N otion Press contacted me recently to blog about their self-publishing services for authors who don't want to go the traditional publishing route. Since self-publishing is a novel concept in India, and there is so less information about what to do and what not to do out there, I thought the services offered by Notion Press would be very useful for aspiring authors.
Started in 2012 in Chennai, Notion Press seems to offer a ton of services for the self-published author - the services range from book editing, cover design, e-book creation, marketing, and distribution.
On offer for the author
I went through the packages they offer, and the price may be a tad high but they cover everything you can think of when you want to publish a novel. Their packages are also incredibly detailed, and clearly explain what is included or not included.
I browsed through some of their options and here are some thoughts on some of their services:
- Substantive editing: Their substantive editing service (where the editor checks a document's concept and intended use, content, organization, design, and style. The purpose is to make the document functional for its readers, not just to make it correct and consistent), seems to be thorough and well-thought through. If I were an author looking to publish a book, I would be very happy to pay for a service where someone looks through your work with a keen and critical eye. Here is an example of the kind of substantive editing they do.
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Book cover design: I browsed through some of the book covers that they have designed, and I am impressed with the level of creativity. My eyes were drawn to this cover almost immediately.
The quality of this cover is not something that a self-publishing author can easily design on their own.
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Book publicity: Their book publicity plan takes care of all angles. Their marketing experts claim to help you narrow down your primary target audience and position the book in such a way as to attract these buyers. Some of the options they offer are: social book launch, Amazon pre-launch, create, host, and maintain author websites, organize press releases, author interviews, and so much more.
Here is an example of a video book trailer they have created:
Quite well done, I thought, and definitely catchy.
- Distribution: Their distribution networks also seem to be exceptionally strong. They offer both domestic and international distribution, and both online and retail options. Depending on your budget, and your estimates of how successful your book is likely to be, you can go ahead and customize your distribution.
Talking about money, the crucial question authors have is how much money can I expect to see at the end of my publishing journey? To help authors with this, Notion Press has a handy royalty calculator on their website.
With a simple two-step formula, you can calculate the royalties you can expect to earn from a book
Overall, I was quite impressed by the organization and seeming transparency of the site. It is neatly laid out, and all the information is laid out simply and makes it easy to click on through to the information you are looking for.
On offer for the reader
As a reader, what can one expect from a book published through Notion Press?
Well, recently I was offered one book from them to review (unrelated to this post - this book came to me from some other channel). This book - Aqson - Level 1, is probably one of the most unusual and novel books I've read. I've yet to complete the book so my final review might differ, but now, I am completely engrossed in it. I have no issues with the quality of language, the publishing quality, absolutely everything about this book just oozes professionalism. It's very obvious that a lot of work has gone into developing this book for the reader.
In fact, until I got the email from Notion Press asking me to review their site, I had no idea that this book came through the "self-published" option at all. In every way, it reads like a book from a well-known publishing house.
Final Thoughts
I happened to see Aqson Level 1 stocked in the local book store I visited and since they have offered this book to bloggers for review, it seems they do a decent amount of promotion. All good, as far as I am concerned. And this is great for both authors and readers - offering more unique types of books to readers who otherwise won't have access to such content.
Overall, I was very impressed by the work they are doing. I have not tried out their services as an author, but I do think that if you are looking for options to publish your work, you should at least consider Notion Press and the work they are doing. They also have a really cool and informative blog that talks about writing and publishing in general - check out Notion Press Academy. Pretty useful stuff in there if you are willing to dig around a bit.
At this point, I am going to stop rambling about Notion Press and want to check with you. Do you have any experience with self-publishing or Notion Press? I did some comparison on the web (Google Zindabad!), and found Notion Press to have as good or better offerings than other players in the market.
