Stone In The Surf Press

Welcome

Welcome to Stone In The Surf Press, a passionately Independent Publisher.  My goal is to provide a portal for sharing my books, stories and experiences.  I also hope to help other people who share the same passion and dream of writing and self publishing.  Becoming an indie publisher is more than self-publishing, it's more than vanity press or being part of a giant POD conglomerate.  It is a commitment to yourself to publish and share your work independent of the opinions, criticisms and negativity of the rest of the world.  In this website I have pulled together many of my successes and failures at trying to turn my dream into a reality.  And, a check list of the essential things you will need to become a successful indie as well. 

You will also find my works that have made it into print, those that are coming soon and lots of works in progress.  Feel free to ask questions. 

Richard Neumann

"I was successful at a job I hated. 

Imagine how successful I can be doing something I love."

Franchee Harmon 2006 

The Essential Elements of Indie Publishing

What brought you to this site is most likely the same reasons that I built it.  You have a story that you want to share with the world and to do that, it must get published. 

• There are hundreds of ways to get your book published, how do you know which one is right for you? 

• How can you find out if people will be interested in your story?

• Are POD, Publish On Demand companies as good a deal as they claim? 

• What will this really cost you? 

• How do you know if you are being taken advantage of? 

All very important questions.    There is no single right solution, but there is a way to compare your alternatives and make an informed decision.

Everyone thinks their book will be a best seller, but the truth is a very small percentage ever make it.  There are a zillion companies out there willing to take lots of your hard earned money with great promises and no guarantees.  What if I were a fortune teller and I had the power to see into the future and tell you if your book was going to be a success.  Would you pay $3,000 for that answer?  That information would be great but that's kind of expensive.  What if you could have that same information AND your own publishing company and your net investment would be less than $200.  That seems a little more reasonable.   

I have tried the POD's, I have tried printing thousands of copies, I have used many different means to distribute and fulfill my books.  I have also made just about every mistake in the book and invented a few of my own.  Finally I drew upon more than a decade of publishing experience working for R&E Research Associates, Over the Wall, and my own Stone In The Surf Press and combined that with a quarter century of finance experience to come up with a very simple way to understand the process, identify the key elements necessary to get a book published, compare the alternatives and develop a very affordable approach to creating your own indie publishing company. 

What does it take to become a published author?

A few essential items;

• A finished manuscript

• A way to let the world know about you and your book

• An industry accepted means to distribute your book to bookstores around the world

• Actual books

• Forgetting what the word "NO" means

• A little elbow grease and a never ending supply of passion, persistence and patience

The idea is simple, to test the market to you will need a minimum of 100 copies of your book.  Why?  Because, when you walk into a bookstore or talk to that book reviewer and you tell them about your book, the first thing they will ask is ... do you have a copy?  You can't promote and sell books unless you have actual copies.

Once your manuscript is completed, you leave the world of literature and enter the world of business.  All businesses must weigh the risks and rewards of new products.  They learn all they can about the marketplace and how the industry works.  In the end it comes down to a lot of homework and a lot of faith in themselves.    They first try to answer a few very critical questions, is there a market for their product and can they produce and deliver that product to market?  What will it cost and what are the alternatives?  These are the same questions an "indie" independent publisher needs to answer as well.

My goal is to help you get to the point where you can make the determination if your book has a market and give you a solid foundation upon which to build your own "indie" publishing company.  Am I going to tell you that you will make tons of money or be on Oprah?  No.  Will you break even on your first 100 books?  Probably not.  But you will find the best way to see if your book has potential for a fraction of the cost of other alternatives.  It will cost less and take less than sending 40 copies of your manuscript to publishers and agents in New York.  And, you will have an actual functioning publishing company, books in distribution, a functioning website, marketing and yes, sales, something a POD can't provide. 

This is not a "How To" site.  You should consider this more like a "Shopping List" site.  Ask yourself, "What are all of the essential elements I will need to publish my book?"  The list is here.  This also gives you some insight into the elements and a way to compare the cost of the alternatives.  I say it a lot, but ask questions, learn everything you can and make informed decisions.

Harlan Ellison teaches - "cut to the chase".  OK, here s0 it is.  The single most important document you will ever need to become an indie publisher.  If you use this check list, you can make sure you have all of the essential pieces necessary to become a published author AND you can use the Mini-P&L on this chart to compare the cost of doing it yourself versus paying someone else to do it for you.  Each Essential Element links to a page with more information.  Below the chart is a more detailed explanation of the why's and wherefores.  Learn from my mistakes and successes.  For a fraction of the cost of other publishing alternatives, you can become a published author.

The best thing is - this chart and the information is free!  No hooks, no partial pages, no bull.  I am not an affiliate of any resource I reference.  My hope is, if you find this useful, you might buy one of my books to help support this site and my dream of writing and my passion for publishing.  And when you are successful - let me know and I will add you to my Featured Indie's list.

I wish you the best of success,

Richard Neumann