subject: Self-Publishing = Effective, Professional and Economical Option For Authors [print this page] You've written, edited and polished your bookYou've written, edited and polished your book. Poured your heart and soul into making it the best possible. And now you have sent your manuscript to dozens of literary agents only to get rejected by each one. What to do...what to do?
At this point you must keep in mind that rejection does not always mean that your book is not fit to be published. It only means that it is not suitable to be published by the publishing houses represented by that literary agent, it didn't make a strong enough first impression with the literary agent, or it is not the best option of all of the projects currently on the literary agent's plate. From here you clearly have two viable options (a third, non-viable option, is give up. But we won't even consider that option in this Blog):
Continue to send out copies of your manuscript to other literary agents, or
Self publish your book
I know most of you are thinking right now, "Novel Dr., we are humble people of average means and in no way have the financial resources to fire up a printing press and publish a book." Not so. Self-publishing can be expensive but it doesn't have to be. The costs of self-publishing pale in comparison to the amount of money you already have tied up in your book. Let's say you make $20 per hour at your "regular" job. Now figure up how many hours you spent writing your book. After doing the math, I'll bet you have a lot more money in your book than you originally thought. Let me help you explore an option to leverage that investment through self-publishing.
Now here's the best part of self-publishing. You can do it yourself (DIY). I'll bet you never considered it. But it is true. With a little more sweat-equity, your book can be published and available in popular print on demand web sites. A professional-looking book in hard cover, paperback, and popular digital formats for eReaders (Kindle, Nook, Sony e-Reader, and others). What's more people can walk into many bookstores or use the online bookstores to order the paperback or hard cover version of your book and be reading it within a few days. It's just that simple.
There are many companies that offer a variety of author services including self-publishing. As in any industry, some of these companies are very good and some are of lesser quality. Be careful when dealing with these sites as often the price advertised is for very basic services and you will often end up spending several times that advertised amount by the time your book is published. Also carefully read their contracts even to the point of having them reviewed by an attorney. When enlisting their services, you might end up not owning the rights to several key elements of your book such as the cover design, ISBN, or even the entire book.
But there is hope for DIY'ers in the form of a web site that will walk you through the steps to self-publish. At www.NovelHelp.com you will find all of the basics necessary to self-publish your book including information on self-publishing, the detailed steps to self-publish your book and direct assistance from their expert staff. Also check out their NovelHelp Author Community. It is a free social network for authors. There you will find additional help by chatting with other author professionals who have already gone through the process of getting their book published.
Self-Publishing = Effective, Professional and Economical Option For Authors
