Thoughts and Help on Self-Publishing

There was a time when self-publishing a book was frowned upon. The term 'Vanity Publisher' was tossed about throughout the publishing world. Editors snickered, writers wanted to check it out and the people who ran these supposedly self-published operations were in it for the money and not much else. Not all, of course, but a good many. These people played on the ego of inexperienced writers, often telling them how good their book was. For X number of dollars, they would create the book in good style. Then, it was up to the writer to market his/her book.

Much has changed today. With the advent of online publishing, it's more of a do-it-yourself program now. There is help, places that guide you through the process step by step. There are also many articles in writing newsletters and writing websites. One I received this morning looks like it has a boatload of information. Women on Writing published excellent information and offers classes, contests and an opportunity to write for the Friday Speakout. Don't worry, gentlemen, you can read this information, too. You'll find it here.

An article I ran across at a Forbes site is titled How To Self-Publish Your Book Through Amazon by Deborah L. Jacobs, who is on the Finance Staff at Forbes Magazine. Read what she has to say here.
I thought it was a most informative article.

Some people get tired of always hearing about Amazon self-publishing. Yes, they are one of the top in the field. That name-recognition works so well, but they are far from being the only place that helps you publish your book. There are numerous others. This article names what the author considers the top nine self-publishers.

Researching various self-publishers will take time, probably a lot of time. You don't have to check each one. Take the five that appeal to you and read everything you can about them. Look for reviews from satisfied authors who have used the company. Check to see what percentage each place takes. Do they only publish online or do they also offer to print hard copies? Do they offer any editing/proofreading services?

Why is self-publishing online so big? You are in control. It's easy and takes less time than traditional publishing. You get to keep more of the income. You don't have to order huge numbers of books, only those that are sold.

Is self-publishing for the first time scary? You bet it is. I've looked into it more than once but haven't taken the plunge yet. I'm going to take my own advice here and do some research and give it a try. I thought I'd begin with a book of 5 stories for girls in the 8-12 age group. If I have any success, then I'll try with my middle-grade historical fiction novel.

How about you? Have you thought about self-publishing but haven't taken that final step? Or perhaps only thought about it and haven't researched it? Take some time and read the articles I've linked for you today.

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