Month: August 2023

There is no official rulebook on how to tell story – as the style of storytelling varies person to person. What remains the most important aspect is how compelling the style is and how much interest the style draws. Storytelling techniques is a blend of effective communication with creativity and structure. Whether one is writing a novel, crafting a short story, or even recounting an experience verbally, identification of a message or central theme helps in remaining focused and design a story with a clear purpose. An important storytelling tip is to create characters which are engaging and are with relatable qualities and vices- this helps readers or listeners connect with. Description of the time and environment helps in keeping the audience immersed in the world the author creates.

Normally, a storytelling structure is three tiers where the first level is the introduction- where characters are introduced, setting is made, and the central conflict is discussed. In the next tier, there is a rise of action where challenges and conflicts are developed and the characters flourish. The final tier is all about resolution and winding up where the climax is reached, contracts are resolved leading to the closure of the story.   A pertinent storytelling guide is to ensure the audience is hooked, and for that the author many consider an attention-grabbing opening that introducing a mystery, conflict, or intriguing situation, as this shall encourage readers or listeners to keep going.

When an author masters the art of how to tell a story, the foremost area he focuses on is showing and not telling. For that, he uses vivid descriptions, dialogue, and actions to convey emotions, settings, and character traits and, rather than simply stating them outright. This allows the audience to engage more deeply. Simultaneously, he focuses on introducing obstacles and conflicts that challenge the characters, as increase in tension keeps the audience invested and they are anxious to see how things unfold. The climax being the turning point of the story and the conflict reaches its peak- hence climax is the pivot of the narrative structure of the story.  After the climax, the author resolves the and provide answers to the questions raised throughout the story, thereby tying up loose ends and leaving some space for interpretation if possible.

To effective and engaging storytelling, it is important that the dialogues are used effectively ensuring they reveal character traits, emotions, and the plots advance smoothly. Hence, dialogues must sound natural successfully conveying underlying tensions if it is required by the story- not melodramatic dialogues which pushes the story away from reality.

Everyone has a story to tell, but only few are successful storytellers. To be a successful storyteller whose story shall be read or heard by all, the most important creative writing tip probably is to read widely as that broadens the understanding of storytelling techniques is only then. The exposure to different genres and styles of writing helps finetuning the drafting skills broadening the knowledge, effective understanding of storytelling techniques and enriching the works of the author.

 

Self-publishing can be challenging for you if you have never done it before and that is why we are going to talk about how to correctly price your ebook.

 

This self-published ebook pricing guide will help you understand the important tips for pricing self-published ebooks.

 

Before we do that, we need to understand how pricing works and it can be different for different platforms because digital book pricing is determined by a lot of factors.

 

In order to understand these factors, we need to ask a few important questions before we even talk about ebook pricing strategies.

 

Important Questions to Ask Before Planning eBook Pricing

 

Have You Determined the Genre of The Book?

 

If you need to know how to price a self-published book then you should not just set a price in the dark without doing any market research.

 

Instead of that, you can take inspiration from examples and the best way to do that is to understand the genre of your book. In order to do this, you need to find similar books just like your book.

 

When you find the genre, you will get a better understanding of ebook sales and pricing of that category.

 

That is why you need to choose the perfect genre for your book and you might get two or three genres that fit the book but you must choose the one that is the best performing in the market.

 

Where Do You Plan to Sell the eBook?

 

Not all platforms are the same and if you want the best benefits then you can choose two options and one would be to release your book exclusively on a single platform.

 

This will ensure better royalties and also better ebook launch pricing. It will also guarantee you better ebook pricing models.

 

The problem with this kind of an approach is that you will be limited to a single platform and if it does not perform well on that platform then you cannot simply recover the revenue from other platforms.

 

The second thing you can do is probably the option that everyone chooses because it is quite popular and also quite logical. This option will also mean that you do not have to take big risks with ebook marketing and pricing.

 

We are of course talking about launching your ebook on all the ebook platforms that you know which can include everything from Amazon to Barnes & Noble as well as Overdrive and Kobo and much more.

 

This will mean better ebook price optimisation as well as more chances of recovering the revenue and much more.

 

Did You Consider the Length of the eBook?

 

A lot can happen over the length of the book and that is why you must always consider the length in mind when you are trying to fix the pricing of your ebook.

 

The length is important because the bigger the ebook the more it is perceived to be valuable this is because it is just what the readers think like.

 

While having a bigger book will not make much of a difference when it comes to ebook production costs. If you were trying to publish a printed book then a bigger book would also make the costs higher.

 

But you must understand that when you are comparing pricing with your competitors you might ignore the length of the books but that is an important marker of value.

 

Your competitors might have a similar book but their book might have fewer words and that is why you can price your ebook much more than that competitor.

 

What Is the Size of Your Audience?

 

When you are thinking about ebook distribution and pricing, one of the most important questions you should ask is what kind of audience you have.

 

If you have a very large audience then it only makes sense to keep the pricing low because you can recover that pricing just why the sheer number of purchases. In fact, if you have a certainty that a lot of people will buy your book then it will be attractive to keep the costs low.

 

But if you are writing on a niche category with exclusive information then the ebook royalties and pricing will be different. Since it is a niche category you should not keep the pricing very low.

 

Low pricing on a niche category book will mean that the quality of the book is not good and the readers will associate the book with lower quality and value.

 

If you are writing on train timetables then it logically makes sense to keep pricing low so that more people can buy the book but if it is about coffee tables and its history then you should keep the price high.

 

There are other important questions but these were some of the most important questions that you must ask yourself before you set the pricing for your ebook no matter the platform.

 

Let us now go in depth about one of the most popular ebook publishing platforms that is the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) by Amazon. Let us look at the benefits of using KDP and it will give you a better idea on how ebook self-publishing works.

 

Here Are the Benefits of Self-Publishing Your eBook on KDP

 

Source: https://shorturl.at/jnAJ1

 

International Market

 

The best thing about doing anything on Amazon is that you are going to get access to the international market this is also the same with publishing your ebook on Amazon.

 

This means that you can set different prices for different regions and you can plan your marketing strategy a lot better now that you have the entire international market.

 

If you can utilise this then you will be unstoppable in the world of self-publishing.

 

Easy Learning Curve

 

People get nervous when they are asked about self-publishing because self-publishing might be difficult and the process might take months to understand.

 

That is what used to be the case but with platforms like Amazon, you do not need to know a lot in order to self-publish your ebook.

 

There are very simple instructions online and you can even watch YouTube videos to understand how you can self-publish your book with a few simple steps.

 

This is why so many people are choosing Amazon KDP for self-publishing their ebooks.

 

Pricing Control

 

Pricing control is not just about setting the price but it is also about changing the price depending on the time of the publishing as well as the time that has passed.

 

KDP by Amazon will give you excellent control over pricing and you can even change pricing strategy flexibly so that you can experiment with new pricing and find out if the market takes it better.

 

Pricing control is important because of demand and supply and every market and every industry is influenced by demand and supply. That is why if you can regulate your pricing according to that then you will always stay profitable.

 

Good Royalty Arrangements

 

Amazon has one of the most competitive and best royalty agreements where authors can expect even a 70% royalty rate.

 

Of course, this rate depends on the type of book you are selling and the format but you will be glad to know that ebooks have a good royalty percentage.

 

This is because you do not need to print the ebook and that means nearly 0 production and printing costs which means you are going to get most of the profit and keep it.

 

Quick Process

 

One of the qualms of regular publishing or print publishing is that it can take months for publishers to accept your manuscript.

 

But with Amazon KDP you can expect your book to get approved within hours or a couple of days.

 

This is in line with the fast-paced publishing world of 2023 because your readers do not have to wait for months for your book and it can be on Amazon within a few days.

 

Marketing Tools

 

It is not just enough to self-publish your ebook on Amazon because you need to sell it in order to make a profit and that is why Amazon has excellent marketing tools.

 

These include free book promotions as well as pre-orders and even countdown deals. These tools will allow your book to be more visible to the readers and thereby ensure better promotion.

 

Brand Power

 

We all know Amazon and Amazon is such a brand that it has international recognition which means Amazon is also the platform with the most people.

 

This is the brand power of Amazon that if you publish your ebook on it, you will have better chances of your ebook getting noticed by the readers.

 

This is not the case with less-known names such as Kobo etc.

 

Good Analytics

 

Data is everything if you want to become successful in today’s market no matter the industry and that is also the same case with self-publishing your ebook on Amazon.

 

The best thing about Amazon is that you are going to get a lot of data and analytics and you can have easy access to that data.

 

This will help you make changes to your marketing strategy so that you can always have control over the performance of your ebook.

 

There are so many other reasons why it is good to self-publish your ebook on Amazon such as good retention of rights as  well as easy print option if you want to convert your ebook into a paperback book etc.

Let us now look at a week-by-week pricing strategy that might be beneficial to you if you decide to self-publish your ebook on any ebook platform.

 

Pricing Strategy for Every Week

 

Source: https://shorturl.at/knR37

 

Launch Week

 

This is the most important week because you just published your ebook on the launch date and that is why you need to have the best strategy in the first week.

 

The best strategy according to us would be to keep heavy discounts so that the ebook can get visibility.

 

Your job for the first week would be to make sure that the ebook gets seen by a lot of people and if you keep the prices low then more people are going to see the ebook.

 

You can research your prices later on but all you want in the first week is for more people to buy the book and leave reviews because these reviews will help you later on.

 

Second Week

 

This is the second week and you are seeing that your book is gaining popularity and you might also see a lot of positive reviews.

 

This is the point where you can raise the prices a little bit because the initial popularity will die down a little bit.

 

The second-week pricing should not be the same as the first-week pricing.

 

This is because the second week should be all about selling the book based on the reviews. This is also the week where you can start paid promotions and if you have started it you can put a little more money into paid promotions.

 

Third Week

 

While we are not going to suggest any prices for you because that is totally up to you but you can decide to keep the same prices as the second week or raise the prices a little bit.

 

If you see that you are getting a good response in the third week then you can raise the prices because your ebook still has the initial traction of the first week.

 

But if you feel like that the traction has been slow down then we would suggest you not to raise the prices but to spend more money on promotions. You can also try different types of promotions and you can approach social media influencers as well.

 

Fourth Week

 

If your ebook is performing well then you are going to see good sales even in the fourth week.  You can decide to raise the prices if you want because your book now has traction and good reviews.

 

But you must always make sure that every decision you take about your book should be based on data and not just intuition.

 

You can utilise alternate modes of promotion such as YouTube videos and even promoting it in offline locations as well.

 

Fifth Week

 

This is the fifth week since the launch of your ebook and 5 weeks are enough for you to understand how your book is performing.

 

But that does not mean you need to sit down and relax because you need to spend even more money on promotions but make sure you do it within your budget.

 

You need to make sure to go to different events and promote your book and keep the promotions active for at least 10 weeks.

 

Sixth Week

 

Now that you are in the sixth week of your ebook launch you need to remove all the discounts so that you are selling the book at MRP.

 

This is important because you need to make money on the book and you also need the opportunity to give special discounts on special occasions.

 

If you keep the book at MRP then it will create additional opportunities for book promotion for important events and days where you can promote the book with heavy discounts.

 

You must always keep monitoring the data in order to make sure that your book is performing well and if you see the performance is slowing down then it is natural. Of course, you can spend more money on promotions but do not go over budget.

 

Here Are the Royalty Rates of Ebooks Self-Published in India

 

Amazon	Google Play Books	Flipkart Publishing	Notion Press	Pothi
35%-70%	70%	35%	40%	50%

Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) by Amazon

 

Amazon currently has two slabs of royalty percentage and they are 35% and 70% royalty. If your book is priced below ₹99 then it will fall into the category of 35% royalty.

 

If your book is priced between ₹99 and ₹3,999 then it will fall under the category of 70% royalty. Of course, the royalty rates can change and you need to check it out yourself to know the current rates.

 

Google Play Books

 

Google Play Books has one of the simplest royalty rates because everything is 70%. We are of course only talking about ebooks.

 

You are going to get 70% royalty on every ebook sale no matter the price of the ebook.

 

Flipkart Publishing

 

While it is not as popular as Amazon but Flipkart has its own publishing platform and the royalty rate is also quite simple to understand.

 

Flipkart will give you 35% royalty for all ebook sales no matter the length of the ebook or the type or even the price.

 

Notion Press

 

If you want to self-publish your ebook on Notion Press then you are going to get 40% royalty.

 

This rate is applicable for every kind of ebook no matter the price. Apart from Amazon KDP, most ebook platforms have a fixed royalty rate which is very simple to understand.

 

Pothi

 

Just like most of the other ebook platforms, if you want to self-published your ebook on Pothi then it is 50% royalty.

 

This is different from their paperback publishing which has a different kind of royalty calculation.

 

Common FAQs on eBook Publishing

 

What Can Be a Good Price to Sell eBooks in India?

 

The pricing depends on the type of book you are writing because if you are writing fiction then you can price your book below ₹200.

 

If you are writing nonfiction then you can charge above ₹200 as nonfiction books are usually priced higher than fiction books. These can be self-help books as well as educational books.

 

If you want to sell children’s books then you should price it below ₹100.

 

Of course, you should do your own research and set a price that you are comfortable with. These are usually the prices of books in India.

 

What Kind of Earning Can You Expect From eBooks?

 

It is impossible to give you an estimate because it totally depends on the kind of book you have and how popular the book is.

 

You can expect to earn a good living if your book is popular and this is especially the case for ebooks because ebooks do not have any printing cost.

 

You must make sure to create as well as target a specific audience for better chances of earning.

 

Is selling eBooks profitable?

 

Yes, it is profitable but you cannot expect to become a millionaire from selling ebooks just all of a certain.

 

You should keep your expectations reasonable because it is very difficult to become a popular author, especially in the category of ebooks.

 

Having said that, selling ebooks is much more profitable than selling physical books because they are no printing costs associated with ebooks which means it costs virtually zero to create copies of an ebook.

 

This makes it more profitable for the author because they can get to keep more of the profit.

 

Will eBooks Replace Paperbacks in The Future?

 

It is impossible to predict the future but what we can say is that ebooks are definitely going to be more popular with more access to technology.

 

While it is easy to read an ebook on a smartphone but if ebook readers become cheaper then people are going to prefer that and the experience is quite similar to a book.

 

Ebooks are also very affordable which also means more people are going to be interested in them. But the thing about paperback books is that ebooks can never replicate that feeling of holding a physical book and reading it.

 

That is why we predict that physical books are always going to be there, they might become more expensive.

 

Should You Set eBook Price by Wordcount?

 

The short answer to this is that you should not set your ebook price just on wordcount because wordcount is just one of the several factors behind proper pricing.

 

If you want to set the perfect price then all you need is market research in order to understand how much ebooks go for regarding your genre of book.

 

Book length is one of the factors behind the pricing but you should not set a price that is very different from the market.

 

We hope you understand how to price your self-published ebook better than before. If you are looking for the most reliable ebook and book publisher in India then we are here for you.

 

We are Orange Publishers and we are the fastest-growing book publisher in India. We will help you with your ebook publishing as well as paperback books and hardcovers.

 

We will make sure to take care of all the hassles of listing your ebook on all the popular ebook platforms and along with that we will also take care of copyright and much more.

 

We do everything in-house at Orange Publishers and we welcome you to visit our website and check out how you can publish your book or ebook with us.

If you are a writer or author then you might have heard of the word book proposal. You might have heard your peers and your writer friends talk about book proposals and wondered why they are so important.

 

This blog is a simple guide so that you can understand how to write a book proposal but most importantly understand what is a book proposal in the simplest way possible.

 

We are going to will tell you everything about the tips for writing a successful book proposal and we will also explain you why submitting a book proposal is important to you as an author.

 

Before we do all that, let us understand what is a book proposal along with book proposal guidelines as well as the universal book proposal structure.

 

What Is a Book Proposal? Is It Important for The Author?

 

A book proposal is basically a book and author portfolio. You can take that portfolio and approach a traditional publisher so that they understand your work and publish your book.

 

A book proposal is strictly applicable in terms of traditional publishing and is not relevant when it comes to self-publishing. When it comes to self-publishing you do not need to approach a publisher with a proposal.

 

When we talk about a book proposal, it is simply a business plan for your book where you approach the traditional publisher. This is so that they might invest in you as the author as well as your book and publish it for you.

 

This is a basic skill that you should know if you ever want to publish your book traditionally. Writing a compelling book proposal can be the difference between publishing your book and not publishing it.

 

A book proposal is one of the most important things for an author whether it is writing a fiction book proposal or a nonfiction book. Without a book proposal, you cannot get your word across to the Publishers.

 

Before we discuss the simple structure of a book proposal, let us understand what a book proposal should essentially contain.

 

Your Book Proposal Is Incomplete Without These Elements

 

· Market Analysis

 

A book proposal is incomplete without market analysis but most importantly a book proposal is incomplete without any effort to explain why the publisher should publish your book.

 

That should include market analysis. If you can manage to present a good market analysis and tell the publisher that this genre is in high demand then it will increase your chances to get accepted.

 

You need to present a lot of data and the data should be from reputable sources so that the publisher can fact those data points and indeed agree that these kinds of books are in demand.

 

You can even mention other popular titles that follow the same genre as your book so that you can showcase that your book belongs to a very popular category.

 

· Author Proposal

 

When you submit a book proposal, you must also include an author proposal. It is all about marketing the book as well as yourself.

 

If you can manage to highlight how interesting you are as well as your background and qualifications and your reliability as an author then it will only add to the positives.

 

You should be able to explain why you are a reliable investment as the author because it is an investment after all for the publishing company.

 

Book proposal templates and everything else will come later because understanding the importance of an author proposal is even more important than anything else.

 

You can improve your prospects by adding links to any kind of online articles you have written or any of your previous work.

 

· Book Promotion

 

A book proposal is basically a book promotion because you are trying to get investors to invest in yourself and the book and that is why you should not leave any stone unturned when you do the book promotion.

 

You can even attach marketing material as well as promotional material and even attach fan comments and feedback so that the publisher understands that you are quite popular even before publishing.

 

If you can show the publishers that you have a good online presence with a good number of followers then it is only going to add to the list of positives. That will make you a safer investment.

 

HERE IS WHY BOOK PROPOSALS ARE IMPORTANT FROM THE POV OF PUBLISHERS

 

· Marketing Ability

 

When will look at book proposals from the perspective of the book publisher, we need to understand that this is an investment for the publishing company.

 

That is why book proposals are a good opportunity for the publishing company to understand whether the author knows anything about marketing.

 

This is because if the author understands how to market themselves then they can be an asset for the publishing company. This is also a good opportunity for quality control.

 

While marketing is not everything and is not a key determining factor for authors but this is an opportunity for the publishing house to look for commercial potential.

 

You must be able to show your marketing potential and commercial potential whether you write a non-fiction book proposal or a fiction book proposal.

 

· Talent Discovery

 

Book proposals are all about talent discovery because the more book proposals that a publishing company is going to receive the better the chances they will have a good author.

 

Book proposals are a good opportunity for the publishing company to do good quality control because they are going to receive a lot of book proposals.

 

The thing is when a publishing company receives a lot of book proposals it improves their confidence in their investment. Because even after so many book proposals if they decide to choose one then it is probably exactly what they are looking for.

 

This type of talent discovery is much better than just reaching out to prospective authors because then the publishing companies will be only limited to a few choices.

 

· Time Saving

 

The thing about time saving is that you can only save time if you do not have to do all the work and that is where book proposals come in.

 

When publishing companies get a book proposal they are not only getting the summary of the book but they are also getting to understand the author. BSut there is something even more important.

 

Book proposals contain market research which helps the publishing company save a lot of time for the publishing company because it helps them decide whether to invest or not.

 

Of course, the book proposal is going to have market data that is favourable to the author but it is still hard data and facts and those can be certified later on.

 

There are a lot of other reasons why publishing companies love book proposals but we must also understand that sifting through a lot of book proposals can take time and resources.

In spite of all the time and resources that are spent in the assessment of book proposals, it is still worthwhile to do it because the publishing company is getting quality content at the end of the day.

Let us now look at what is the proper way to structure a book proposal and this will also help you understand book proposal dos and don’ts.

 

HERE IS THE STRUCTURE OF A PERFECT BOOK PROPOSAL

 

· Title Page

 

This is going to be the first and one of the most important pages of the entire book proposal document.

 

Your book proposal should start with the title of the book.

 

You can even explain the title of the book with the help of a subtitle that is going to provide additional context and information for the publisher.

 

After that, you should include the author’s name in full and that can be your pen name as well as your legal government name.

 

If you use a pen name, you should have your legal name beside it.

 

After that, you should include your contact details in full which should include a physical address which is going to be the mailing address as well as the email address.

 

You should also include your phone number and you can additionally add the links to your social media profiles as well.

 

· Overview

 

After you are done with the title page you should start with the overview. This is quite important and the whole book proposal is all about the overview.

 

The overview should contain the summary of the book’s primary plot along with the themes that you have explored in the book as well as the narrative style. You should include a brief synopsis and make sure it is not longer than two or three paragraphs.

 

After you are done with the synopsis, you should write the pitch. You can think of it as a hook that is going to be the tagline or the marketing line for the entire book.

 

This is where you should spend a lot of time because this should be absolutely perfect and this one line should encapsulate the entire meaning of the book and should give the readers a reason to read the book.

 

· Author Details

 

Your book proposal should also contain a section that is totally dedicated to details about you.  This should include everything from the educational background of the author to the experience background of the author.

 

You should include important bits from your personal story and your works as well as the list of everything you have written which can include anything from a blog to an essay or short stories or other novels.

 

You must also not forget to mention why you have written the book and what kind of connection it has with your life and what motivated you to write the book.

 

· Contents Table and Chapter Outline

 

This is the point of the book proposal where you are going to include the list of chapters in the book as this will help the publisher get an idea about the book.

 

You should not only include the list of chapters but you must describe each and every chapter as briefly as possible.

 

You can also outline the characters and the role they play in the chapters so that the main ideas of the book are explained easily.

 

But you must make sure to not go into too much detail as that is going to reveal the plot of the book and give unnecessary spoilers.

 

You need to hold on to that element of surprise.

 

· Sample Chapter

 

When you are done with the contents table you must also include a complete chapter of the book as a sample.

 

We are not talking about a summary but the entire chapter unedited and not shortened because this will be the sample that will showcase your style of writing.

 

You should not include the climax chapter but you should only include a chapter from the beginning and make sure this is an impressive chapter.

 

A lot will be depending on this chapter because this chapter will give the publishers an understanding of what kind of writer you are.

 

· Market Analysis

 

Now that you have mentioned every detail possible about the book you can continue with the marketing side of things and this is where you are going to present your market analysis.

 

This market analysis should ideally contain details about the target audience and it should show that this kind of book and genre is in demand and you should back that with data.

 

The more data you are able to find and attach to the book proposal the better chances you have being noticed.

 

Additionally, you must also have information regarding competitors and this is just to show that the genre is popular.

 

You can include a competitive analysis so that you can showcase the strengths of your book as compared to your competitors. You must pick competitors that are already doing well in the market but not bestsellers.

 

· Additional Information

 

This is the section of the book proposal where you can be as creative as possible and you can include anything you want that is relevant to the book.

 

You can include different types of visual elements such as videos or photos that you have created as a part of the promotional materials.

 

You can also include different bits of conversation and interaction with your audience in the form of comments and replies.

 

This is basically a section where you can include anything that might not have been included in the other sections of the book proposal.

 

You must understand that your book proposal should primarily focus on the book and that should be the highlight.

 

HERE ARE THE TIPS FOR WRITING THE PERFECT BOOK PROPOSAL

 

· Maintain Clarity and Conciseness

 

The first and most important to you must keep in mind is to maintain clarity throughout the book proposal.

 

You should not take up unnecessary time of the publishers and get to the point as quickly as possible.

 

This means that the book proposal should be as specific as possible and you do not need to stretch because there are no word limits that you have to maintain.

 

· Showcase Your USP

 

A book proposal is a book promotion and you must understand that because you must not only sell the idea of the book but too much also make sure that the publishers are interested in you as well.

 

This means you should showcase why you are different from the competition and why publishers should publish your book and invest in the idea of your book.

 

In order to do this, you can showcase your talent and you can also showcase your writing skills. Whatever you do you must make sure to showcase that you are different from the competition.

 

What Are the Things You Should Avoid Doing in A Book Proposal?

 

You can make a lot of mistakes when you are creating the book proposal and one of the mistakes can be that you might focus more on yourself rather than the book. You must understand that the book proposal is for the book and you come secondary.

When you add details about yourself it should complement the book and it should not take the primary limelight. That also means not including a lot of details about yourself which are not very relevant to the book.

When you are writing the book proposal you must make sure you have a positive attitude because one of the mistakes you can make is to have a negative attitude and that also means speaking negative about the competition.

 

We hope this blog has improved your idea about book proposals and why they are so important when it comes to approaching a traditional publisher.

However, if you think that book proposals are difficult but you still want to approach traditional and established book publishers then we are here for you.

We are Orange Publishers and we are leading the book publication market in India. We are the fastest-growing book publishing company in India. We understand the market and publishing with the help of your extensive market experience spanning decades.

You do not need to approach us with a book proposal and you can simply send us an email and we will get back to you. We have intentionally made the book proposal process simple so that it is not a learning curve for our authors.

We do everything in-house at Orange Publishers which includes everything from the printing to the publishing and we also take care of every legal aspect such as copyright.

We welcome you to join the Orange family and publish your way to success.

If you are starting out new in the world of literature and you want to leave a permanent mark in the minds and hearts of your readers then one of the best things to do is to publish an anthology.

 

A lot of popular authors start out this way. But before we get to the point of knowing how to publish an anthology, it is important to understand what is an anthology.

 

HERE IS WHAT ANTHOLOGY MEANS

 

Anthology is simple to understand because an anthology is just a collection of anything that you can consider literature.

 

If you make a collection of poems then that is an anthology and if you make a collection of short stories then again that will be an anthology.

 

You can make an anthology on the works of a single author or it can be a collaboration of multiple authors.

 

There are numerous examples of anthologies all over the world and that is because anthology is one of the most popular forms of publication.

 

Anthology can be arranged around a specific time period and it can even be arranged around a single author. Anthology can follow a single theme or it can even follow a single cultural context.

 

It is totally up to you as the author how you want to self-publish an anthology. But when you do decide to publish it, you need to have a good guide for publishing an anthology.

 

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF PUBLISHING AN ANTHOLOGY?

 

· For Preservation Purposes

 

One of the most important reasons why people publish anthologies is simply because they want to publish different works together so that they can be preserved.

 

That is why anthologies are not published by the original author most of the time but by a collector or a publishing house that has all the rights to the works of an author.

 

Literature is not just a combination of words but it is actually the preservation of culture and ideas of a place and time or a nation and that is why it is important to get literary works together. Theme selection for any anthology is quite important.

 

You must also understand that authors might have one or two of their poems widely known with most of their other works being lost in the chapters of time but creating an anthology will make sure they are preserved.

 

· For Educational Purposes

 

If you search for the most famous examples of anthologies then you are going to get names like “The Oxford Book of American Short Stories” or something like “The Penguin Book Of Modern Poetry”.

 

While these books can be read for recreational purposes and casual reading but they are mostly published for students and educational purposes.

 

It is much easier for a student to get books of a similar time period or similar style in an anthology than having to go around searching for them.

 

· For Cultural Purposes

 

Before we dive into the steps to publish an anthology, we must understand why anthologies are so important. Anthologies are important because they help in preserving cultures.

 

Anthologies are the only way to make sure different pieces of literature by different poets and authors come together in a single place because of their shared cultural link.

 

This cultural link can be in the form of language and that cultural link can be in the form of a freedom movement or a cultural movement etc.

 

That is why an anthology publication process is very meticulous and important and we always make sure that the publication process is immaculate at our publishing house.

 

HERE ARE THE BENEFITS OF PUBLISHING AN ANTHOLOGY

 

· Excellent For Exposure

 

One of the most effective benefits of publishing an anthology is that you are going to get excellent recognition and exposure.

 

Anthologies are quite popular and editing and curating an anthology is a difficult process and that is why a lot of authors do not do it.

 

So, if you embark on this journey and learn and understand the steps to publish an anthology then you will be counted among the very few authors and curators that do anthology.

 

· Excellent For Collaboration

 

If you are an author then you probably belong to a network of authors and perhaps you even consider those authors in your network as friends and fellow creatives.

 

That is why if you feel like collaborating with authors and contributors then an anthology is the best way to do it.

 

It will be amazing to just create something with your friends and it will also be a great way to respect their talent.

 

But if you do not have an author network then finding contributors for anthology is not very difficult because authors will always be waiting for the opportunity to get their work published.

 

If you take the initiative to publish an anthology then it will be amazing for the entire literary world.

 

However, you must make sure that the proper copyright and permissions for the anthology are maintained so that you do not get into any legal trouble.

 

· Excellent For Portfolio

 

Having a diverse portfolio is excellent for any kind of profession and that is also true for authors and writers.

 

If you manage to create an anthology with the works of other authors as well as yours or if you just create an anthology with all your works then it will be excellent for your portfolio.

 

You will be recognised among the rare few writers in the publishing world to have an anthology.  It will showcase your ability to write on diverse themes and topics.

 

The anthology will prove to the world that you can be diverse but you can be a good author as well.

 

You will be able to reach new readers simply because they might pick up your anthology instead of picking up your works individually.

 

That is excellent for poets because it is impossible to buy a single poem but it is quite practical to buy an anthology of poems.

 

· Excellent For Monetary Benefits

 

In order to understand this, you must think of it like YouTube creators. YouTube creators still earn money from their older videos whenever it gets views.

 

That is also the same case with writers because with an anthology you can make money from your older works that might have been published individually.

 

If you are not an author then you must understand that royalties and monetary gains from publishing are a permanent source of income for authors.

 

Creating an anthology can be very beneficial for them.

 

Now that we know a little bit more about anthologies, let us look at the steps for publishing a collaborative anthology.

 

IMPORTANT STEPS FOR PUBLISHING A COLLABORATIVE ANTHOLOGY

 

· Find The Topic or The Theme

 

The first and most important thing you should do is to find the topic because without the topic you can’t go ahead with the anthology.

 

You can pick a topic that you are familiar with because that will be important later on as you are the one who is bringing everything together.

 

You can pick a topic that is very trendy or you can pick a topic that is rarely covered in literature and it can be a rare genre.

 

· Get A Team of Editors

 

The second step is about getting a good team of editors because you simply cannot do it alone as once you post the anthology request you are going to get a lot of submissions.

 

You will get submissions from all over the world because there are a lot of writers and authors who would love to collaborate with you.

 

That is why you should get together a team of editors with whom you are familiar and they should be people you love working with. They can be your colleagues or your friends.

 

· Finalise The Submission Requirements

 

The third step of the important journey is to set clear submission requirements. Only after you do this you can send out the submission request on different forums and on different platforms.

 

When we talk about submission requirements you must include everything from submission guidelines which should contain the type of content as well as the necessary word limit.

 

You should also make sure to have formatting instructions so that you can receive submissions in the perfect format and most importantly you must have a clear submission deadline.

 

· Promote The Submission Online and Offline

 

You will not have an anthology without proper submissions and that is why you must send out a submission request and promote that online as well as offline.

 

When we talk about promoting it online you can do it everywhere on the internet from popular social media platforms to even YouTube where you can put out a small video and promote it.

 

You can promote it offline in various bookstores and ask the bookstore owners for permission to set up a small placard or a small piece of paper as promotional material.

 

· Do Meticulous Review

 

After you do the promotion, you are going to get a lot of submissions but not all submissions are going to be great and some of them might be average.

 

You must sort out the best ones from the submissions. We would suggest you not to have any criteria for having a certain number of poems or stories.

 

You should never set goals for a certain number of works and you must choose all the ones that you find interesting and good. This is where your editorial team will be very helpful to you.

 

· Send Out Your Book Confirmations

 

After you have done the selection of the works that are going to go in the anthology, you must make sure to contact all the collaborators and tell them that they have been selected.

 

You must make sure to also inform them about the royalty agreements and you must also sort out everything about copyright with them.

 

The primary thing you must understand is that you should be as transparent as possible because you do not want to have misunderstandings with your anthology collaborators later on.

 

· Create And Finalise the Design and Layout

 

After you have sent out the confirmations you must make sure to finalize the design as well as the layout.

 

If you do not have any experience in book cover designing then you can also hire a freelancer to do it for you but you must make sure that it is done properly.

 

The same goes for the layout and you must make sure that the book cover design and layout for the anthology book is perfect because you cannot change that after it has been published.

 

· Do The Editing and Proofreading

 

Now that you are done with most of the work of sending out the confirmations and sorting everything legal and also everything design-related, you can finally focus on the editing.

 

Collaborators do not always send out the perfect manuscript and you must always check the punctuations and all the syntax mistakes and everything else so that the final manuscript is perfect.

 

This is when your editors will be vital for you because they will help you with the entire editing process of editing all the submissions that have been finalized.

 

· Sort out copyrights and ISBN

 

You must never skip on the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) of the book because it is essential for book sales both internationally as well as locally.

 

The same is also true for copyright because having copyright issues with your collaborators will only delay the publication date and result in financial loss.

 

Copyright arrangements can be of two types in the case of an anthology and it can be with a single person holding the copyright or the copyright can be held by all the collaborators.

 

You are now ready to print the book and create physical copies of it. You can also make digital copies of it if you want the anthology to be an eBook or an audiobook. Then you are finally ready for publishing the book.

 

But if you think about it, this entire process is going to be a very difficult, especially if you are someone with little or no experience in publishing an anthology or rather publishing anything.

 

That is why we are here to help you because we are Orange Publishers and we are the fastest-growing and most popular publishing company in India.

 

We have extensive experience and skillset in publishing analogies and we will help you with the entire process and not just the publishing process.

 

We will make sure that your collaboration goes perfectly and we will also take care of everything from the copyright to the cover design and layout for anthology and much more.

 

We welcome you to check out our website as we publish nearly every kind of book from every genre which also includes anthologies.

Today we are going to talk about copyright law but more specifically book copyright law and how it works in India.

We are going to help you understand what is copyright protection and how can it help an author with author rights.

So, what is the book copyright law in India?

BOOK COPYRIGHT LAW IN INDIA

Books fall into the category of original literary work. It falls into the category of creative works that enjoy legal protection under the Copyright Act of 1957.

The Copyright Act not only protects books but anything creative such as artistic works and musical works as well as cinematograph films.

We would highly encourage you to read this document, A Handbook of Copyright Law by the government of India. This document will give you an idea of how copyright works in India.

SO, HOW DOES COPYRIGHTING WORK IN REALITY?

Your book falls under copyright protection the moment it is created. This is applicable to every kind of artistic creation in India whether it is physical or digital.

Under the copyright act of 1957, the author or the publisher gets full and exclusive rights to the book. The author is the natural copyright holder but if they sign a copyright transfer agreement with the publisher then they are granting the rights of the book to the publisher.

You do not need copyright registration as the book automatically falls under copyright protection the moment it is created. However, we highly recommend you register your work in the copyright office as a formality.

This is very important since it will be a legal record of ownership which will help you claim copyright easily whenever there is copyright infringement of your book.

If you are self-publishing your book then we would suggest you get hold of a good lawyer so that they can help you understand how things work.

Of course, if you are publishing your book with us then we will take care of copyright registration for you.

WHAT IS THE DURATION OF A COPYRIGHT FOR A BOOK?

Copyright duration is limited in India. The exclusive work will only have a copyright for a limited period of time in India.

The copyright of a book will last for the entire lifetime of the author as the author will have exclusive copyright ownership as long as they are alive.

The copyright will keep on staying active for 60 years after the death of the author. The copyright will get transferred to the heirs and legal successors of the author after their death.

During this time, their legal successors can claim the benefits and profits that are generated from the commercial exploitation of the work, i.e., sales, licenses, licenced works etc.

Now that we know a little bit about copyright, let us understand the difference between copyright and trademarks as well as patents.

COPYRIGHT VS TRADEMARKS VS PATENTS, ARE THEY DIFFERENT?

The primary difference between a copyright, trademark and a patent is that copyrights are exclusive to creative works and original works such as books and movies as well as music, paintings, software code, photographs etc.

Trademarks on the other hand do not protect original works but they primarily protect brands and brand names as well as brand identity such as logos and slogans. Trademarks can protect any distinctive sign of the brand such as certain colour codes used by the brand.

Patents on the other hand protect inventions and unique manufacturing techniques and processes as well as machines.

Patents usually protect innovations in manufacturing where some new kind of technology needs to be protected so that others do not profit from the invention of someone else.

SCOPE OF PROTECTION

The scope of protection of copyright is to provide exclusive rights to the owner of the creation to reproduce or display as well as distribute their original work and its derivatives.

The scope of protection in the case of trademarks is to prevent other brands and companies from using the trademark and brand name and logos of a certain brand for their own gain.

This is so that it does not create confusion among customers and so that other brands do not make a profit on the existing market presence of a certain brand.

Patents are there to help the inventor have the exclusive right to manufacture and sell their invention and their products and even licence their manufacturing techniques to others.

DURATION OF THE RIGHT

We already know the duration of copyright in India which usually lasts the entire lifetime of the author or the original creator and additionally 60 more years after their death.

Trademark validity in India is 10 years. After 10 years, the brand or the company needs to renew their registration. Renewal petitions in India need to be filed at least 6 months before the expiration date of the trademark.

When it comes to patents, the inventor and the owner of the patent are granted 20 years to have exclusive rights to the patent from the date of the patent filing application.

Copyright enforcement as well as trademark and patent enforcement are very strict in India and we recommend you always have a good lawyer in case your rights are infringed.

DO YOU NEED TO REGISTER A COPYRIGHT FOR YOUR BOOK?

You do not need to register your book for copyright protection. Copyright protection is automatic as soon as you create the book in a written form whether it is digital or paper.

However, there are several benefits of registering your copyright in the copyright office in India.

OWNERSHIP EVIDENCE

One of the greatest advantages of registering your creation in the copyright office is simply to put a creation date on your work.

It will be much easy for you to claim damages if your copyright is infringed if you have your work registered. Your copyright notice will be easy and have a better claim.

LEGAL PROTECTION

Registering your work will make it a lot easier for you to have legal protection in the case that your book rights are being violated by someone.

When you have your work registered in the copyright office, you can find lawyers who will be very willing to work for you to ensure that you can take it up in court.

GLOBAL LEGAL PROTECTION

One of the other things you should keep in mind is that your book is not only being sold in India but all over the world. That is usually the case when you publish your book on international platforms.

Countries outside India have different jurisdictions but if you have your book already registered in India then it will make it much is here to get global legal protection for your book.

LICENSING

If you have a registered copyright of your book then it will make it much easier and legally much more simple for you to licence your creation to different publishing houses.

It will also make it easier for you to licence your work to moviemakers and other creative people who want to collaborate with you.

So, you should definitely register your book at the copyright office. It does not cost a lot to register your book.

You can take a look at this link by the Department for Promotion of Trade and Internal Trade to check out the current fee structure.

Let us now look at a few popular questions regarding copyrights.

FAQs ON COPYRIGHT

What is the purpose of copyright?

Ans: The purpose of copyright is to simply encourage creative expression in a country and to ensure that the rights of creators are maintained.

Copyright laws are there to provide peace of mind to creators so that they can engage in creativity without the fear of people stealing their creative work.

Copyright laws ensure that creators can earn a living from the reproduction and distribution of their artistic work and that they can monetize the creative efforts properly.

It is also about preserving cultural heritage because artists and authors are responsible for the advancement of a particular culture and copyright laws make sure that their hard work is protected.

Who owns the copyright?

Ans: The ownership of a copyright can depend on a lot of factors. When we are talking about books, the author is the person who owns the copyright.

The author can sign off the copyright of their book and transfer the copyright to the publisher or to someone else as well.

There is also the scenario where multiple people have worked on a single book and in that case, there is a joint copyright. There is joint ownership or multiple ownership for that piece of work.

If the book has been written by a ghostwriting agency, then the owner of the work or the employer is the owner.

If the work is done by a company and then the company is the owner of the copyright rather than the employees because this is something that the employees agreed to.

It all depends on the contract but traditionally an author is the original copyright holder of a book they have authored.

What are the positive effects of copyright laws?

Ans: There are several positive effects and benefits of copyright laws. We can talk about the protection of intellectual property or we can talk about the safeguard of economic value.

We can also talk about the encouragement of cultural diversity and better access to knowledge and learning.

However, if we want to sum up the benefits of copyright laws it is that copyright laws encourage creators and artistic people to pursue their artistic endeavours.

They can be sure that there are specific laws there to protect them and their work so that they can monetize their work and earn a living.

We hope this blog has been helpful for you to understand the importance of copyright laws and we hope you understand how important copyright is to a book.

That is why you should always register your book at the Copyright Office so that it is easier for you to claim copyright infringement damages whenever someone violates those rights.

However, registering a copyright can be difficult if you have never done it before and since you are a writer you should not have to worry about all those legalities because we are here to help you.

We are Orange Publishers and we are the fastest-growing and most popular book publishing company in India. We do everything in-house from the printing to the publishing as well as copyright registration along with the marketing.

Yes, you heard that right, we are among the few publishing companies in India that also do the copyright filing for you so that you do not have to worry about all those legalities.

We do everything in-house at Orange Publishers and we welcome you to publish your masterpiece with us.