Self Publishing Books

About Self Publishing Fiction

In the world of self publishing, there are several options available to an author who wants to get a book out in to the market. The main options are self publishing and print on demand publishing. In self publishing, the author retains all royalties and has a lot of control over the publication of the book, whereas in self publishing, the printer retains royalty rights for some contracted period of time and the author has very little control (artistically) over the publication and artistic design of the book.

Whether you are interested in self publishing fiction, poetry, romance novels, or children's books, the self publishing options are about the same, as are the restrictions that an author will find when they try to deal with a traditional publishing house. Traditional publishing is very hard to break in to and the odds of a publishing house actually accepting a manuscript from an unknown author are very slim. There is an entire process that an author goes through (hiring literary agents, courting reviewers, and so on) that lead to the traditional publishing route that are not open and available to many new authors.

With self publishing, the author does not have to convince any one (other than themselves) that their book should be published. That is usually no problem! After the author decides that she or he does want to publish, the main decision that the author has to make is whether to use the self publishing option or the print on demand option. If unique jacket design is important to the author, then self publishing is the better option, since that process offers the author the possibility of having a cover designed in color, with full bleed, art, photos, and so on. In print on demand publishing, the author has a very limited choice of cover designs. These cover designs are owned by the publisher, and can be customized very little. Depending on the intended audience, this option might work very well. In the case of a self published book that is sold as part of a training course, for instance, the jacket design makes very little difference, since there is no real expectation that the book will be sol din bookstores and need "shelf appeal".

A self publishing house will offer services to the author that are found in the traditional publishing business, such as copyrighting assistance, editorial help, marketing and sales functions, promotion, review assistance, and so on. The print on demand option typically will not offer these services, but it is cheaper, with no real start up costs. Whether an author chooses the self publishing route or the print on demand option, there are advantages and disadvantages. The most important thing that an author needs to consider is whether or not the book is intended to be sold in stores or not.

Privacy Policy And Terms Of Use