For various reasons, the most prominent of which is fun, I have been considering starting my own print-on-demand publishing company. Assume I have printers and distributors set up, and authors. What do I need to do? I presume I start a company and call it "XYZ publishing", but are there any other legal requirements apart from filing my taxes? The company would probably be based in the UK. I gather I have to apply for ISBN registry with the national branch office, what else?
Do a search for "how to start a publishing business in UK" and you will find some useful links. Good luck.
Suggestion: There are many Print on Demand or POD services available online, perhaps as you first get started in this business venture you could make use of those as it may be cheaper than printing yourself (depending on cost of ink, ect.) Starting a company is a big venture, so if you decide to go for it I wish you luck.
A question or two that I would ask: How would authors, who submit their best work to you, spent time, their effort and sacrificed when they could be doing something else, hoping for their dream and goal, feel if they were accepted and published by a publisher was doing it for fun? Can you do it right, and repay the trust an author puts in you when they sign the contract, allowing you to publish their work? Are you skilled as a professional editor, or are you willing to hire one? Are you willing to invest in cover art, the software programs necessary to do the title work, novel formatting, create a viable website and presence, invest the time sweat and sacrifice to learn the business? Do you know of contracts, marketing and distribution? That probably only scratches the surface since I am pulling things to ask off the top of my head. Publishing is a business and, like most other ventures, it takes some knowedge and skill to succeed at it. Can you bring more to the table than the average author who might self-publish? Otherwise, why would you as a publisher expect to get a slice of the profits from sales of the book? I am not saying you can't do it and be successful. The best route might be to work for a publisher, or at least a magazine--reading slush, doing some editing and copy editing, dealing with contracts, doing layouts, etc.--whatever your increasing knoweldge and skill levels enable you to do. Another route might be to start by publishing an anthology--print and ebook versions. Pay a reasonable rate to obtain quailty stories from authors. You'd learn about advertising and the process of working with contracts and authors--slush, editing and more. Then, while it is in process and after it's published, you'll be able to get your feet wet in marketing and distribution. Learn a few lessons that might pay off in the long run should you decide to expand into a "full-blown publisher." If it works out, you'll recover the investment from paying the authors--unless you want to commit to paying them a royalty percentage as long as the work is in print--, advertising, cover art, set-up, ISBN, etc. Just my two cents. Good luck moving forward, whatever you decide. Terry
