Home self publishing
self publishing

What is self publishing? Why do it?

Self publishing is the solution for new authors who want to get their work published but have been rejected by publishers, or who are daunted by the publishing process.

I understand how hard it can be getting your hard work to be accepted by manuscript appraisers in publishing houses — the long hours, months and years you spend writing your book only to have it rejected repeatedly. Or perhaps you have written something that you don’t want to be sold everywhere, but you would like to get a small number of copies professionally printed and bound.

The whole process can be daunting for someone who has no experience of the publishing industry — editing, proofreading, typesetting, cover design, binding, PDFs, fonts and typefaces. Not to mention agents and publishers and their seemingly mysterious ways! Self publishing can give you complete control over the process.

Before you shred your manuscript and forget about your dreams of being an author, consider self publishing as a way for you to get your work out there. There has been many a successful author who has achieved success this way — Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, and Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad) all started out as self publishers.

 

Self publishing advantages and disadvantages

Self publishing has its advantages over being published by a publishing house, but also its disadvantages, let's be honest! But if you want to have the advantages of the famous authors with their publihing contracts, first you have to get the publisher to read it and accept it. This doesn't happen in more than 90% of cases.

So here is a summary of some of the advantages and disadvantages:

  Self publishing Publishing company

  Advantages
  1. You take all the profits from book sales
  2. You own the rights to your work
  3. You set the book price and the number of copies
  4. You get it published!
  1. The publisher pays you a royalty
  2. The publisher provides a copy editor and all other services
  3. The publisher will design a suitable cover
  4. The publisher carries all costs
 Disadvantages
  1. You need to get it edited, set and proofread
  2. You need to design your own cover (or get it designed)
  3. You pay all the costs
  1. The publisher pays you a royalty
  2. The publisher often owns the rights
  3. The publisher controls everything
  4. The publisher will more than likely reject it
 

Getting published

If you decide to self publish, you will probably need some help with the steps needed to get your book made. As someone who works in the publishing industry I can help you with most of these steps.

Copy Editing: Most people don’t seem to know that there is a difference between editing and proofreading. All new manuscripts, whether self published or not, need to be copy edited by someone other than the author. A fresh set of eyes can see the mistakes that can be missed by someone who is too close to the work. A copy editor also knows what to look out for that might get you into legal trouble if your book is controversial, and can advise you on changes you can make, and can advise on the overall structure of the work.

Typesetting: Typesetting is mainly about formatting the edited manuscript ready for printing — getting the layout done and selecting how it will look on the printed page. For purely text based work, such as a novel, sometimes proficiency with a word processing program such as Microsoft Word is sufficient, but if you have pictures or diagrams to include, or if a higher quality layout is desired, then the use of professional page design software may be necessary. I can perform all these tasks for you, or engage the services of a professional typesetter if your needs are complex.

Proofreading: Proofreading is the necessary task of re-reading the book when it has been typeset. Although the text has been corrected for its textual flaws by the copy editing process, the process of laying out the book can introduce errors, and this is particularly the case where pictures and diagrams are concerned.

Printing and Binding: This is where it will be necessary to negotiate the choices of printing and binding and the associated costs. These days self publishing can be done online, and I recommend BookPal, a local Australian publisher who will take your prepared book and cover art, and send back to you a shipment of finished books. The cost is determined by the size and quantity and the type of binding you would prefer. If you like I can provide advice in these matters.

 

So what are you waiting for?

Get yourself published! If you have your book and cover art ready, then click on the BookPal link to order your books. If you need more help, the contact me here.