Frequently Asked Questions

Why would I take a course on book publishing?

People learn in different ways. Although many books exist on book publishing (including ours), you can't ask questions and get feedback on your particular situation. At SelfPubU, you can learn how to solve the problems you have right now, whether you are in the midst of writing, publishing, or promoting your book.

How is the program delivered?

This is an online program, so you can work through it from the comfort of your home or office. Some courses may include supplementary audio, video, or documents you can download, but most of the material is on the lesson pages. Each lesson includes a dedicated discussion area, so if you need help, you can post your question right then and there. In some cases, the answer you need may already be present in the discussion thread, so you can move on immediately.

As part of your trial membership in the Book Author's Circle, you can attend our monthly mastermind calls. You receive more information about dates and how you can RSVP after you enroll.

What if I already published with a subsidy press? (iUniverse, Author House, Trafford, etc) Will your information help me?

Yes. Many self-publishers end up frustrated, discouraged, unhappy, and a lot poorer after signing up with a subsidy press. You can either start a new project, or (depending on the contract you signed with the subsidy) get your book back from the subsidy press and re-release it under your own imprint.

I've bought courses before and I never get through them because they have too much information and I get totally overwhelmed. Is this really doable?

The program is set up with modular courses that cover a manageable amount of information. Each course is designed to cover a specific part of the publishing process. The idea is to help you stay focused on one step in the process, finish it, and then move on to the next step. You control the pace, so you don't get bogged down in information overload

Do I need special hardware or software to take your courses?

Not really. You need a computer with a Web browser and a copy of the free Adobe Acrobat reader (which you can get at the Adobe.com Web site).

Can I take classes when I'm on the road?

Yes, as long as your computer has an Internet connection.

What is your background in book publishing?

You can find out quite a bit about us on this page on our Logical Expressions company Web site: Fast Facts about Susan Daffron and James Byrd

Susan has been involved in publishing in one way or another since 1986 when she did a college internship at McCall's Magazine in New York City. There she saw the realities of the "slush pile" (actually the slush room) filled with work from aspiring writers. She realized that getting published might be a little more difficult than she thought.

After graduating from college, Susan worked on early Macintosh computers (a Mac SE with 128K of RAM and PageMaker version 1!) doing typesetting work for a print shop. After moving to San Diego, she used an early desktop publishing program called Ventura Publisher to lay out thousands of pages of documentation. That led to other technical writing and graphic design jobs, mostly involving long documents and books.

The last "real job" Susan had before starting Logical Expressions was at a technical publishing company. There she was an editor on the magazine, produced newsletters, and laid out books and prepared them for early print-on-demand (POD) printing (a Xerox Docutech). She laid out many thousands of pages of books way back in 1995 before anyone actually called it POD printing.

After starting LE, Susan worked on many graphic design and editorial projects and worked with many book publishers, including Macmillan Computer Publishing. She did copy editing, developmental editing, technical editing and layout for various publishers on a wide range of projects. She also co-authored a traditionally published book on Microsoft Office, and wrote a book called How to Use PowerPoint 2000, which was published by Sams.

With this extensive background in publishing, it actually was fairly easy for Susan to navigate the murky waters of self-publishing and produce 8 books in less than 18 months.

Why did you get into book publishing?

We made a conscious decision to switch our market to self-publishing. When we decided to reorient our services exclusively to book publishing, we actually were doing quite well offering Web site, writing, and graphic design services. However, given the pressure from offshore programmers and innumerable free online templates, we saw the handwriting on the wall. Web design has been devalued and it's difficult to be competitive.

Books have a lot more permanence and prestige than Web sites. Anyone can put up a blog and sound their "barbaric yawp" on the Internet, but it takes a lot more thought and effort to produce a quality print book. We both are avid readers and have always loved books, so it seemed natural to work with clients who love books as much as we do. (Let's face it; no one who hates books bothers to write them!)

Our background in marketing our business and our Web clients online is also extremely useful for book publishers, since at this point, selling books in bookstores is becoming more difficult and less lucrative. Most people have far more success selling non-fiction books online. So we use our Web design skills and background to help people market their books the same way we have.

Although books aren't as "high tech" as Web sites, we also don't have to explain how a payment processor or DNS works to people as often either. Plus, nothing compares to hearing how excited a client is when he or she receives the proof copy of their book in the mail. We know how it feels to hold your book in your hands for the first time ;-)