JG's Self-Publishing School 101: Business Entity, Creating a business entity for your book is truly one of the joys of publishing!

The joy of self-publishing begins when you realize that you are not only an author but also a business owner. This frightens some people right out of the book publishing arena, but for others the sense of control more than compensates for the extra attention they have to pay to business matters.

Name it!

Give your new company a name that sounds like success.

Include a word such as "books," "publishing," "publisher," or "press"to define your company as a publishing firm. Some examples:

Your name plus "Press" or "Publishing" or "Books" (Rothwell Publishing)

A name that reflects your publishing mission (Healthy Heart Books)

A name reflecting your geographic scope without limiting your company to a specific city or region, unless that reflects the subject matter of your books (Three Rivers Publishers)

A name with a mood your books portray (Dark Matters Press)

To reduce the risk of legal snarls you can encounter if you choose a name someone else is already using, do a preliminary search on the Web, pay a visit to the United States Patent and Trademark Office--or find a legal firm that specializes in trademark searches and applications. It will cost you about $350 for a complete trademark search. A trademark application costs $150 plus $245 for each category you use for filing your trademark. One source we found on the Web is Thompson & Thompson.

Some self-publishing authors ignore the trademark issue on the assumption that their book has such limited circulation it is highly unlikely to trouble anyone and that the most severe penalty an author would have to pay would probably be to obey a "cease-and-desist" order issued by the court. We don't give legal advice; we just pass on to you what we've heard.

More...Tips for establishing your business entity

Let us hear from you. Everything we've learned about self-publishing we've learned from you, the energetic authors who make our work so interesting and rewarding. Call us at 800 359-9503 or 208 454-9553. Send email (hodi@mindspring.com). Let's talk.

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Copyright © 2008 by Joyce Griffith. All rights reserved.