Self Publishing: Four Types of Publishing Part Two by Jo A. Wilkins

The definition of a self-publisher is one who accepts payment from an author for the cost of designing, printing, and distributing his or her book. Frequently, the author invents and registers a publishing "imprint."

Self-published books remain the property of the author and are usually held in the author's possession; all proceeds belong to the author, NONE go back to the people who help you produce it.

Positive points for Self Publishing

• You have complete control over content.
• You tell the self-publishing outlet how you want them to format the book and what you want on the cover.
• You set the pricing.
• You do the research on how much other books like yours sell for and determine how much you need to sell the end product for to recoup what you laid out to produce the book
• You control production
• It is you who decides when the book is ready for publication and each step is completed
• You decide how, when and where to market
• Marketing is the demon in the side of all authors, even those who commercially publish, but in self-publishing it falls solely on the shoulders of the author.

Negative points for Self Publishing

• You bear ALL costs for production
• In this option every expense of production falls on the author. You must keep tract of the costs that will affect your bottom-line if you want to make a profit off the sale of your books
• You are responsible for editing or hiring an editor
• This is a step that most self-publishing authors skip, but it is one that NO author should omit. Having an editor who knows the publishing world will make an enormous difference in the sale of your book
• You must store and distribute your books
• If you choose self-publishing then make sure you use a print-on-demand printer or have enough room to store the books you have printed in bulk (it is less expensive in bulk).
• You are responsible for ALL marketing
• Again, this is the setup that if skipped, will kill the sales of your book. Just listing it for on-line sales will not sell your book.
• Lesser amount of prestige
• If you are publishing your own book it carries less weight than if picked up by a stranger that feels it will sell
• Difficult to tell the difference between a vanity press and a true self-publishing company.
• Readers are not sophisticated enough to tell the difference between true self-publishing and the work behind it and the books that come out of a vanity press.

If you as an author take the road of self-publishing then be prepared for unexpected expenses and a little less prestige to the book you produce. But, remember there are many authors who, down through the ages of publishing history, have utilized self-publishing  Some of the authors and their titles are:

Betty Zane                                          Zane Gray

Elements of Style                                 William Strunk/E.B. White

Huckleberry Finn                                Mark Twain

Leaves of Grass                                    Walt Whitman

Tarzan (1931-1948 Series)                Edgar Rice Burroughs

Legally Blond                                      Amanda Brown