On Saturday, June 9, a panel of four publishing professionals shared their expertise and insight on pulling together an author’s dream team.
Self-publishing doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself.
We don’t know what they were talking about here, but they look like they’re having fun. From left, John Byrne Barry, Cathy Wild, Meghan Stephenson, Lorna Johnson, and Anne Janzer. Photo by Judy Baker.
Traditional publishing has always been a team process, with editors, designers, printers, publishers, marketers, and so on. You can self-publish and get those services too, but you as the author have to pull that team together. The traditional publisher usually plays that project management role. In the case of self-publishing, you are the publisher, so you need to pull the team together.
Panelists included Cathy Wild, author of Wild Ideas: Creativity from the Inside Out, who talked about how she built a team to make her book happen; Meghan Stephenson, an editor and ghostwriter, who talked about how she collaborates with authors; Lorna Johnson, a print broker, who discussed when it makes sense to print offset litho instead of print-on-demand; and Anne Janzer, a writer and marketer who defined the three teams than an indie author manages — the production/publishing team (getting the book ready for publication), the launch team, and the ongoing marketing team. The panel was moderated by BAIPA board member John Byrne Barry.