- Publishing company, publishing imprint, publisher...
Wondering if you need to set up a company
and get all fancy to publish your book?
Or what exactly you need to have to publish your book.
Or maybe you just wanna know what all those words mean.
(chuckling) Then this video is for you.
(intense music)
Hey there, I'm Julie The Book Broad from Book Launchers.
We're your professional self-publishing team
helping you write, publish, and promote a non-fiction book
that will help you have a big impact on your readers,
and, done right, will also help you grow your brand,
build you business, and make you money.
And the best part, you get to keep all rights
and royalties and full control. (chuckling)
All right, there seems to be a lot of confusion
over the term "publishing imprint."
So let's clear that up today, shall we?
(blowing air through lips)
(chuckling) A publishing imprint is simply the name
of the publishing company that you use.
Some people think to set up a publishing imprint
that they need to incorporate or set up an LLC in the US.
A few people say they have- (New York traffic)
access to a New York publishing imprint.
And make that sound like that's what you need
to be important or look important. (chuckling)
Straight up, your publishing company name is what you use
as the publishing company when you sell your book.
When you set up your copyright page, you get your ISBN,
you use your publishing company name for this.
Basically anywhere that your book has public-facing data,
like retailers Amazon, Chapters, Barnes & Noble,
independent bookstores, libraries, wholesalers,
distributors, on your promotional materials,
these all use your book publishing company name,
and that book publishing company name
is your publishing imprint.
They're the same thing. Simple, right?
It really is.
The less simple part is whether
you actually set up a real company for this.
I have a video that covers how
to set up your publishing company,
and I'll link to it at the end,
because I explain the steps for US and Canadian authors.
But setting up a publishing company is opush...
Optional.
Setting up a pub... (blubbering)
Whoops. Getting my tongue tied here.
But setting up a publishing company name is optional.
I recommend it because it helps you look more professional,
and it creates a distinct brand from your author brand,
and this is generally more favorable
when you're promoting your book.
But if you use the Amazon free ISBN,
which is an ASIN, not an ISBN, but if you use that,
you don't need a publishing company name really.
Now, three quick things.
First, as I note in the video that you'll see at the end
on setting up your publishing company,
you don't need to set up a separate business entity.
There are some reasons why you may want to,
but generally you can just create
a fictitious business name for your company.
You basically set up a DBA, doing business as,
under your personal name,
or if you have an existing company
you might do it under that.
If you're concerned about liability
or your book is part of a business,
you should get legal and accounting advice
about who should own the imprint that you set up,
because that's gonna determine where the money goes.
(chuckling) Second, set this up early as possible,
because you're going to need it
when you buy your ISBN and set up your metadata.
Third, you can be totally nonsensical with your name,
but remember it's going to show up everywhere,
so think carefully about what you want to be represented by.
It's gonna be everywhere your book is:
imprint, Library of Congress,
distribution accounts, your Amazon sales page,
and every other sales page for your book,
and also banking and other business account records.
Ultimately, if you wanna sound fancy,
you can set this up and tell people
you have your very own publishing imprint.
It sounds so official, doesn't it? (chuckling)
It is more official than having nothing,
but it really is just the publishing name
you select to publish your book under.
Some authors forgo this step completely and do just fine,
but for many non-fiction authors self-publishing,
to create credibility and appear as an expert
and be seen as professional in everything you do,
this little touch can go a long way
to making you look like the valued expert that you are.
So you got this? You know what the difference is now, right?
(chuckling) Like this tip?
Go ahead and smash that thumbs up button.
Try it. It feels so good.
For fun, let's chat about
the craziest publishing names you've ever seen,
or the worst name you could imagine someone using,
like Ripoff Books, Inc., or Abundant Typos, LLC,
(chuckling) in the comments below,
unless of course you have a real question,
which you can also post below. (chuckling)
And when you comment the day a video is released,
you'll be entered to win some sweet #noboringbooks swag,
like this oh-so-soft mug. (laughing)
Are you soft? (laughing)
Like this oh-so-soft journal or this #noboringbooks mug.
New videos every Tuesday and Friday,
so make sure you've turned those notifications on
and subscribe to the channel
so you know when a new video is out
and you can be the first to comment.
Now, here's a video on how to set up
your publishing company, so you've got that step by step.
And if you're good on that
and you were just watching this video for fun,
well thank you,
and YouTube thinks you will also have fun
watching this video right here.
Either way, let's keep hanging out.
Click on the next video and I'll be there waiting for you.
(intense music)