How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company: A Small Business Guide To Self-Publishing And Independent Publishing [Paperback]

Peter I. Hupalo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0967162432 | ISBN-13: 978-0967162430

"How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company" begins where many self-publishing books leave off. Peter Hupalo, author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur" and the owner of HCM Publishing, teaches the business aspects involved in operating a small book publishing company. "How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company" will help you understand: Inventory Accounting In The Book Trade; Just-In-Time Inventory Management; Turn-Key Fulfillment Solutions; Tax Deductible Costs In Publishing; The Basics Of Sales And Use Tax; Profitable Book Pricing; Standard Terms In The Book Industry; Working With Distributors And Wholesalers; Cover Design And Book Layout; Book Promotion And Marketing; How To Select Profitable Authors To Publish; The Printing Process; Printing On Demand (POD); The Power Of A Strong Backlist; How To Value A Copyright; And Much More!

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

From The Author & Publisher:

I wrote "How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company: A Small Business Guide To Self-Publishing And Independent Publishing" to help new publishers understand the publishing business.

There are already several great self-publishing books, and my goal wasn't to provide another survey of nearly everything a new publisher must know to get a book produced. My book focuses more upon specific details, often overlooked by new publishers as they start-up and grow.

For example, I write about book distributor bankruptcy and protecting yourself in the event that your book distributor goes bankrupt. This is a topic not covered in most introductions to self-publishing. It's much more fun to read about how some self-publisher sold one million books and became a bestselling author than it is to read about distributor bankruptcy.

Yet, understanding distributor bankruptcy is important. Many small publishers have experienced a bankruptcy of their distributor. In some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory and tens of thousands of dollars in accounts receivable, owed to the self-publisher, are at stake. Taking the proper precautions can mean the difference between your self-publishing company losing substantial amounts of money and, possibly, going bankrupt or recovering easily.

Because many people who choose to self-publish a book are creative types with little business experience, I also address topics, such as inventory accounting, tax deductibility of complimentary book copies given away, record keeping, sales and use tax, business structure (Should you operate as a corporation or as a sole proprietor?, dealing with estimated tax payments, etc.), and other business aspects of running a publishing company. I discuss outsourcing fulfillment so that you can run a small publishing company from your home while selling a substantial number of books.

Intermediate and advanced publishers will also benefit from reading "How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company." Topics that will appeal to more experienced publishers include copyright valuation (in the event that you wish to sell your book to a big publisher or acquire the rights to a book), book marketing, and thoughts on selecting profitable authors to publish.

People starting with a limited budget will find my book useful. I discuss some of the many options to produce a book in smaller quantities using printing on demand (POD) and digital printing technology. I include a discussion of Ingram POD service, for example, because Ingram is a key distributor, distributing about 175 million books annually. New publishers will find that getting distribution by Ingram is extremely difficult. Ingram Lightning Source is one option to get distribution by Ingram.

The table of contents gives more detail about the topics covered in "How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company." I hope you enjoy the book and find it useful. Peter

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: HCM Publishing (August 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967162432
• ISBN-13: 978-0967162430
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

182 of 189 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Bit of a Disappointment..., January 16, 2004

By 

Silmarwen (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company: A Small Business Guide To Self-Publishing And Independent Publishing (Paperback)

Peter Hupalo's book was very highly recommended on Amazon.com so I was quite excited to see what information it could give me about starting my own publishing business. I knew that I was going to be disappointed when I saw the book and realized how cheaply the book was designed. While I know that it is important to cut costs in production, I felt that the author was lying when he said that it is easy for an author to learn to design a cover by himself and still look professional. Who is he trying to kid? The book is obviously self-published and designed. The author uses shameless self-promotion by repeatedly mentioning other books that he has written that could help the reader with other aspects of running a small business so that he can milk you for more money instead of giving you a few tips in this publication. I also thought that the title was misleading because it is really geared towards self-publishers - not a publishing company. I don't mean to say that the book is completely useless, as there was some decent information inside, as well as some suggestions as to printers and designers who don't mind working with smaller companies. However, as a whole I was pretty disappointed because there is little or no practical application for most of the topics that are covered in the book. For sections on inventory accounting, profitable book pricing, etc. the author spends a great amount of time running through math problems to show the reader all of this gobbledegook that doesn't make sense because you don't run your own publishing business and are not really sure of what the heck he is talking about! Other sections like cover design & book layout are obvious - make your book look good so it will sell. Duh. How do you make it look good, what are some things that have sold really well in the past? Anyway, it is a good introduction to publishing in general, but I was left with a lot more questions after the book than I had before!

128 of 133 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to the price of the book., January 21, 2004

By 

Robert H. Westerman "Skypacer" (Sunman, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company: A Small Business Guide To Self-Publishing And Independent Publishing (Paperback)

When I initially saw this title and the positive reviews, I decided to purchase it to see if it had any more information to add to what I read in The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Tom & Marilyn Ross. ...

I was disappointed with the first part of the book, which seemed to be nothing but promotions of other books. And while he does discourage direct mail advertising, he does so for pages! He seems to find it necessary to explain ad nauseam why direct mail advertising is wrong. Other topics are covered in such a way that he ends up referring you to another book for more information.

There are a few areas that he does go in-depth about, such as the matter of bookkeeping and accounting, but at times he goes into too much technical detail - possibly even more than most budding publishers would ever have to encounter. And when it comes to the issue of printing he has a tendency to over-promote POD publishers, especially since his book is printed through a POD publisher (which tends to be more expensive that other books of its type and size).

About the only useful information that I was able to glean from the book were web sites where I could find additional information as needed. But this isn't enough to justify an overpriced book that is more hype than substance.

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside the business, October 20, 2002

By 

Geoffrey Heard "The Worsley Press" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company: A Small Business Guide To Self-Publishing And Independent Publishing (Paperback)

There are plenty of books on the technical aspects of producing most publications, but few on how to run them as a business. This is definitely an exception. It includes some information on producing the book itself but mostly it is about the business: how many copies to print, the true cost of inventory, the print-on-demand services, marketing, discount schedules, pricing, cashflow, and, a point well worth making again and again, how to avoid the danger that "success can kill you". At first I thought much of the advice on business structure, taxes and sales tax, would apply only in the USA, but Peter talks in broad outlines and his warnings on differences between states are equally appropriate to countries, with the general advice applicable anywhere in the world.