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How to self-publish
Everything you need to know.
What is self publishing?
Up until recently, most books were published by publishing companies. So, if you were a budding writer, you had to find a way to get signed by a publishing company. With the advent of the Internet, this has changed. It is now very possible to write, publish and promote your own book.
Pros of self publishing
- Anyone can do it. All you need is enthusiasm and a computer.
- You can make changes as you go along. If you discover that you need to add something to your book once it has been published, it is very easy to just change it and ensure that any new orders are filled using the changed version of the book. Making changes to a regular book is much more complicated.
- You don’t need an agent to vie for you at a publishing house. Finding an agent can be very tough!
- Many companies print on demand, so you won’t be paying for books you don’t need. This is different to the regular print industry where books are printed prior to sale.
- Choice. You won’t have a publishing company restricting what you write, how much you write or how you market your book.
- Money, money, money. If you publish a book yourself, you earn higher royalties from each sale than you would if you were working with a traditional publishing company.
Cons of self publishing
- You are responsible for the entire process – not just writing, but marketing, PR and distribution. Some people will find this stressful.
- Money, money, money (again). You are responsible for all the costs of writing, printing and promoting your book. If you want your book to look as professional as possible, you’ll need to invest money in it. It could end up costing you a lot!
- Your book won’t be carried in a normal book shop. This is disappointing to some people.
- You might long for the prestige/cachet that comes with having a book published by a publishing company.
- Self published books don’t always sell as well as normal books. A regular book in a bookshop usually sells thousands of copies, whereas a self published book might only sell a few hundred.
How does it work?
- Once you have completed your bestseller, you can contact any of the myriad of self publishing companies.
- The publishing company will give you a quote for your book, depending on its length and how many copies you want published.
- You then send a file of the book to the company. Some companies like you to send your work in PDF file and some in word. You can use a free product like Nitroreader to convert Word to PDF or vice versa.
- Publishing companies also provide help with cover designs.
- Publishing companies recommend that you have your book proofread before it is published. Ideally, you’d get a professional editor to edit your work. You can contact the Association of Freelance Editors Proofreaders and Indexers for more information on editing.
- You still retain all rights to your work when it is self published.
- The great news is that the big guns like Amazon sell a lot of self published works, so if you want to sell your work on there, you can.
Important information
- If you self publish, you won’t have anyone to edit your book. Editing is extremely important because it’s so easy to miss mistakes if you don’t have anyone checking your work. For example, spell checker won’t tell you if you have written ‘form’ when it should be ‘from’.
- If you self publish, you won’t have help from a marketing department. So, make sure to put time into marketing your work. Definitely sign up to ALL the social networks and promote your book everywhere you can.
- Self published material is taking over the traditional route, so you are right on trend if you are self publishing!
- Self publishing has advanced so much that the quality is pretty much the same as books published by regular publishing companies. This has fuelled its growth, as customers are happy to purchase quality products.
- Self published books are sold at places like amazon.com, which already carries a large share of the book market.
- Nonfiction books seem to sell better than fiction ones. So, if you have a grand theory you’d like to share with the universe, this may do more for you than a fiction book would.
- Bear in mind that self publishing companies don’t have the same drive to make your book turn out a success, simply because there is less in it for them than a traditional publishing company.
Further Information
Association of Freelance Editors Proofreaders and Indexers
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