In this illuminating episode of the Unscripted Small Business Podcast, host Jeremy Rivera engages with publishing facilitator and book designer Melinda Martin. Their conversation explores the multifaceted world of publishing, from self-publishing to starting a publishing business.
Throughout the interview, Melinda shares candid experiences from her 15+ years in the industry, providing both inspiration and actionable strategies for authors navigating the complex publishing landscape. With refreshing authenticity, Melinda emphasizes quality, intentionality, and the human element in book creation, offering a counterpoint to an increasingly AI-driven content world.
Key Takeaways
- The publishing industry spans from simple self-publishing to establishing professional publishing businesses, with varying levels of investment and quality.
- Professional printing offers substantial advantages over print-on-demand, including specialized features (spot UV, debossing, linen covers, foil elements) that aren’t available through platforms like Amazon.
- Authors can create multiple revenue streams beyond traditional bookstore sales, including school visits, direct sales, and digital products.
- Self-publishing has evolved to rival traditional publishing quality as authors gain access to professional printers and industry knowledge.
- Traditional publishing requires finding an agent who then pitches to publishing houses, often resulting in a two-year (or longer) process with no guarantee of publication.
- There’s growing tension between AI-generated content and human creativity, with many creatives opposing AI use in book creation.
Killer Quotes
“So many people in the publishing business, the publishing industry, they started a publishing business because they see it as a cash cow. They play on people’s emotions and it is such a predatory industry. And I did not start this business. I really didn’t even set out to start a business. The business just kind of found me.” — Melinda Martin
“I am a good fit for someone, then we work hard at being a great team and publishing a quality book for their audience.” — Melinda Martin
“Self-publishing has evolved so that it can now rival what you see in the traditional publishing realm. And that’s because we now have access to these printers. We now have the internet where we can tap into the knowledge base of how traditional publishing works. And we can replicate that in our own business.” — Melinda Martin
“Publishing for profit is a long game if you’re opting for professional printing.” — Melinda Martin
“We need more than just the creative speaking out against the use of AI because the authors and the publishers are the ones that are making these long-term decisions to embrace AI or to embrace humanity.” — Melinda Martin
“Picture books were a world for me to dive into… The majority of the authors I’m working with now, they are just wanting to make that same impact that picture books had on them.” — Melinda Martin
Establishing Trust in the Publishing Industry
Jeremy: Hello, I’m Jeremy Rivera, your Unscripted Podcast host. I’m here with Melinda Martin. Why don’t you give us an introduction and focus on why we should trust you?
Melinda: I really like that question because what one thing that I do with my clients is we talk about the trust fall because that has to happen at any point where you hire someone to do any project to avoid treating them like a screwdriver.
What I do is I’m a publishing facilitator and a book designer. So I help people who publish children’s books, business books, fiction books, basically any book that I feel that I’m a good partner for. I take them under my wing. I answer all the questions and I evaluate where they want to end up in combination with their budget and then I help form a path to get them there if possible.
They should trust me because I’ve been doing this for over 15 years. But aside from that, because I think just because you’ve been doing something for a long time doesn’t mean you’re any good at it. So many people in the publishing business started a publishing business because they see it as a cash cow. They play on people’s emotions and it is such a predatory industry. I did not set out to start a business – the business just kind of found me.
The Personal Cost of Writing About Tragedy
Jeremy: Does it matter if they have a tragic backstory or is it more about just being authentic and communicating what they went through in their niche that leads to successful books?
Melinda: Well, everybody loves a good tragedy, right? I mean, we’re drawn to the accident on the side of the road. But not everybody wants to rehash their tragedy. It takes a special kind of person to really want to continue to talk about that tragedy all the time.
My husband, for example, was a death row chaplain for the Texas prison system. He’s been considering writing a book because there is a lot to seeing people die every Tuesday. But as he started writing, he realized he just didn’t want to keep writing this book. It’s a lot to go through to relive emotionally what he witnessed over 43 executions.
I definitely do not advise that writing a book that centers around tragedy is for everyone because it can have long-reaching ramifications that you may not be willing to deal with as the author.
Jeremy Rivera: it’s definitely an over under because I consulted with Hollins, Rabin and Weissman and they were another law office that I had worked with and he was actually the attorney for the defense for the last person that was electrocuted in the state of Tennessee. And it was such a fascinating find because he had this PDF buried in the back end of his sign and I read him like this is incredibly powerful stuff.
Just having that first person perspective of being in that situation, and the words of the condemned coming forward, it’s such powerful storytelling. But I could also tell when I brought it up, it was a sensitive subject. Yeah, I guess let’s put that out there.
That was pretty hard. But it was one of his most successful blog posts.
The Current Publishing Landscape
Jeremy: What is the current status or process of actually getting published as, as an author? Cause technically speaking, I’m an author, but it’s only because I published something called, “I self-published this SEO book and all I got was this lousy knowledge panel on Google. A cynical ploy to exploit rankings and show the absurdity of SEO”. That’s the whole title. So there’s definitely a big difference between going to Amazon, you’ve got a Google Doc, and it only needs to be, I think, 24 pages, and you can publish a book on Amazon. I have another SEO friend Michael Mcdougald, and I think a lot of his marketing adventures would make an entertaining read should I just suggest he publish on Amazon self-published too?
So what’s the difference between that and like published published getting a book book out there? What what’s the shape of the market right now? How does that work?
Melinda: That’s a very interesting question. The world of publishing is multifaceted depending on which direction you want to go. There are different ways to self-publish. There is that beginner journey – Amazon makes it easy to put out a book.
There are a lot of people that have self-published using print on demand platforms and are extremely successful. And there are people that have done it without hiring professionals – maybe they just used Canva or Atticus for the interior. They watched some videos, got the book up there, because the important part was the content. They weren’t really wanting to be a publisher.
I definitely see the bifurcation in the self-publishing industry between people who just want to share their content versus those starting a publishing business. The majority of my picture book clients are starting a publishing business. They have multiple titles and are investing $10,000-$20,000 per title.
Professional Publishing vs. Print-on-Demand
Melinda: When a client is spending $20,000 on publishing a picture book, one of the bulk line items is professional printing. That’s such a world of difference from what’s available on print on demand. Amazon’s goal is to make the cheapest product for the most revenue.
When you see a print on demand product next to a professionally printed product, you can tell the difference. I can spot the difference from at least six feet away at Barnes & Noble.
“The Odd Dog“ has spot UV, it has debossing on the cover, it has a linen cover with foil, it has self-ended pages. You cannot get this with print on demand. It also has a double gate fold – you’re definitely not getting this on print on demand.
The Economics of Book Publishing
Jeremy: What do the margins in that industry generally look like if you’re investing $6,000, $12,000, $15,000? How does that math generally work out?
Melinda: That’s why it’s best if you have more than one product in any business. Publishing for profit is a long game if you’re doing the professional printing way of things.
Your cost per unit for physical book production can be around three dollars if you’re printing 5,000 units. If you’re retailing this book for twenty dollars, you have a seventeen dollar middle ground if you’re selling it yourself.
A lot of people don’t want to sell through a bookstore because they don’t want the hassle. They prefer to work their business themselves, selling books at events, to schools, to colleges. For example, with picture books, there’s a whole model for selling to schools where authors speak at the school and include X number of copies of their book.
The Impact of Digital Media on Physical Books
Jeremy: How has that evolved with the existence of search engines, access to high quality internet providers, the rise of social media, book talk? How does that online marketplace impact the physical product creation process?
Melinda: There are a lot of people that make books that never even make the physical product. They’re just focusing on Kindle books, audio books, or selling PDFs through their website.
You can sell a PDF that the person can print if they want to, kind of like a digital download on Etsy. It’s very interesting to see how people can take this industry and make it work for them, and that there is still a way to keep your investment down if you’re not hell-bent on producing a physical book.
AI and the Future of Book Creation
Jeremy: What has been the impact on the book creation process with the ubiquity of these new LLM tools that can create content? I’m working with brands like Save Fry Oil, who are very concerned and want to put genuine, human crafted, useful content out there.. What have you seen has been the reaction within the book world?
Melinda: I am not a fan myself, and so I attract people who do not want to use AI. They value the human experience. When I come across AI-generated content in groups, the creatives are usually 90 percent against it for a lot of different reasons.
Most people are afraid of losing their job to AI. In publishing, you have publishers who value the creatives they work with, and then you have publishers who just want the content. They don’t care about their team members as humans.
I work with traditional artists – oil painters, watercolorists, acrylic artists, as well as digital artists – and I have a no AI policy. I don’t want to work with someone who wants to feed that machine. I don’t see a lot of authors standing up for the creatives, and that is what bothers me. We need more than just the creatives speaking out against the use of AI.
The Value of Human Connection in Publishing
Melinda: I always try to be my most authentic self so that those who are looking for me can find me. Pretty much all of my business is referrals. I do have a website and do marketing, but the majority of my business has always been referrals because it’s a personal experience.
You hire me, you get me. You get the Melinda experience. I’m not subbing work out to people you don’t know whose faces you can’t see.
A lot of my clients are doing this, my picture book clients specifically, because they want to make a difference. They were impacted by picture books as a child. Picture books really formed my worldview, and the majority of the authors I’m working with now want to make that same impact that picture books had on them.
