Some truths about publishing your own book
Self-publishing for Dummies. That's what you might call this short spiel. I've experience on both sides of the fence. I've self-published several books and, at present, I'm reading a self-published book. Here are some of the realities.
Not every book can find a traditional publisher. Not everyone who writes writes material that falls within the commercial needs of a traditional publisher. This is where self-publishing comes in.
There are people out there who have ideas — messages — they want to share with others through a book and have taken the trouble to put it all down on paper and just need someone, some company, to turn it into a book for them, and then some company or agency to give it some distribution and publicity. These are services that can be purchased, if you have money and are willing to pay.
The problem is that, for all of what you have done, and that now you have a published book, chances are nobody will buy and read it. This is what the traditional publishers are trying to tell you when agents refused to champion your work. If they can't see a way to get people to buy and read it — "they" being the book industry with all its skills, resources, and experience — odds that anyone will read your book are ... poor.
My own foray into self-publishing has been mildly rewarding, but I've gone at it with several advantages.
First, I had a following for the material I was writing (which happened to be about perfume making technology for people who wanted to make and sell their own perfume.)
Second, I had experience in desktop publishing — taking the bare text and turning it into a formatted book: cover, table of contents, page numbers, illustrations. (After years with Quark XPress I've turned to Affinity Publisher which, while it has as many quirks as Quark, is affordable and, at the end of the day, can put out a good job.)
Third, I turned to Amazon KDP for printing and distribution. It costs nothing and royalties are distributed regularly.
Finally, to get sales I aimed my website visitors, email recipients, and blog viewers toward the specific Amazon pages that featured my books. The money earned wasn't enough to make a living but books were sold and money continues to come in monthly. But, as mentioned, I had these advantages.
For those who do not have my advantages, the self-publishing process will involve finding a company that will put your book together for you. There are quite a few out there that offer this service. Just be aware of the realities.
First, just getting a book between covers and having it "out there" doesn't guarantee anyone will buy it. Sales is a whole different game than production and your sales could amount to ... zero.
Second, not every company that offers to put your book out there will do a good job of producing the book. I don't mean the actual printing. Any decent printer can print and bind a book. The problem I've come across is in the graphic design of the book. I've come across a self-published book where, on certain pages, the font changes for no reason other than carelessness on the part of the designer. On the book I'm currently reading (which will remain unnamed) there are neither page numbers nor page headings which would show the title and author's name. Nor is there a table of contents, nor an inside title page — sure signs that the author bought publishing services from a sloppy book maker.
There are self-publishing success stories, just as their are stories of people who have won a large lottery payout. The companies selling self-publishing services use these examples as proof that it can happen, just as the diet pill hawkers give examples of users who have experienced gratifying weight loss. But these results are not typical.
The "rule" for the writer who settles on self-publishing is "be prepared to market the book yourself". The only way it will sell and the only way people will buy and read it is if you go out and promote it ... vigorously! There are plenty of resources available online to help you with this but, for all the available resources, the only way it will happen is if you put the time and energy into it. Lots of time. Lots of energy.
Good luck.
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