Self Publishing- The Most Rewarding Slavery You'll Ever Know

I whine all the time that all I can do is work at home, because of my health issues. Then I sit down and realize ALLLL the 'jobs' I do to Run that business.

I am the Designer- I must have the imagination to envision a product.

I am the Author who must write instructions so that ANYONE can understand them.

I am a Stitching Editor who must make certain that the mechanics of the pattern are intuitive and not convoluted and too complicated.

I am the Editor who must read and re-read those instructions so that ANYONE could understand them, and that the instructions flow easily.

I am the Proof Reader who must make certain that the grammar & spelling are correct.

I am the Laborer who must follow the instructions, to generate samples of the pattern and/or test the written instructions.

I am the Photographer who must ascertain the best setup to highlight the features of the finished product and/or capture instructional photographs to better illustrate complicated or detailed instructions.

I am the Creative Director who must combine the Instructions and Photographs into visually pleasing format.

I am the Formatter (typesetter) who must translate the instructions of the Creative Director into a computer language that the Printer can understand.

I am the Printer (for my booklets, but the large book I contract out to a large printing service).

I am the Marketing Director who must determine the angles, themes, of how best to promote my products, and the best venues of where to ‘advertise’ my products.

I am the Advertising Director who must take the ‘thoughts’ of the Marketing Director and generate working advertisements for the products.

I am the Webmaster who must build and maintain the site, where the Advertising and Selling is done.

I am the Networking Specialist who must spend time in chat rooms, message boards, etc to increase interest in the Web Site where the products are advertised and sold.

I am the Shipping clerk.

I am the Bookkeeper.

I am the Inventory/Warehouse Director.

I am the Negotiator who secures the Best Price for the Best services in printers, delivery, or any other service.

I am the Office Manager who must answer correspondence, purchase supplies, pay the bills.

I am the Salesman who must talk to folks about the products and website to Sell the Products.

I am the Wholesale Accounts manager.

I am a Research Specialist who must compile information to help the Designer, Editors, Author, Marketing Director, Advertising Director, Webmaster, Teacher, and Business Owner.

I am a Teacher, so that I build my consumer base.

I am a Small Business Owner, and with all this work, it is much like being a Slave to My Business... and the most rewarding thing I’ve ever attempted.

What your needlework Publisher isn’t telling you....

All the time, folks ask: how to get into the Crochet Designing business, or how do I get my designs published, or what did I- ARNie- go through to publish my book?

Most folks would think that Needlework Publishing is just like Prose Publishing with all the built in protection of various Intellectual Rights: copy rights, foreign copy rights, multiple printing revenue, revenue if the copyrights are sold to another company, media rights {tv, film, internet}, where do the copyrights go after the publisher takes the book out of print.

In mainstream publishing there is a generalized pay scale based on experience and talent. Each periodic publication states up front what they will pay for a piece, and what steps to follow in submitting a work for publication.

Magazines state up front that they will not pay the author for a piece until the piece is actually published, but the time limit on keeping that piece without paying for it is only a couple of years.

Book publishers negotiate with agents on what the author gets paid or what level of rights the author keeps in exchange for a smaller payment, including royalties or a per centage of future revenues.

Book publishers offer advances or ‘good faith’ payments to authors that they purchase a finished product, but can’t actually pay the full price until the book is actually printed.

Most folks believe that Needlework Publishing is just like Prose Publishing... right? They are both Publishing industries....

Most folks believe this, and I was one of them. The simple fact is that None of this is true for needlework publishers.

Designers get paid one time for their project: no foreign publishing revenues, no revenues when the copyrights are sold to another company, no revenues if the project is used in numerous publications. Only in the last few years have needlework publishers offered royalties for multiple printings of a leaflet/booklet... but it is solely the discretion of the publisher when and if they do a second printing.

Designers loose all Intellectual Rights to the piece: no ‘creative rights’ over changes in the design or instructions, no rights if the editor or publishers would rather market this Man’s sweater as a Plus Sized Woman’s sweater, no rights or revenues if the project is posted on a website or used for other marketing purposes.

There is no standard pay scale for experience and talent; designers must negotiate with each publisher for each design submitted. And no, you can't let a literary agent negotiate for you, because literary agents don’t represent needlework authors or designers. Needlework Designers and Authors don't get paid enough money for literary agents to work with them.

As in mainstream publishing, needlework publishers can ‘accept a design and put it under contract,' but won’t pay for the design until it is actually published in a book or magazine. However, needlework publishers can and do keep those designs under contract for years... 5 years is a general time limit when the publisher will return the copyrights to the designer along with a small compensatory fee, but the publisher is under no obligation to do so, unless stated in the contract.

If a publisher offers revenues or royalties for multiple printings, and then just doesn’t print anymore until the contract runs out with the designer... there are no agents or lawyers involved to hold the publisher accountable.

There are no agents involved to make sure publishers actually use and pay for designs in a timely manner.

There are no business managers to keep track of numerous contracts and the individual details of each contract of all the projects under contract, that haven’t been paid for.

© Angela ‘ARNie’ Grabowski 2008. All rights reserved. For more crochet fun, visit ChezCrochet.com
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