In part one of this article, we discussed two issues involved in the decision to self publish. Now we’ll delve into three more issues that writers have to think about when deciding whether to go the traditional publishing route or to self publish.

* Issue Three: Content

Book publishers have a lot of control over the editorial content in books. With self publishing, however, the writer has the final say over the printed content. While editing your own book or hiring an editor can take time and money, it can also give a writer the control over what stays and what goes in a book.

* Issue Four: Profit

Book publishing is a business like any other business…making money is the primary goal. With traditional book publishing, book publishers retain most of the profit with the writer getting either a set fee for writing the book or some residuals, usually just pennies on the dollar. However, with self publishing, all profits go straight into the writer’s pocket. There’s no middleman to deal with in self publishing. This means a potentially greater profit for self publishing writers.

* Issue Five: Marketing

In order to sell a book, the public has to know it exists. While traditional book publishers can do blitz marketing campaigns that result in big sales, they usually reserve these campaigns for established writers. Self publishing writers, on the other hand, have the option to conduct their own marketing which can mean greater exposure for a book.

Self publishing is not the answer for every writer but it’s a viable option for many. There are many issues a writer need to consider before deciding whether to query agents and editors in publishing houses or whether to go straight to self publishing. Either option has its own pros and cons. The job of the writer is to decide which option works best for his or her book.

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You’re a writer. You have a book written. Now all you need is a book publisher to put your hard work in print and you will have achieved your goal of being a published author.

Sounds simple but the fact is, it’s not. Getting the attention of an agent and/or book publisher can be very time consuming, even for the best of writers. The process can be tedious and cause more than a few writers to give serious consideration as to whether or not writing is the career for them.

For years, there’s been no other alternative to the grueling process of submitting work and waiting for publishing responses. That is…until the 1960s when self publishing made its entrance into the world. The early self publishers were looking for ways to publish what they wanted to write, when they wanted to write and in what format they wanted. With the availability and low cost of self publishing at the present time, now more writers than ever have access to publishing resources instead of waiting on others to “discover” their work.

Now the biggest decision you, as a writer, have to make is whether to search for book publishers who might be interested in your book or whether self publishing is the answer. Making that decision might not be as simple as you think. Let’s take a look at some of the issues you need to address before deciding if self publishing is for you.

* Issue One: Time

If you opt to go the self publishing route, you’ll need to have a lot of time. Not time to wait for publishing; that will be completed in a fairly quick fashion. What you will need to have time for is promoting your book. If your book is published by one of the many publishing houses that market in-mass, the promotion of our book is taken care of. If you go the self publishing route, you’ll be doing your own marketing.

* Issue Two: Design

Most people who know anything about how to publish a book understand that once a writer turns over his or her manuscript to book publishers, they then have no control on what goes on with their book after that point. With self publishing, a writer has total control over every facet of the book publishing process. The design of the book can be exactly what you envision for your book whereas going the more traditional book publishing direction means giving that control up.

We’ve looked at a couple of issues involved in the debate over traditional publishing versus self publishing. In part two of this article, we’ll look at even more issues such as content and book profits so that you can decide which avenue is best for you!

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Congratulations! You’ve written the Great American Novel, or a cookbook that’s sure to revolutionize the way we think about food, or penned a family history, or a How To book for beginning knitters. You’ve proofread and revised, maybe shown your manuscript to some writer friends or paid for the services of a professional editor. It’s ready to go. Now what?

You may have heard about self-publishing. This is a very viable option for many writers who do not want to go the route of traditional book publishing, where it can take years (if ever) for your manuscript to be transformed into a real live book. If you are curious about self publishing, consider the exciting stories of the following authors who, with hard work and self-promotion, met with staggering success through self publishing.

In 1993, Richard Paul Evans, encouraged by the demands of his friends, decided to self-publish his holiday story The Christmas Box. After producing 8,000 copies, his sales skyrocketed. When a handful of book publishers caught wind of the story, Evans found himself in the middle of a two-day bidding war for rights to publish the book. At the end of the auction, Evans signed with Simon & Schuster for a staggering $4.2 million advance for the story and its prequel. To date, The Christmas Box has sold over 7 million copies and has been reprinted in 17 different languages!

If you have a non-fiction manuscript, consider the story of Clifton Hillegass, an author who in 1958 self-published a guide to Hamlet. During the first year of publication, Hillegass sold 58,000 copies of this first Cliff Notes to readers seeking a deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s famous work. Familiar to students everywhere, the yellow and black jackets of Cliff Notes guides now number in the hundreds. Hillegass eventually sold his publishing company for millions of dollars – quite a return on the original $4,000 investment!

If you have been submitting your manuscripts to book publishers, think about these two inspiring stories. Making it in the self publishing market has everything to do with your drive and determination to sell your book – but it is attainable, and great success could follow.

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The thought of one day seeing your name on the spine of a book may seem like a pie-in-the-sky dream. For millions of writers, that’s all their writing ever amounts to….a dream waiting to happen. But for those who understand and accept the difficulties associated with going down traditional book publishing routes, the dream of seeing their name is print can be turned into a reality.

The truth about writing as a career is that it’s an industry glutted with aspiring writers, with few ever making it beyond the query stage. Even if you’re a great writer, you still may not get noticed in the sea of other writers because agents are inundated with novel queries. While it’s not impossible to think your writing will one day catch the attention of agents or book publishers, there’s another option that can take the question of whether or not you’ll have your book published and answer it in the affirmative; the questions goes from “will I get published?” to “when will my book be available to purchase?”.

Self publishing is one option in the game of book publishing. While some writers feel that choosing self publishing is only for those who do not know how to publish a book through traditional routes, more and more writers are realizing that self publishing is simply a way to taking more control in a process fraught with time delays and rejection.

Following are some reasons why self publishing might just be the right direction to take with your writing career.

· Learn how to publish a book

Traditionally, writers have to sit back and let decision about their books be made by book publishers and agents. With self publishing, a writer learns, firsthand, the ins and outs of publishing a book. Everything from editing, print and marketing is done by the writer.

· Make money as a writer

Most writers dream of the day when they’ll actually receive a check for their writing. With self publishing, a writer can make that dream a reality. With some strategic marketing and self promotion, a writer can take a book that’s self published and make it a hit. Not only will a writer make a bigger cut off of a sell of a self published book but he will also position the book to be seen by traditional publishing houses and possibly picked up by a large house.

· Publish your book on your timetable

When a book is published by large book publishers, a writer might not see a final copy for up to eighteen months. With self publishing, a writer can set her own timetable. There’s no need to wait months to see the fruits of your labor; self publish and see an almost immediate product.

Self publishing isn’t for every writer but it’s the answer for many. It gives writers a chance to turn their dream into reality and finally see their name of the cover of a book!

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In our last post, we talked about moving beyond book publishing and taking on the role of marketer for your book. One way to get the word out about your work is to start up an author’s website. This is a great way to find readers and publicize your work.

It’s also a valuable tool for offering your services as a speaker. Lots of organizations are in search of speakers and authors with published books are among the most popular. Think about it, if you have written a book about a particular Civil War battle, you could speak to a group of Civil War enthusiasts. You could also speak to a group of writers about how to publish a book, and about the ins and outs of self publishing.

Of course, the best part of a speaking engagement is that you most likely will have the chance to sell and sign your book at some point. In fact, you should insist on being able to sell you book at the function. Selling that book is what it’s all about – and a speaking gig is a sure way to plug your book (and make a little money on the side).

Another consideration is to research free content article directories online that will allow you to post excerpts from your book. These directories require that you allow free reprints of the material you provide – but you are able to submit a bio and describe your book as well as link to your website or an online source where people can purchase your book.

Self publishing is an exciting way to get your work out to the public, but to be successful, it takes patience and perseverance. Formulating a marketing plan is the first step to selling your book and making yourself a presence in the world of book publishing.

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Writing and then self publishing your manuscript is just the first step in building a rewarding career as an author. You might have thought that the hardest part was writing your masterpiece, but it takes a great deal of effort and planning to position your book and market it successfully.

Once you’ve learned the ropes of book publishing with the company that you used to self-publish, you are most likely sitting around with many copies of your book. Of course, you want to sell those treasures – so how do you start?

One of the most effective ways to get your name and work out there in cyberspace is to set up an author’s website. The website can be very simple or as complex as you want, with all the bells and whistles. The important thing is to offer your readers a wealth of information about your book, about yourself, about writing in general, that will keep them checking back (and ordering your book!)

Taking the time to study concepts of search engine optimization is helpful. Optimizing your website involves (among other things) developing keywords and keyword phrases that will score your website high ranking on search engines like Google. The higher your ranking, the more hits you will get on your site. There are many simple guides to building websites, and, if you can’t do it on your own, search engine optimization firms can be hired to do what they can to make your website a hit.

As far as the content of your website, many authors, in addition to telling about themselves and promoting their books, also offer information that will keep visitors coming back. Some of the best author websites offer book reviews and links to other helpful sites about writing. These kinds of websites will often link to your website in return if you ask. In our next post, we’ll discuss more options for self publishing and marketing your work.

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The Internet has become our answer for nearly everything in the modern world; we need only logon to have access to an extensive selection of products, services, and information – at any time of day or night. As Internet users we have grown more and more savvy and today we expect a certain level of service from the sites that we visit – they must be fast-loading, attractive, comprehensive, and highly functional. If they are not, then we are likely to cut our visit short and the possibility of a return visit is unlikely.

Self publishing websites are those sites where writers of all different skill levels – and seeking all different goals – are able to upload their manuscript and effectively publish their book on their own. The backbone of the self publishing website is its ability to be able to offer users a series of customization options through a step by step process.

Writers that use self publishing websites must choose everything from the type of paper stock they wish to use to the binding they want and even the artwork they wish to incorporate into the book. In order to be able to achieve their goals most effectively, self publishing site users must know that they are working on a functional and user friendly site that will walk them through the process every step of the way. In fact, a large part of a self publishing site’s reputation is built on their customer service and their ability to offer their customers a highly functional site.

When you consider that writers are turning over work that is most precious to them – work that they want to see encapsulated in a professional book – it becomes clear just how important it is for writers to work with highly reputable self publishing sites; book publishers that are invested in seeing their clients succeed.

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There are many ways in which we protect and honor the memories that we make on a daily basis. For some, the way in which they honor those memories is through the use of photo albums, journals, and scrapbooking. In fact, the scrapbooking craze has gotten to be one of the most popular hobbies in modern times; people devote full days to scrapbooking in classes and workshops where ideas are presented with regard to creating very personal and interesting pages that will ultimately make up a scrapbook.

Some people take the process of journaling one step further by creating personal books that they can then publish in style. The way in which we can do this is through the use of self publishing services where amateur – and even professional – writers can encapsulate their memories in a very special way.

Self publishing services have always been in existence in terms of letting writers take what is essentially a finished manuscript and turn it into a professional bound book the likes of which we would see on the shelves of any bookstore. Self publishing has grown considerably in modern times, however, offering their services through comprehensive websites where writers can simply upload their work to a secured site and begin the process of transforming the written word into a professional and finished looking book.

Through self publishing sites, writers can take their own personal story – a specific memory, a family story, travel notes regarding one or many special vacations, or any event that resonates on a personal level – after which they can take the steps necessary to finish the book appropriately and make it what they always envisioned in their mind. Some of the choices offered through self publishing websites include a choice of paper stock, binding, and the variety of illustrations, artwork, or photography that may be included in the finished piece.

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For those who are in a creative line of work, there is nothing worse than starting something and not being able to finish it; of having to turn it over to someone else midway through the process – someone that conceivably has the authority to make changes to what you have considered to be “your baby.”

This is especially true for writers that will pen a particular story only to have to turn it over to the publishers who then make edits to it before it is turned into a finished book. The reality is, however, that most writers will not have to experience this process as they often will not find their way to a place where they are accepted for publishing through the larger book publishing houses.

Instead, many of these same writers turn to self publishing options so that they are able to publish the book they have written and do so in a way that is in line with what they ultimately envisioned from the outset. Through self publishing services, writers are able to make the decision to publish their book rather than waiting for book publishers to make the decision for them. This can be an incredible relief for those who have waited for word on something about which they feel strongly.

Subsequently, instead of taking the passive position, writers can take an aggressive position by simply choosing to go ahead and publish their book in the way that they want to; through self publishing websites writers can choose everything from the paper stock to the binding that will be used in the book, as well as the photography, illustration, and artwork that will be included in the final product. And when the final printed book arrives – at the quantity that was requested – the writer will certainly feel as though they have followed the process through to the end.

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Those who consider themselves to be writers are often left in a quandary when they actually get around to writing something that they think to have merit; something that they feel is worthy of publishing in book format and that has a shot of achieving a certain level of success in stores. What these writers quickly come to find – these same writers that have toiled endlessly to integrate their talent for writing with the marketability that will get a book noticed – is that the traditional book publishing industry is largely disinterested in what they have to offer; especially previously unpublished writers, and certainly writers that are not represented by literary agents that normally broker such deals.

While new, unheard of writers do sometimes get lucky – having gone from book publishing house to book publishing house before being accepted and subject to extensive editing – most find themselves on the receiving end of many rejection letters. And while the rejections are all a part of being a writer, they can grow quite tiresome indeed; especially for those that feel they have written something truly special.

In such cases, self publishing may offer the most appropriate option going forward. Through self publishing services, writers are able to upload their manuscript to a secure website where they can prepare it for publishing according to their own specifications. Through self publishing sites writers will make customization choices regarding their books – everything from paper stock and binding to cover art and any illustrations or photographs used throughout the book; those things that will differentiate the book from others in its genre.

Finally, the writer that uses self publishing sites will choose to print as many books as they want. The publishing process rarely takes more than a few days and the writer is always provided a final proof before the book goes to press. When completed, the book – at the quantities requested – is shipped right to the writer’s door.

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