1. Educate yourself. Publishing is a business and needs to be treated as such. There are books, blogs, websites, and associations devoted to self-publishing. Failing to learn all you can about it can mean wasting thousands of dollars by blundering along without knowledge or a plan.

2. Study the competition. Be sure your topic hasn’t been overdone. Check the library, your local bookstore, and Amazon.com. But don’t stop there: Check Books in Print Subject Guide and Forthcoming Books in Print Subject Guide. Then make sure yours is better than what is already out there.

3. Write what other people want. Catering to one’s own personal desires often makes for a blah book nobody buys. Face the facts: Personal journals and impassioned tirades are best saved for family and friends, not foisted upon the general public.

4. Think “marketing” from the start. The time to start generating marketing ideas is before you even write the manuscript. Identify your market. How can you reach them? Start folders of ideas. What catalogs might be interested? Which associations reach your potential readers? Can you sell the book as a premium to companies that would give it away as a gift to entice new customers or use it internally for training? Think about who else reaches your potential customer and how you can partner with them. Do you have contacts who have national name recognition and might write an advance endorsement?

5. Get professional editing. You cannot edit your own work. You cannot.

6. Create a catchy title. The right title can make a book. Short is best. Clever is fine but don’t sacrifice clarity. Include a subtitle for nonfiction books as it gives you extra mileage in ensuring readers know what the book is about.

7. Include all the vital components. Depending on whether your book is paper or electronic, you may need an ISBN, LCCN, EAN scanning code, subject category on the back cover, the title displayed boldly on the spine, and so forth. Don’t know what you need? See item number 1 in this list!!

8. Have a dynamite cover. Get it designed by a professional who knows book cover design, not just someone who does nice logos or brochures. There is a lot of competition out there; this is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

9. Make the interior inviting. Study the insides of books that look clean and user-friendly; use these as your model. The production values of your book must meet the competition to be acceptable in the trade. It is not advisable to do your book layout in Word, so if you are not budgeting for the steep price tag and learning curve of a program such as InDesign, hire a pro.

10. Price properly. Books that are much more costly than the competition—or even sometimes a lot cheaper—can meet resistance. Figure out a per-unit cost that still offers you a margin for profit and enables you to offer booksellers a discount—and that keeps you in line with your competition.

11. Publicize, promote, publicize, promote. Eat, sleep, and talk your books. Ongoing, enthusiastic marketing is the real key to success. Never quit. Always be on the alert for new opportunities; marketing is forever and your efforts today can yield results way down the road.

(Portions of this post have been excerpted from the upcoming second edition of Jump Start Your Books Sales by Marilyn Ross and Sue Collier, scheduled for release in late 2011.)

After you’ve got your book organized, I suggest you develop a mission statement just like businesses do. This is some twenty to forty words that capture the essence of your message. Who is this for? How will it assist them? What is its main thrust? Creating this now—and referring to it frequently during the writing process—will help you stay focused.

Determine who your audience is. Otherwise you’ll be like a blindfolded fool with a dart. You can shoot, but the chances of hitting the target, not to mention the bull’s-eye, are slim to none. How old are your typical readers? Which gender? Where do they rank educationally and financially? What special interests, or problems, do they have? Get a firm picture of your readers, and write your book to them.

Next, write the introduction. This sets the stage for the whole book. A good introduction tells the scope of the work and details the different ways people will benefit from reading it. It further helps you think through the project and keeps you on target. You’ll want to rework it after the book is written. Then work on the chapter you’re most jazzed about. It doesn’t matter if it’s chapter three or chapter nine. Nonfiction books don’t necessarily need to be written in chronological order; chapters are typically stand-alone units. By starting on the one that excites you the most, you get into the swing of writing. If you think of the chapters as a series of steps, each piece contributing to the whole, you’ll have a finished book before you know it.

Now think about what you can provide to embellish or clarify your message. Should you include sidebars of relevant information? Checklists? Samples? Dos and don’ts? Also strive to have examples that are demographically correct. Include singles/couples, personal/professional, old/young, male/female. Don’t favor or ignore any one group.

Some people already have the guts of a book and don’t realize it. Have you written several articles on a similar subject? Do you do a regular column? How about a blog? Repackage that data and guess what? You have a book! Find the common denominators, write transitions, link the material, refresh obsolete facts or information, and you’re in business. Be sure you deliver value.

I work with a lot of speakers who have a real advantage because they can simply use an audiotape or video they already have produced for sale and transcribe it into a double-spaced document. (Or simply tape a speech and have it transcribed.) By reviewing and reworking this material, the shape of their books quickly emerges. To beef up their messages, they can simply hire virtual assistants to find relevant articles and new statistics.

What length constitutes a book? It varies widely depending on who you ask. The U.S. Postal Service says you must have at least eight pages to qualify. International postal standards dictate that forty-nine pages is the magic number, not counting the cover. Anything under that is deemed a pamphlet or periodical. The Library of Congress requires fifty to get an LCCN. We usually encourage at least sixty-four pages, depending on the subject matter.

The bottom line is to give your readers genuine value.

Now use file folders to represent chapters, placing appropriate data in each folder. This way, you start to flesh out the book’s skeleton. Review what you have gathered to see where you’re rich with material—and what areas are thin and need further research, or perhaps reshuffling and combining of chapters.

Of course, this method won’t work for everyone. Some people like to group their material into notebooks with section dividers. Still others—like me—prefer to do it electronically. I keep separate folders on my computer for articles, quotes, anecdotes, and so on, organizing them by category or subject. A major advantage to doing it this way is that they are already keyboarded when it comes to the actual writing.

I have been asked more than once how long a chapter should be. How about long enough to reach from beginning to end? Seriously, there is no way to say ten pages or twenty pages. Organize the material carefully and make logical breaks. Some topics will naturally be more meaty than others. Of course, if you end up with one chapter out of all proportion in length to the rest, see if there isn’t a natural break where you could divide it. Or combine meager information with another chapter. Once you’ve grouped material this way, refine it further into a working table of contents (the “outline” from your college days). Group like topics together, and consider a part one, part two, part three structure.

Next week, I will address the actual writing process.

Your name: Belinda Kroll

Your website/blog: http://worderella.com

Your bibliography: Catching the Rose, Worderella on Writing

1. What is your background? Funny story: I’m actually a usability analyst. My degrees are in computer science engineering, human computer interaction, and a minor in English. My Masters degree was very open, and allowed me to take high-level creative fiction writing courses with published author Samrat Upadhyay, which was amazing. I’ve always been a writer, though, and confused my high school class when I announced I was going to be a computer programmer. I was voted most likely to win the Pulitzer!

2. What led you to self-publishing? I am part of an entrepreneurial family, and I’ve been subscribed to Writer’s Digest since I was sixteen, so I’ve known about self-publishing for a long time. As an entrepreneur, I like to know all aspects of the business and have creative control. Luckily, my undergrad and masters degrees allowed me to cater my studies to learning the industry software and practice page/cover design in a safe environment. Using the knowledge I’ve gathered, I maintain my website, I make my book trailers, I design my books, and I’ve opened my own micro-press, Bright Bird Press.

3. What have you found to be the biggest challenge in self-publishing? Marketing is something I have always had problems with. As much as I can be chatty in person, I’m still a bit confused how I can get people interested in my work without just putting it in front of them. I’m learning all the different paths for marketing online because I know that’s my best option. I’ve been experimenting, but I need to make a solid plan to follow.

4. What has been the biggest surprise about self-publishing? Even though I assume it would take a lot of work, it takes even more work than I expected sometimes. I think this is because I work full-time, and I also make websites for small companies on my free time. So I have a lot of responsibilities to juggle.

5. What inspires you? The little things in life that make me smile, such as an ant on the sidewalk dragging a leaf. I walk toward it and it stops, and starts to walk the other way. I walk around the ant, and it pauses before turning around to walk its original direction. I like to capture little moments like that in my writing.

6. Describe your writing process. I’m trying to be disciplined with this book. I try to write at least 750 words on the days I do write, usually after I come home from work. I sit at my desk in my bedroom, open the laptop, and start typing. Sometimes I feel a little stuck so I read the last page of the previous chapter. Sometimes I read a chapter from a book at my bedside to get my imagination flowing. Then I write as quickly as I can until I get 750 words. From that point, I slow down until I reach a good stopping point.

7. How do you stay disciplined? This online application I’ve been using, 750words.com, has been my lifesaver. It guilt-trips me into writing, but takes the pressure off because I know I only have to write 750 words, which is a relatively low-hanging-fruit sort of goal. Some days I focus on writing, other days I focus on marketing, websites, learning more about publishing, etc. The main goal is to “Keep moving forward,” like from the Disney movie Meet the Robinsons.

8. What is your favorite self-marketing idea? Tough question! Of course I like word-of-mouth, but really, I just like the idea that if I help you, you help me. I don’t want to be a spammer, I just want people to enjoy my writing. So if I help you with your website, or book trailer, maybe I won’t ask for monetary support, but that you spread the word about my book(s). I also like the idea of leaving bookmarks with my book information in the pages of similar books at the library/bookstore. I figure that’s one of the best ways to reach my readers.

9.  What advice do you have for burgeoning self-publishers? Take baby steps. I published my first book through a subsidy/vanity publisher, my second through Lulu, and a reprint through CreateSpace. I’m working my way up to Lightning Source, but maybe if I get enough funds, I’ll stick with CreateSpace and buy my own pack of ISBNs. So yeah. I know everyone says to avoid vanity publishers, but if you get a good one (like Aventine Press or Mill City Press), you can have a good experience and learn the ropes. My biggest advice is to not rush the process. Make mistakes you can afford. Don’t get ahead of yourself and burn out.

10. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun? I’m part of the local lindy hop community. Every Tuesday I swing dance and lindy hop all of my frustrations away. It’s the best sort of exercise ever.

11. What project are you currently working on? I’m in the middle of getting the word out about the second edition of my book, Catching the Rose. I’m writing my second novel, Haunting Miss Trentwood, and I’m trying to settle on the style of website I want for my micro-press, Bright Bird Press.

Please let me know if you would like to be featured!

Your name:  Lillian Brummet

Your website/blog: www.brummet.ca; http://consciousdiscussions.blogspot.com

Your bibliography: Lillian Brummet is the co-author of the books Trash Talk and Purple Snowflake Marketing. She is the author of Towards Understanding, host of the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio Show, and manager of the award-winning Brummet’s Conscious Blog. She offers a bi-weekly newsletter as well. A quick Internet search will reveal just a few of the hundreds of articles she has written for publications around the globe, and thousands of interviews with Lillian. She has volunteered with many organizations over the years, is a member of Seeds of Diversity Canada and has a passion for rescuing animals and motivating people to be more proactive in leading a conscious and green lifestyle.

1. What is your background? I grew up in a broken home, was on my own at the age of 13, and yet was able to put myself through school, stay out of the system and pay my own way. I began writing very early in life, but used it as a healing tool during my early years to deal with the past. It was in ’99 that we (my husband Dave and I) decided to use this talent for writing as a way to pursue our passions in life and create positive change… leaving a lasting legacy.

2. What led you to self-publishing? I started out as a free-lance writer, later working for several different publications on assignment or as a staff member for a few years, and then branched off to write books… which is our main focus now. We have worked with a few different traditional publishers (in print, with royalties) and soon learned that there were very few benefits in dealing with publishers, as opposed to being on our own. Sure they find distributors, set up the ISBN and so forth, but everything else is left up to us, the writers. So now we are focusing on taking all our work into e-book format. Already 3 of our books have been updated, totally revised and released as e-books and we have numerous others coming out soon.

3. What have you found to be the biggest challenge in self-publishing? You absolutely must have self-discipline. You are the only person who will be communicating with anyone connected with your book so you must be prepared for that. The initial set-up for this can be daunting at first due to the draft email/letter creations and media kits and record keeping… Once all this is set up, the process becomes much more smooth. Keeping up to date with my records is a challenge due to communicating with a large number of media contacts every single day… Who was followed-up on? Who received the files they were looking for? When is the event happening and have I created the promotions for that event? Balancing all of this with the actual task of writing (she laughs) can be a challenge.

4. What has been the biggest surprise about self-publishing? The biggest surprise is how receptive people in the industry are for this genre. It used to be laden with a stigma but that is now fading. People are becoming more educated about the various formats and genres in the industry and the green benefits of alternative publishing options are catching on too. Even e-books and audio books, the newest entries in the world of writing, are getting great reception out there in the marketing sphere.

5. Describe your writing process. The writing itself starts with an idea and the consideration of who I am speaking to. Once I have those two items the rest just falls into place. If I know my audience, I am already aware what they are looking for, what will appeal to them. I then create a brief outline for larger non-fiction projects, and this outline is very flexible so that I can keep the creative level high as I work through the process. Research is a biggie for me I love to research the topics, issues, people involved in an issue contact them and then use this information in the writing process. I don’t worry about editing just yet and sometimes create a few pages just for notes that I can refer to. Once the writing piece has been created, then I become concerned with flow that one idea leads to the next, one paragraph leads to the next. Sentence structure and other editing like grammar is something I do relatively last. My husband is an exceptional editor and proofreader, so he will often work on the project at this point. After taking some time away from it, we will return and read it at least one more time before submitting.

6. How do you stay disciplined? The motivation behind staying on top of things is that I am not having to work for the man… that dreaded day job of drudgery. So that keeps me aware of my position, that by working for myself I do not have to answer to anyone but myself, yet I do find the hardest person to please IS myself! (She laughs). Keeping good records is key to my success in being on top of things. Who I’ve submitted to, where that communication is at and whether they need to hear from me again – these can all be seen at a glance just by using color codes. Green for contacts that are completed, blue to follow up on, pink is a confirmed event, but not yet made public purple lets me know that I’ve already dealt with that contact and it was a positive outcome. Excel is a great program that my husband taught me to use years ago. Every 6-8 months I go through the year’s contacts in that file and do any follow-ups necessary before moving on to new ones.

7. How are you financing your publishing project? With e-book publishing there is no cost, as long as one doesn’t have to outsource things like PDF or EPub (Electronic Publication) formats, image creation, website design, publicity and so on. One can learn how to do each of these tasks, however it can take a huge amount of time and if you cannot find the resources, than you are facing costs for educational courses. Luckily Dave and I work as a team he is really talented with graphics, art, writing copy (sales language), website design, and technical problems. So with my research, content creation and marketing skills we make a great team. He does well with public appearances, I prefer working online and enjoy working with the media, while Dave is comfortable setting up affiliate opportunities and putting our book cover images together. As such our costs are minimal only the advertising we choose to pay for, such as bookmarks and ad spots in a publication, are expenses for us; but most exposure can be had for free if one had the time and initiative. This doesn’t mean that writer’s services are not a necessary commodity, but for the financially constrained author one doesn’t HAVE to outsource, unless they want to.

8. What is your favorite self-marketing idea? Alley-cat marketing… which is really the basis of our e-book Purple Snowflake Marketing How to Make Your Book Stand Out In a Crowd. Simply put it is the difference between giving someone a pen with your information on it or cold-selling someone through an ad; which is what people are tired of… their eyes will just glaze over. It is a different approach, you are giving something away first, rather than asking them to buy. This could be a tangible or intangible gift, but something that benefits the recipient and creates a warm-fuzzy-feeling that motivates them to find out more about you or support you in some way.

9. What advice do you have for burgeoning self-publishers? If you are just starting out in the world of writing and do not already have a following of some kind than you will need to start from the very beginning and that means defining your niche (your writing style, the meaning behind your writing…) and whatever defines you as a person or as a writer. Starting with this you can then begin to develop you marketing platform and design a plan to gain name recognition. Name recognition can be developed in many different ways, which can be confusing and daunting if looked at in a certain light however if looked at in a positive light, these variables give you the opportunity to develop a plan that suits your unique situation and help you stand out in a crowd like a purple snowflake.

10. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun? I am really into gardening, I call it playing in the dirt – it is me time and a form of meditation for me. Dave is a great cook and we often work together, me being the prep-cook/cleaner-upper most of the time. Dave and I spend a lot of time together out of the office as well. We enjoy hiking, bicycle activities and camping. Our love of nature keeps us busy we can often be found cleaning up a beach site, or a river access site or trail… or pulling out invasive weeds. Our dogs help us keep fit as they certainly need their hour-long walk every day and other training or attention that they must have. They bring a lot of joy into our lives and keep us laughing.

11. What project are you currently working on? We are currently building our new e-book empire. Dave has been working for months behind the scenes getting things ready for a new website, and a new e-store offering a whole range of e-books and products. We are selling our books in e-format from now on, as well as many new things to come such as the long-awaited garden book, a series of how-to books, and sequels to Dave’s drum lesson projects. My blog (http://consciousdiscussions.blogspot.com) and our radio show (http://blogtalkradio.com/consciousdiscussions) keeps us busy as well. I start every day with a quick glance at what is happening for these two projects, who is appearing as a guest, what topic I’ll be covering that day… and so on. I love doing interviews and blog appearances, and am regularly appearing in the media whenever possible. There is not a day that goes by that I have not done some form of marketing except one of the three days that I do take off each month. I don’t even open the office door for three whole days in a row every single month and this allows me to refresh my mind and my relationships as well.

Your name: Phil Simon

Your website/blog: www.philsimonsystems.com

Your bibliography: Why New Systems Fail and The Next Wave of Technologies

1. What is your background? I am an independent technology consultant, author, writer, and dynamic public speaker for hire. I focus on the intersection of business and technology and have written two books: Why New Systems Fail and The Next Wave of Technologies. My next book is called The New Small and will be out in November. I also write for a number of technology media outlets and sites and host the podcast Technology Today.

2. What led you to self-publishing? I started writing in 2008 and wasn’t sure that traditional publishers would be interested in what I wrote. Ultimately, I didn’t care. I wanted to hold my book in my hand. I published the first edition of my first book, Why New Systems Fail in February of 2009 through AuthorHouse. After a proper publisher picked up that book (Cengage) and Wiley did my second book (The Next Wave of Technologies), I decided to try a different approach to self-publishing for my third book: The New Small. I started a publishing company (Motion Publishing) because I may publish other’s books in the future.

3. What have you found to be the biggest challenge in self-publishing? At first, it was finding an editor well-versed in my topic (technology) yet comfortable with the English language. I had some really big disappointments at first. I have overcome that obstacle now.  There’s still a bit of a stigma, but I’m convinced that my audience will buy the book without regard to the logo on the spine of the book.

4. What has been the biggest surprise about self-publishing?  That there are so many different options. For my third book, I’m using the same print-on-demand company (Lightning Source) as traditional publishers. I can also use the same cover person who worked on the second edition of my first book. In short, if you know what you’re doing, you can use the same resources to produce a book that’s essentially indistinguishable in quality from those of traditional publishers. Of course, you have to spend the money to ensure this; many self-published books lack quality control and I want to avoid that.

5. Describe your writing process. I have moderation issues and liken myself to a bulldog. Once I get an idea in my head, I want to make it a book—and soon. For me, waiting on traditional publishers was tough, especially since my topics involve technology. If I wrote fiction or non-fiction/historical books, then maybe I’d be more patient.

6. How do you stay disciplined? Two words: electric shocks. All kidding aside, I set goals for myself and make them happen. I know going into a book that I will blog less, play less golf and tennis, and travel less. I put a date in my head and work towards that date. Don’t even think of getting in my way.

7. How are you financing your publishing project?  I listened to a talk a few weeks by Seth Godin about the state of the publishing industry. In it, he mentioned the site Kickstarter. I did a little research and figured, “Why not?” I’m trying to raise $4,000 to cover some of my costs. After only 20 days, I have reached 75 percent of my goal. Being social media-savvy is paying dividends, I guess.  It’s a really neat model and I’m happy with the results so far.

8. What is your favorite self-marketing idea? Well, it’s hardly my idea, but getting others to get the word out is just plain smart. In The New Small, I am profiling twelve different companies and their use of emerging technologies, one of which is social media. These companies are inclined to promote the book for me, reaching out to their Facebook and Twitter audiences. The word of mouth (WOM) that they’ll generate will do more than any PR firm I could hire.

9. What advice do you have for burgeoning self-publishers? Get your book out there and don’t worry about perfection. As Voltaire said, “The perfect is the enemy of good.” Take the time and spend the money to make the book as good as possible. Then get it out there. There’s no reason to wait for lit agents or traditional publishers to green light your book.

10. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun? Golf, tennis, poker, movies, reading, exercising, and going to concerts.

11. What project are you currently working on? The third book: The New Small. 

I maintain that it isn’t the marketing authors don’t like, it’s many of the traditional tactics they think of when they hear the word “marketing.” They are uncomfortable at the thought of getting “out there” to “toot their own horn.” The best way to promote your book is to find marketing activities that capitalize on your natural talents and abilities, and that you enjoy. It’s more likely you’ll actually do these activities.

Since most authors have a natural propensity toward writing, it makes sense for them to blog. Becoming active in the blogosphere (blogging and commenting on other blogs) is a great way to interact with readers and reach out to potential readers. Yet I am still surprised at the number of authors who resist. Some are not tech savvy, so they assume they won’t be able to figure out bloggging software. Others are worried they won’t know what to write about. Blogging software today is simple to use—even for non-techies. And as far as what to write about, what about writing your next book? Nina Amir has an entire blog devoted to this very topic.

If the thought of attending networking events or—gasp!—speaking in public leaves your mouth dry, try social media marketing. From the comfort and security of your own computer, you can interact with people—and potential readers—from all over the world. Social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are easy for even the novice to sign up for and maneuver. When resistant authors ultimately sign up and start interacting, I hear over and over how much fun it is and how surprised they are at how many connections they are making.

If you are comfortable talking with people on the phone or face-to-face, then by all means—capitalize on your ability to schmooze. Attending events and meetings or conducting seminars and workshops can be an excellent way to build a name for yourself and promote your book—especially nonfiction.

Of course there will be some level of discomfort for nearly everyone when it comes to promoting yourself. At some point you will likely be called upon to step outside of your comfort zone if you truly want to sell books. But intersperse these activities with those at which you excel. If you focus primarily on what comes naturally to you, your book marketing plan will contain less struggle and will generate more success.

So you self-publish your book but then what? Just because you’ve built it, they won’t come. High street bookstores are unlikely to pick it up, and Amazon will take it for a few bucks but won’t highlight it unless it miraculously becomes a best seller. Most good journalists won’t review it (trust me, journalists don’t take self-published books seriously) and unless you’re a marketing or PR guru, it’ll be very difficult to promote it well.

Actually, if you publish traditionally, you are still going to be expected to promote your book. And in fact, you will likely not get signed on with a traditional publisher if you don’t already have a strong author platform with lots of potential buyers. When I was managing editor for a trade publisher, almost every single author we signed on was shocked to learn they were expected to promote their books. But the truth is, the bulk of our marketing was to plop the book into a catalog and send out a few news releases in hopes of getting a review or two. Anything beyond that—well, there just wasn’t a budget for it. Granted, that was a smaller press but even if you do manage to snag one of the major players, they are not likely going to spend their marketing bucks on a new author (like advances, marketing budgets continue to shrink). They’ll spend their money promoting whoever their current James Patterson is—and you will likely be lumped in with the rest of the midlist authors who enjoy little or no marketing budget.  

In addition, if you self-publish properly—start up your own imprint, purchase your own block of ISBNs, and have the book well edited and well designed—as opposed to going the subsidy route (often incorrectly called “self-publishing”), reviewers should have no idea you are self-published. Your book is simply a title from a new independent publisher. And there is no stigma there.

The next hurdle is trust. Sadly, self-published books have a bit of a grim rep. Whether it’s because people associate them with their Aunt Bettie’s History of Littlehampton book with its funny photoshopped front cover, or because they’ve read a self-pubbed book chock-a-block full of mistakes (which, sadly, most self-pubbed books have due to the lack of a decent editor and proof-reader), there’s not a great deal of respect for self-published books despite there being some decent ones out there.

See my point above about putting out a top-quality book. It should look just as sharp as any other book put out by one of the big houses. And again, done right—there is no way readers can tell if a book is self-published or not.

This is why self-published books on average sell dozens (if you’re lucky hundreds) whereas traditional publishers tend to sell in the thousands.

This is true of subsidy published books; these are often called self-published but in reality they are pay-to-publish vanity pieces. They sell few copies because they are often poorly done—and they are usually not priced competitively because authors are forced to purchase the books from the subsidy at an inflated price. In order to make any kind of profit, the books are priced too high—and they don’t sell.

Authors who self-publish in the true sense of the meaning are able to price their books competitively, and if they have a solid promotions plan, they tend to sell books in the thousands—sometimes tens of thousands.

Now if you’re one of those writers who doesn’t care about book sales and it’s all about the love of writing, then self-publishing is worth a shot.

To this I say—if book sales and profits don’t mean anything, by all means, go with the subsidy presses such as Outskirts, iUniverse, and Author House. If you want to make money—self-publish the true way.

But consider this: you’ve spent a year or so writing your book, maybe more, maybe less. So why not try to get paid for your hard work, rather then pay, as you would with self-publishing. Just give it a try, you know? For a start, most reputable traditional publishers will pay an advance (usually in the thousands if through a larger publisher). Then you’ll get royalties for every book you sell (once you make back your advance).

It’s pretty common knowledge that advances from traditional publishers have gotten smaller in recent years.  You’ll still fare much better by self-publishing and keeping all of the profits rather than just 10 percent or so since you have to promote the book anyway. Yes, there will be editing and production costs, but with print-on-demand, you won’t have to lay out a bunch of cash for printing. (And remember, you’ll want to hire a professional editor before sending your manuscript to any agent or publisher, even if you are publishing the traditional route—so that expense, along with promoting, is also a given.)

Don’t forget too that once you sign that contract with a traditional publisher, you lose a certain amount of control. They may change the title. They may edit drastically. They may come up with a cover you hate. They may delay your publication date. But you’re probably stuck with their decision.

Even Kevin Weiss, CEO of a huge self-publishing company in the US (Author Solutions), admits 80 per cent of their authors fail to break even whereas traditionally published authors always do as they never had to fork out in the first place.

Author Solutions is a subsidy publisher—you can’t have someone else “self” publish for you—but I agree that those are some pretty grim sales statistics. Sadly, they are all too true.

And then there’s being able to tell people you’re a published author. Most savvy people will not accept you are one if you’ve paid to have your book published because, as I’ve said before, anyone anyone anyone can self-publish.

Yes, anyone can self-publish, but what you are talking about here is subsidy publishing, or vanity publishing. True self-publishing is a complicated process, and if it’s done well, it generally garners nothing but respect for those who have been through it.

As for the idea that your amazingly successful self-pubbed book will garner the attention of traditional publishers, this does happen but not often. Your chances of getting an agent and then publisher are higher.

I would have to disagree with this point as well—unless you’ve already got a well established platform and a large following, your chances of getting an agent and then a publisher are very small. Very small. You are much better off self-publishing (doing it well) and establishing a track record of sales with which to approach a traditional publisher. That, of course, is if you want to at that point. You’ll likely make more money if you keep it as a self-published title.

So what I’m saying is, give traditional publishing a chance first. Don’t let people tell you traditional publishing is a pipe dream; that getting an agent is impossible; that self-publishing is the first and best option. It isn’t. The fact is, if you write a damn good book, someone will take notice and maybe you’ll get published and maybe you’ll make money.

I agree with this—only when it comes to fiction. As far as nonfiction titles, however, self-publishing is often the best and fastest route to publication. By the time authors wait around for umpteen rejection letters from traditional publishers, self-publishers could have been reaping the rewards of their published books for months…even years. This doesn’t mean self-publishing is right for everyone; but it is most certainly a viable option for those who want to maintain control and keep all of the profits.