Category — Product Creation

For book authors, the term ‘self-publishing’ almost always prompts a sense of important decision-making. This is because one of the most important decisions a book author must make, is whether to try and get their book published via a traditional publishing route, or self publish. Technically, self-publishing is the practice where authors publish their own books and other content without the help, assistance, and mediation of third-party publishers.

Currently, self-publishing accounts for only a minimal percentage of the entire publishing industry (with respect to sales). However, it is fast becoming more popular as an option for numerous book and content authors. Because the publishing industry is obviously changing its landscape, it is expected that more and more authors will choose to self publish in the future.

Self-publishing is not an entirely new practice. In fact, it has been around, though in different forms, ever since the start of the publishing history. These days, self-publishing is logically increasing thanks to the ongoing advancement of modern-age publishing technologies. With the emergence of desktop publishing systems, xerography, the Internet, and print on demand, self-publishing has become a clear phenomenon in the changing publishing industry.

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Before the boom of the internet world, traditional publishers were the kings of the publishing world but now, there are many online publishing companies like Cafepress, Lulu, Createspace and others that will help you to publish your book online. The main characteristic of the boom of the Self Publishing industry is that the traditional publisher is notably absent in the circulation. Some traditional publishers will tell you that they don’t have enough budget to print your book, or just simply reject your manuscript. Compare this to self publishing, where you are the editor of your own book.

Several new online publishers have sprung up in recent years where they will not only help to produce your book, they will also print them, ship them, distribute it, and ultimately profit from your writing. Self-publishers are distinct from this model, as the author himself or herself pays for the printing. Successful self-publishers control the benefits of the services of print-on-demand. Self-publishing outlets such as Cafepress, Lulu, Createspace and others then will print-on-demand the quantity of books that customers need and they will also ship it, as well as collect payments from the customers who place orders on their sites.

As a self-publishing author, you have little to worry about but waiting to collect your profits from the publishing outlets. You are also the one who ultimately decides how much you will charge per book in the marketplace. Additionally, self-publishing services like Cafepress, Lulu, Createspace and others can accept and upload your digital contents like Microsoft Word documents, PDFs, text files or even Rich Text Format files. The format, size and design of your publication is specified by the book author.

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If you have decided to go down the self-publishing route, then you have to prepared to handle everything. A self-published author has to deal with all the different aspects of book production, from writing and editing up to marketing and distributing the book. It is an intensely demanding job and you need to be prepared to handle this.

Additionally, you will need to prepare yourself against prejudice. Self-published authors are often mistaken as being “rejects.” There are many people who view self-published books as being second-rate. It is up to you, therefore, to prove the cynics wrong!

Here are some tips on what you can do to help change their minds:

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The combination of current economic and business climate factors with modern emerging information technologies has helped to influence many aspiring book authors to look more carefully at the option of self publishing their book. Even more experienced writers are now beginning to publish their own content because they are not feeling satisfied with pursuing a traditional publishing arrangement.

Before you decide to self-publish, however, just be aware that, although the potential to earn a significant income from book sales is very real and many are doing it, the road is fraught with challenges, difficulties, frustration, disappointments and extremely tough competition. If you want to earn $30,000 a month or more from self-publishing, here are some useful tips to take into consideration:

First, make sure that the book you are planning to write is helpful to your readers. It is easier to make money creating a useful, practical "how to guide" that address the immediate needs of your audience, than to self-publish a literary novel that focuses on your talent as an original writer. You have to think not only of a particular topic that will be useful to your readers, but you should also do sufficient market research to determine whether the topic is commercially viable and whether you can offer something better than all the other writers who have published books on the same topic you are planning to write about. Don’t write a book that you are not sure will be helpful to readers. I am not saying that fiction books are not helpful to others, but if you plan to build a profitable business selling books, then it helps if you start off  by focusing on what the market wants to buy, not on what you want them to read.

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Self-publishing a book is something that requires balance in all aspects. It requires good promotion and marketing for a book to be known in the market and therefore, increase its sales. But how could you have a well-rounded marketing plan if you have limited resources? Most self-published authors have to work with a limited budget.

There are simple steps that you can do to start promoting your book in a cost-efficient way. Here are some things that you can easily do.

• Maximize the internet. You can start talking about your book in blogs. You can also start joining discussion groups about books. There are readers and book enthusiasts that are eager to discover good self-published book. There are different websites that posts book reviews online. You can ask them if they would like to do a review of your book. This would give your book an opportunity to be rated and promoted at the same time. Bu you have to remember to be conscious when posting about your book, you do not want to sound fresh out of the Yellow Pages. You can answer their inquiries and at the same time provide some information about your book. You can even create your own website.

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Book writers and authors know that self-publishing requires a great deal of effort, as well as the responsibility for assuming most of the costs. The payoff, of course, is in the satisfaction of seeing your book hit the bookstores, and, hopefully, even creating a positive return on your investment.

Through the years, many people have avoided investing in self-published books. Many assume the content of self-published works to be amateurish or lacking in literary quality. Thus, it is very rare for self-published books to become best sellers. However, it is not impossible. In fact, numerous books that are now regarded as classics were originally self-published by their authors.

Here is just a list of some of these books. Hopefully this will provide new authors with inspiration and sufficient proof that choosing to self-publish your work does not meant that it will lack in commercial appeal, or be of lesser quality:

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Are you a frustrated book author? Anyone can take the chance and opportunity to successfully author a book. In some cases, non-writers are also able to produce and sell some of the best sellers. Do you want to give it a shot? It may not be an easy task but you can always try self-publishing.

Self-publishing is when a writer or author decides to publish their own book. They are opting to not use third-party publishers and traditional publishing avenues to get their book published. To many beginners, this could be exhausting and highly risky because all costs will have to be assumed by the author. There is also no guarantee that readers will buy or read your book. A self-published book author could end up not being able to recoup their investment, or even lose all their capital.

Some writers get into self-publishing to satisfy their dreams of becoming a real book author. To many of these authors, losing money is secondary to the satisfaction of seeing their books make it to the bookstores. However, with proper guidance and an effective marketing strategy, self-published books could also sell like hotcakes and become the next best-seller.

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We have all heard how great self-publishing is, how it can give you control of your book and at the same time increase your profits. But can something really be this good? Are there any downsides or disadvantages of going into self-publishing? The answer is yes, everything has its pros and cons.

Everything is in Your Hands

If you have decided to go for self-publishing, then you should be ready to multitask. Compared with traditional publishing, they have editors, printers, layout artists, cover artists who are available and ready to work for them anytime. But in self-publishing you have to handle all of this. If you cannot do it all, you have the option to get or hire somebody who can. It will cost you more, of course. But even if you outsource, you will still need to oversee it and make sure that it meets your standards.

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With the emergence of modern copiers and sophisticated printing technology, many authors are now opting to get into self-publishing rather than to stick to conventional third-party printing. The reason is obvious. Authors like the prospect of having to stick to their own creativity and style, without the need to please and fill the standards of publishers and editors. In terms of revenues, self-publishing is also promising greener pastures compared to the conventional kind of publishing.

Not known to many, self-publishing has been around even during the start of the industry’s long and winding history. The practice has taken several forms through the years. These days, there are three major kinds of self-publishing that are adapted by authors, namely, vanity publishing, subsidy publishing, and true self-publishing.

In reality, vanity publishing is pejorative. The practice is that a publisher contracts with an author without giving much regard to the quality as well as marketability of content. The term is called such because in this arrangement, publishers are basically appealing to an author’s vanity, which mainly is the desire to become a fully-fledged published author. This kind of self-publishing is usually most attractive among new writers.

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Smart marketing and an entrepreneurial spirit have propelled many self-published books to become best-sellers. Modern examples are ‘Life 101’ by Peter McWilliams and John Roger, ‘What Color is Your Parachute?’ by Richard Bolles, and ’50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth’ by Julie Bennett and John Javna.

Self-publishing, according to many in the modern literature sector, has been afflicted by a so-called stigma of amateurism. However, this attitude is regarded nowadays as a thing of the not-so-distant past. The reason being, that many self-published books have proven time and again that they can be deserving of praise and respect from even he harshest book critics.

Within some of the more entrenched and conservative publishing hubs and conventional literary centers, this kind of stigma may still surround self-publishing, but to many of those who are willing to embrace change and progress, it is becoming more of a timely wake-up call for numerous trade houses, writers, and book agents alike.

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