Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bassexpander]

I'm starting on my book, and wonder how/where I should get it printed. So far, I know of at least two options:

1. lulu.com
2. My university has a "printing/publishing" area

I have heard a bit about lulu, but want to know what else is out there. Any tips or pointers? I'm a little leary of publishing my book through my Korean university, as I assume I would be giving up rights in some way and could eventually be screwed. There might even be something in my contract about whatever materials I create belong to them. I'll have to look.

Basically, I want total control and want to make the money for myself, should it become successful.

By the way, the book is for teaching Koreans, and in an area which is growing, yet has little material available.

[makemischief]

Be forewarned that LuLu's print quality is LOW. That said they are by far the cheapest of self-publishers. I've had demos made with Blurb- MUCH higher quality (think professional level- indistinguishable from what you'd buy at a bookstore) but they are twice the price. There are cheap quality publishers in Korea if you are willing to order at least a few hundred copies.

[talltony4]

Don't you need a licence from the culture ministry to publish a book in Korea? That's what my mate reckons.

The publisher I work for could be keen. But we'd probably buy the rights for a one-time fee.

[PRagic]

You could shop it around to some publishers, but many will want to buy it for a one-time flat rate (see the other poster's comment).

If you do sell 'by the printing', then try to get a 10% cut of cover price and a first printing of at least 3000 books. The market is tight these days, though. I haven't put a book out here in over 10 years, so my input isn't exactly fresh, though!

Good luck.

[Thiuda]

I agree with your stance not to go through your university. I had a very bad experience last year when I published a textbook through my university; I lost copyright to the university. It was partially my fault, since I should have taken more care. However, I was also misled by a colleague, who led me to believe that a publication done through the university would be more respectable and sell more copies. In the end, the university published the book, paid me a nominal bonus and I lost the rights to the material...

As an alternative, you cold self-publish. A friend of mine and I put out several magazines a few years ago that we self-published. Got the ISSN in Canada and published through a printer in Pohang. A short run of 500 books cost about 2 mil. and we were able to pocket the profit. Good quality as well.

[sojourner1]

Many of us, including me, have written many books by writing on this forum about Korean living in Korea, working for hagwons, about our home countries, and dealing with the nonsense that inevitably slaps you in the face during our sojourn. With all the extra time you might have on your hands during a sojourn in such a place where you may not have a real conversation with ayone for a month or longer, you can write books to get things off your chest!

[Tiger Beer]

LULU also has a limit on the the amount of letters that can be used for the title.

In addition, LULU prints the back cover all flush left...which kind of sucks, I'd prefer justified just like every other book out there.

Still though, it is very easy and simple to use. You can even order copies for yourself and pass them out at a very low cost. Great way to distribute stuff you've written.

[CleverUserName]

Sorry to dig up an old post, but I worked for a book publisher before I left.
I recommend Lightning Source (subsidiary of Ingram, one of the biggest US book distributors) All you need are a set of ISBNs and a .pdf of your book. I think you need to buy ten ISBNs at a time ($250usd), but I think I've seen a couple places where you can buy singles...PM me for more info.

[michaelambling]

[bluelake]

For a book I wrote, I self-published it with a local printer. It's cheap and the profits are all mine. However, the drawbacks include relatively low quality, no ISBN, and distribution is my responsibility. With that said, I've sold hundreds of copies around the world; it was surely not J.K. Rowling, but the market was a niche. I had an arrangement with a publisher to put out a color edition with all the bells and whistles, but that fell through. I am looking into the university publisher route, although I will keep in mind what others here have said about that.

[weatherman]

[HapKi]

I'm currently in the lay-out, production stage of getting my book published (communicative speaking activities for adults). After an entire summer of getting rejections from publishers, I was finally able to find one that I'm happy with (established, good reputation, salesmen whose job it is to boost sales).

After years of getting my materials self-published through my school's copy center/book store, I finally approached the manager requesting any chance at professional publishing. He is the one who connected me with my current publisher.

My point is, your school's copy center/book store (if you have one) should have close contact with several publishers (or at least their salesmen/marketing team). Getting introductions through them is at least one route I would recommend.

[HapKi]

double post, sorry

[HapKi]

triple post, sorry

[VanIslander]

let me guess: everything's in triplicate