business sites and love to give tutorials to help people take control of their own sites.

Social Media

I use social media as an outpost for my website and as a way to get the attention of individual authors. If you’re not an extrovert, being connected to all the social networks may end up being just a time suck. It’s important to be selective, particularly for business purposes; there are just too many networks out there. I find LinkedIn groups and Facebook groups to be the most useful for business purposes. If you want to focus on just one, or don’t like FB for other reasons, I think LinkedIn has value in building an informal network that can lead to referrals, as long as you participate regularly (at least three days a week). I wouldn’t pay for extra access to people, though, unless you are already established and just want to expand your potential client base. If you are new to the field, participating in groups and sharing your learning process may be helpful.

I’ve found FB pages much less than useful, although your mileage may vary. Groups, whether on LinkedIn or Facebook, collect people with common interests (writers, editors, niche publishers), as well as providing for professional discussion. This approach really helps me focus my social media interactions and allows me to show what I can do by serving others with shared experiences and bits of advice rather than by constantly pushing to sell my stuff.

Keep in mind that relationships are everything. 🙂 Nothing will happen on any social network unless you comment, repost (but retweeting/sharing can’t be everything you do) and generally be human with it. Then when you advertise something every once in a while, people will pay more attention, because you paid attention to them. I know, in the “real world” that’s probably obvious, but so many folks go on social media and forget this, thinking it’s just one big, blank billboard.

Style Bibles

Know your bibles. If you don’t have the Chicago Manual of Style (online version here) , get it. Also, a lot of scholarly places use the APA style manual (I know, I thought it was weird to use it for stuff outside of psychology, but it’s become quite popular in the sciences generally). As I recall, the physical APA manual is expensive, but they have a lot of guidance online here. And if you happen to get involved in newspaper/magazine editing, they may use AP style (more here).

Flexible Knowledge

I have my own old grammar books, and the Chicago Manual has grammar recommendations now, too. But keep in mind that a lot of things are style choices, and subjective judgments are often necessary. I focus on consistency and clarity when I’m reading. If I have to stop to figure out what’s being said, I will be inclined to recommend a comma or rephrase, but I’m not going to get anal about rules. I turn the cover with an attitude of respect for the writer’s voice and will allow some variations and irregularities to accommodate that voice. I also keep up with the latest debates on usage through blogs and email discussions to see what other editors are considering. Language is an ever-evolving entity, so being rigidly prescriptive is not a best practice, in my opinion.

Professional Organizations

Nothing like professional networking to keep the work flowing and your skill set up to date.

The EFA (Editorial Freelancers Association) is a great resource and well worth the annual fee. They provide an incredible array of benefits including a job listing announcement service, email discussion group, and ongoing courses on all aspects of editing and proofreading; even local lunches with your fellow editors if you live in New York City. 🙂

The newer professional organization kid on the block is ACES (American Copy Editors Society), which has a more reasonable annual fee so far. If you like Twitter (I used to do Twitter, but not anymore), they have a good Twitter chat thing they do at least once a month, lots of resources on their site, and what sounds like a great annual conference.

Email Discussion Lists

And a great resource to participate in is an old-fashioned but very effective email discussion list called Copyediting-L. Also, there’s one editor (also the owner of CE-L now), very active on Twitter and Copyediting-L who also has lots of resources in the knowledge base on her website: Katherine O’Moore-Klopf.

Let me know if any of this proves useful to you, or if you’d like to add anything for me to look into. Thanks!

by Joanne Sprott on September 1, 2020

Emotional Connection in Writing

I learned how important an emotional connection was in communicating with an audience when I was giving inspirational talks at a local Unitarian Universalist church I used to belong to in the 1990s. A minister told me all about touching head and heart in every sermon to give folks “something to take home with them.”

This philosophy also applies to writing, whether fiction or non-fiction, in my opinion, especially if you want your reader to be inspired into some change in themselves or action in the world (but even for “entertainment” purposes!).

It’s also one of the things I look for when I’m doing manuscript evaluations. When I see really cool, intelligent people focusing too much on telling us what they know without sharing how they or their characters feel, the story quickly turns “dry.” It’s easy to lose interest without that emotional “moisture.” Emotional connections are so much deeper and more long-lasting than purely intellectual/informational ones. I remember best the situations that made me laugh or cry, including in the reading of books.

Even if your primary motive for writing is informational and not necessarily inspirational or fictional storytelling, I think it’s still important to include some connection to emotion (OK, maybe not if you are explaining accounting regulations . . .).

Ask yourself why you are imparting your information: is it to change a person’s viewpoint on something, help them find a new emotional place to be, identify with a character in a story, or take some social or political action? Then look in your non-fiction piece or your fictional story and find the place where emotion is shared or added to a rational presentation. That’s where the impact will be. Your reader will remember the rational bit better if they have some appropriate emotion invested in it.

I’ve experienced this so many times with good stories, both fiction and non-fiction, since I started really loving reading in about 1964. So, if you want to succeed as a writer, don’t forget to touch my heart.

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