It is finally here! Animals In My Hair section has been published Online, and for a limited time everyone has access to the AIMH Member's only section.*
I will NEVER open this websites section to the general public ever again, so check it out today. It is your one chance to get original full resolution Mili Fay Art AIMH Art Prints and colouring pages for FREE. Plus, there are many other fun features to explore.
So, check it out, share this event with others, and let me know what you think:
http://www.artofmili.ca/AnimalsInMyHair.htm
HAPPY NEW 2014 YEAR!
And thank you all for your support.
:-D
* Except for the "Visual Puzzles". To protect the book's integrity that section is only available to individuals who have purchased the book. If you have purchased the book, you can register for your lifetime membership now:
http://www.artofmili.ca/AnimalsInMyHair/Members_Sign_In.htm
This upcoming Saturday, December 14th, TIAM's Small Press & Literary Festival will be the last event for Mili Fay Art in 2013. I'm looking forward to being there, not only as a vendor, but as an attendee, since this is where Toronto's small and independent publishers will gather to display their wares.
Publishing is a tough business, but independent publishing is ten times more difficult, because you are a tiny fish trying to swim in a crowded pond with much, much bigger fish.
Not only that, but you have to fight against the prejudiced stigma that because you have self-published your work, it means you are not good enough to be published by a "real" publisher.
Not true.
I have decided to pluck up my courage to self-publish my own work because my vision did not fit the standard 32 pages, because I wanted more artwork, because I wanted a work that would not be limited by an age group, but could be enjoyed by all, a work that could raise funds for something I care about... Then the logistics came into play. There are eight publishers in Canada who might have published my work. However, each of them publishes about two picture-books a year. How many already well established authors are there? How many would be authors?
My work would be a needle in a haystack, and I have no connections that can act as magnets.
Despite all of these reasons, I was still considering fighting to have my work published by a trade publisher, until I was told that I would have to do my own marketing and promoting.
Have you been to Indigo? I think every book in there has been published by a trade publisher, how many did you read?
Logistics.
If I'm going to be responsible for my own marketing and promotion, I might as well get all the profits from the book. And if I'm going to loose money, at least I will remain true to my vision.
Did you know that bookstores ask for 40%-50% off your base price to place a book in their store?
I did not.
This may be THE reason to attempt trade publishing.
Trade publishers can get books printed for pennies on a dollar, and this is how they can keep independent publishers from ever having their work in a stores.
A trade publisher could have printed my book in China for maybe a dollar/book (maybe even less). Being socially conscious I decided to go with a local printing company. The raw cost of my book is $7.10 per book. This price does not include the interest on my loan, the programs I used, my own salary, marketing, promotion,...
I priced my book at $24.95 (my book is of the highest quality and is 60 pages, but I reasoned this would be a fair and comparative price that may not make me much profit, but can keep me publishing this book) hoping to make ~ $5 profit so that I could give away 30% for wildlife conservation.
On 40%-50% consignment (consignment, simply put, means that stores will take your book, but will return it to you if it does not sell), I would be earning $14.97-$12.47 per book. Meaning I would loose money.
So, going into this, I knew unless I could bring the consignment percentage down, my book will never be in a store like Indigo. Unless, I decide to give away few books, for the possibility of promotion.
You could always try to negotiate for a better contract, but would a store like Indigo bother to waste time on a tiny nobody from nowhere even if they like your book? Especially when they have so much income form legitimate trade publishers?
I've learned all this, I knew all this, and in spite of it all, I have self-published my work.
Now, I'm trying to figure out how to be that bright little fish that stands out from a school of much bigger, flasher fish in that tiny pond.
I wrote all this to illustrate the dedication and passion it takes to self-publish your work. Vendors at the TIAM on Saturday are there, because they are not conventional. They are not willing to follow, or be swallowed by a crowd. Because they believe in their voice and believe that they should be heard without censorships or prejudice.
It is up to the public to decide what they want to hear, or in this case read.
So, should you publish your book?
I ask you: "Would you still be happy having published your book if you lost the investment money and made no profit?"
If your answer is: "Yes."
Then my answer is: "You should."
For myself, having a mother tell me that her little girl is walking around with my book tucked under her arm (periodically pointing at and counting the different animals), instead of the beautiful talking Merida doll she got at the same time, is all the reward for years of hard work I will ever need.
The worst part about starting your own business and working on your own is that there are many things you don't know that you don't know. I am a meticulous person. I have spent years researching illustration and publishing, before deciding to publish a book on my own. I thought that I had a good grasp about business of it all, but the truth is my views were very naive.
When I first decided to publish my own book, I thought that all I needed to do is write the book, illustrate it, and then find a printer to print and bind it. Publishing in reality is much more complicated.
There are registration papers to be filed, legal licences obtained, cataloging, archiving, getting the ISBN... Many, many things, that I gratefully discovered in the book "Self Publishing in Canada: A complete guide to designing, printing and selling your book" by Suzanne Anderson.
So, after reading the book I thought, "NOW, I know it all."
I was wrong.
As I mentioned before, the trouble comes when you do not know what you do not know. It is easy to figure something that you know you are unfamiliar with; that is what research is all about. However, what do you do when you make mistakes without knowing they are mistakes?
You get in trouble, that's what.
In my case I almost illegally used a font that I had no idea I was using illegally.
The main font in my picture book is Jenkins 2.0. I had that font forever. It was in my programs in school, and I've used it occasionally for years. It is my favourite font that mimics hand-writing. It suits the style of my book perfectly. So I figured, "If I had the program then I can use the font."
Wrong!
That font is copyrighted. I had to purchase a license to use it commercially.
I was lucky, because I stumbled on the copyright notice of the font in a friend's comic book. She used the font, and loving her comic so much, and being about to publish my own book, I decided to check out her copyright page. It was there: "Jenkins v. 2.0" by Ben Balvanz for fontalicious.com. Jenkins v. 2.0 is copyright (C) 1999 fontalicious.com.
The moment I read those words I broke out in cold sweat, my stomach clenched, and I was about to hyperventilate. I saw myself being hit by lawsuits, forced to pay money I don't have, finding myself in jail, being labeled as a "jail-bird" and not being trusted with anything ever again, my fledgling career in shambles, and years of integrity washed down the messy toilet of life!
A bit dramatic?
Well, what do you expect? I am an artist. :-)
It was after I almost gave myself a heart attack, that I reminded myself that my book has not been sent to the printer. I could change the font if I could not obtain a license. It will mean more work, but I have designed fonts before, I could design a font again.
In the end, obtaining the license proved reasonable and easy enough. For my purposes a twenty dollar fee is all that it took.
However, this little episode makes me wonder what other faux pas are in store for me. How many important things are out there that I do not know and that I should know?
I tell myself, "At least one more." That thought keeps me humble. Nevertheless, I also tell myself to stop fretting about such things and to deal with issues when they arise.
The next time I was prepared.
A while back, I discovered that I need to do something to the barcode to have funds and taxes and other money things work the way it should. I'm not sure what I should do, but at least I have a question I can ask.
I also discovered that registering the business name, did not handle all aspects of registering a business. So, I'm going to fill out a HST form registration later today.
Life rarely works out the way you plan it should, you have to be ready for all its nasty surprises, and not fret over the past you cannot change. The one thing I have learned from all this is that life makes no sense, and follows no plan. All you can do is deal with it as it comes.
Until next time...
Mili
