Simple Information Concerning Self Publishing
April 6, 2011If you’ve written a book, then congratulations. Plenty of people want to write a novel, even start to write a novel, and go so far as to tell all their friends they are writing a novel, but few ever complete it. The next step of course, is to get it published. This usually means finding an agent, who will shop it around to various publishers. However, if you’ve been trying for a while, and still no luck, then you might be considering going with a self publisher. If that’s the case, then this article is for you. You’ll learn the basics of self publishing, so you know exactly what you are getting into.
There are plenty of differences between a self publisher and a traditional publisher. Generally speaking, with a self publishing company, you’re pretty much responsible for everything. With the bigger, more traditional publishers, they take care of most of the heavy lifting.
One thing to consider is marketing. Without the backing of a big publisher, you’ve got to market your book on your own. There are several ways to do this. You can sell it online via Amazon or other retailers. You can buy several copies yourself and drive to every bookstore in your neighborhood and see if they’ll put it on the shelve.
One widely used way to market books it through book shows and expos. This is for the distributors, who are looking for new material to supply to bookstores. If your book is showcased there, and they see it and like it, it may end up in several hundred bookstores around the country. In order to get your book featured there, you’ve got to pay quite a bit of money. Sometimes self publishing companies will offer this as an extra service.
Something else to consider when self publishing is that your book will be print on demand. When a traditional publisher prints a book, they print several thousand copies at once, and ships them all out to the book shops. Self published books are printed only as they are ordered. This makes them a bit more expensive than normal. So expect the retail price of your self published book to be a few dollars higher than a traditionally published book.
There are plenty of benefits to self publishing. You retain much more control over your manuscript than with a traditional publisher. You also have the ability to design your own cover as well. This gives many a freedom that isn’t experienced with large publishing companies. Plenty of successful authors have started out through self publishing, and then gone on to enjoy very lucrative careers. You may very well follow in their footsteps.
To find the best self publishing companies, head on over to the self publishing companies website today.
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