Forest River Press

METROPOLIS MAGAZINE WEBSITE INTERVIEW WITH KATHLEEN MORIKAWA (FEBRUARY 2010)

To what extent do you think online services like Lulu and Blurb have removed the hurdles described in Self-Publishing in Japan?

Well, as I point out in Self Publishing in Japan, it has always been possible for self-publishers to throw some money at a company and in a month or two get a few boxes of books deposited on their doorstep. Now in the 21st century, high-tech world, you throw some money at an on-line POD (print-on-demand) company and in a few weeks they send you five books, and assure you they can print up more just as soon as someone orders one. You may have even prepared your own camera-ready copy for them and we call this progress! I don’t know. Is it? At least in the old days, you had actual boxes of books and if they didn’t sell, you could throw a furoshiki on them and call it a coffee table.

The important thing is to analyze your manuscript and have a clear vision of your book. Some books (such as controversial tomes, big-budget coffee table books with lots of photos, and university language texts aimed at Japanese students) don’t lend themselves to self-publishing. They need the resources and distribution channels of an established publisher. Books with a Japan connection that will find their primary audience inside Japan are often the best bets for self-publishing by setting up your own sole proprietorship (kojin jigyo) here in Japan. POD is probably one of the best options for books geared mainly to an overseas market (novels, poetry, memoirs, other books you want out there but may not sell many of), or for authors who really don’t have any time or energy to invest in publishing.

Are there any hurdles that you think self-publishing authors are always going to face – the jihi shuppan stigma, for instance?

Actually, the jihi shuppan stigma is probably very slowly beginning to fade. With the state of the economy and the publishing industry now, I think many people, both authors and readers alike, are beginning to realize self-publishing may be one of the few viable options for new authors. No matter how you decide to publish, the biggest hurdle will always be sales and distribution–finding people to buy your book and a variety of ways to get the book to them.

Given how simplified print-on-demand has become, do you think there are still compelling reasons to set up your own company, rather than use a service such as Lulu?

Yes, many. One is control. You do it yourself, you are in control of every decision. That’s huge. You are not at the mercy of the fine print, not dealing with a company thousands of miles away and you have an entire print run at your fingertips. Also, I’ve read that in the US, the media can recognize the ISBN numbers of the POD companies a mile away and seldom if ever deign to give them review space.

Those who use POD often have trouble finding ways to make the book available here in Japan. Say, the book sells for 2,000 yen. They may be able to buy copies at a 50 percent author discount, but then they have to pay to ship them to Japan too, and local booksellers and distributors would like a 30 percent discount or more for handling the book. After all the hard work and effort, that doesn’t leave the author with much of anything. Meanwhile, the author will soon find a reader on Amazon marketplace trying to peddle their used copy for 1,200 yen. Most of all, self-publishing requires a sense of humor.

And of course, if you set up your own kojin jigyo, you’ve got a business and the potential for publishing all your future works, and you are no longer a self-publisher but a small independent publisher, who has merely opted to select yourself as your first client.

Hugh said that one of his biggest mistakes was not hiring someone to proofread his final manuscript.

Yes, the proof is in the proofreading. And that is another problem with POD. Usually only one proof is included in the deal. You have to pay extra for more and you really need at least two, preferably 3 or 4 to make sure all the mistakes in the first proof are properly corrected.

You should find a pro or several good friends to read the proofs for you. The author is just too close to the project. After you’ve written it and read it 10 or 12 times, you just don’t see it anymore. Whereas, every typo pops out at the reader in boldface and gives them just another reason to say: “Aha! Yappari! It’s a self-published book.”

Are there any other potential pitfalls that you’d advise people to watch out for?

Every book presents its own problems and solutions. The most important thing is not to go into debt to publish your book. The profits, if any, are far down the line and you don’t want to have a loan hanging over your head while you wait. Overall, the satisfactions of doing it yourself far outweigh the pitfalls.

ISBN NUMBERS

1. A Second-hand ISBN Number Is No Bargain

Q: I am planning to self-publish a book. An acquaintance has offered to sell me one of his ISBN numbers at a reduced price. Since I am planning to self-publish only once, this would save me the trouble of figuring out how to get an ISBN number in Japan. Are there any problems with this option?

A: Yes. It may seem convenient but it can also be problematic.
The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) keys your book into the world-wide book classification system. A book without an ISBN will not be taken seriously by the book industry. An ISBN is necessary for library cataloguers to properly catalogue your book and for book stores, distributors and others in the book trade to efficiently sell it as well as contact you, the publisher.

In Japan, you can buy ISBNs in lots of ten or 100 from the Japan ISBN Agency (Nihon Tosho Code Kanri Center) . They will keep a record of the numbers issued to you and key your publishing entity’s contact data into the databases of the ISBN Agency and the Japan Book Publishers Assn.

Sometimes, printers, book production companies and others with extra ISBNs on hand will offer to sell you one of theirs. The Japan ISBN Agency HIGHLY discourages this and for good reason. Say you buy an individual ISBN from Printer A, for example. That number has been registered to Printer A. If a book store gets an inquiry from a customer who wants to buy your book, they will try to contact you, the publisher, to see if the book is available by keying the book’s ISBN into one of the databases mentioned above. And voila, up will pop the contact details for Printer A. The store will assume A is the publisher and contact them to make inquiries. To the book industry you will not be considered the contact person for your book.

As a self-publisher, it is better to have your own ISBN. Ten may be more than you think you will ever need but you are really buying credibility and the ability to be taken seriously by the book world. That is a valuable investment in itself for an aspiring self-publisher. Also note that if you reprint the book, issue a revised edition, produce a Japanese translation, etc. you will need a separate ISBN for each of these versions of your original book.

Aside from the cost of having your books printed, there are very few set-up costs involved in establishing a self-publishing venture in Japan but properly acquired ISBN should be one of them. A second-hand ISBN is no bargain in the long run.
January 1, 2008