Self-publishing – nuts and bolts
My fellow composers and I have written a number of times about self-publishing vs. traditional publishing, covering everything from copyright to licensing to notation. However, I don’t recall that we have actually demonstrated, in simple steps, the physical process of making of the paper product, so I shot a video here in my home studio/office to take any remaining mystery out of the process.
There are two areas this doesn’t address:
- Hiring out large print runs of works, which I do for pieces that may (hopefully) sell hundreds of copies, such as Dusk (both the band and the orchestra version))
- Distribution of music via PDF / download. I’ve distributed more sets of Ecstatic Waters via PDF than via paper at this point, so perhaps that would be a good topic for a future post.
For now, I just want to show you the basics of making your own scores and parts at home:
Watch in glorious HD at my YouTube channel
As a handy reference, here are some links to other discussions of publishing, copyright, notation, MIDI etc., useful for composers, emerging and emerged:
John Mackey:
Eric Whitacre’s Advice for the Emerging Composer
Jonathan Newman
- Steal This Blog (excellently-written copyright post)
- Discussion and arguments as a result of the above at Sequenza21
Related discussions over at the BCM International Forum:
- Self-publishing – printing, paper sizes, etc.
- Self-publishing
- Intellectual Copyright: a composer’s Bill of Rights
…and my own post illustrating the differences between MIDI mock-ups and the Real Thing: