Does Self Publishing Work?

You've probably been hearing a lot about the Internet and its effects on self published authors lately. Does the new version of self publishing on the Internet really work, though? Well, to figure that out you need to compare the old way to the new.

Traditional Publishing Options:

There used to be two main traditional publishing options. One was to simply send manuscripts to major publishing houses, wait and hope. Unfortunately, the major publishing houses didn't often accept manuscripts. When they did, they expected major changes. When they didn't, it meant rejection letter after rejection letter until most authors gave up.

The second option, of course, was to self publish. That meant a whole new set of problems, though. Self published authors used to have to buy copies of their own books and then resell them. The reselling process, of course, could be hit or miss. If authors didn't sell their copies, they didn't even get their money back, let alone profit from the venture.

New And Improved Methods:

With today's digital technology, things are new and improved. At least, some people think so. Thanks to POD, or Print On Demand, the costs of each copy are given only to the customers who buy the copies. When a copy is ordered, the Internet publishing co and the author split the profits. No books have to be printed ahead and, therefore, no money is lost. The whole thing is streamlined, at least in that way.

The Problem:

The problem with the new and improved method of self publication is that some people don't think it's an improvement at all. Those people think that the process makes it too easy for anyone to be an author. That, of course, means that books are being published with misinformation and typographical and formatting errors all the time.

So, Does Self Publishing Work?

Well, the answer is that it can work. It doesn't always work well for everybody. If you want to self publish, you can improve your odds of success, though. All you have to do is follow a few basic steps.

First of all, if you're writing a book that involves specific facts, make sure they're accurate. Nobody wants to read a book with bad information in it. Also, along those same lines, you need to make sure that you have your book professionally edited before publication. That way, any formatting or spelling errors should be caught and fixed.

Aside from all of that, you just need to make sure that you market your book well. Thanks to POD, the publishing website should post your information on a website, but people still need to be directed to that website. If you're not sure how to do that, work with someone else whose product isn't in competition with yours. As a partnership, you may have better luck selling each person's self published works.

By: Dobbo50

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David Dobson, Manager Digital Print Australia

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