Should You Publish Your Own Book?
Author: Thomas Christopher

Many people write novels and memoirs. Many professionals
write books to enhance their professional reputations. If
you are among them, a big question is "Should I self
publish my own book?"

Q. Should I publish my book through an established
publisher?

If you can, sure. You'll probably need an agent who
expects a piece of your advance and royalties. If there's
not much chance of a lot of sales, there's not much chance
of finding an agent. Your royalties are going to be maybe
5% to 10% of what the publisher receives. That means your
book will need to sell a large number of copies to make it
worth the time of any agent to pitch it for you.

If you can get a conventional publisher, the publisher will
handle editing, proofreading, cover design, layouts,
indexing, ISBNs, Library of Congress numbers, and the
multitude of details that separate professional book
publishing from amateur. If you are published by an
established publisher, you get credibility. All those are
worth a lot. But you will still need to promote the book
yourself.

Q. Isn't publishing a book a long, expensive process?

Through a traditional publisher, yes. Of course, a lot of
the time and money is to insure quality and to launch the
book into bookstores.

If you expect to self publish, do a full launch, and
compete in bookstores, yes, it should be a long, arduous
process. Do not try to compete in bookstores without first
reading Dan Poynter's "The Self Publishing Manual."

Quality can be expensive. With a traditional publisher, you
pay for it by low royalties. With self publishing, you pay
for it directly up front.

Getting a book you can sell online, at personal
appearances, and in your office need not be long and
expensive. If you just want to give the book away to
family and friends, it can be quick and inexpensive. It is
only a little more involved than duplicating pages and
having them bound at an insta print shop, but you get an
elegant book.

With print on demand, you can buy even a single copy at a
modest price. I published a 108 page US Trade perfectly
bound paperback and printed off a single copy that cost me
$10.65 total, shipping included. In even slightly larger
quantities, they cost less apiece: You save on both
printing and shipping.

Q. Aren't print on demand books of poor quality?

No. Many publishers now use print on demand technology.
The quality can be every bit as good as you get from a
conventional printer. The one I ordered was excellent.

Q. How much money can I expect to earn?

For most books by most new authors, not very much, no
matter how you publish it. Self publishing and selling
personally and online, you can keep more than half the
price. Selling through bookstores you would get much less
than half the price. You're responsible for promoting the
book in either case.

If you are an independent professional, the real benefit of
publishing a book is in building a reputation among clients
as an expert in your field. Clients will seek you out.
Publishing with a major publisher is better for your
reputation, but a small publisher is better than no
publisher--unless you are in an academic field. If you self
publish, buy your own ISBN and name your small press
something different from your name or the name of your book.


About the Author:

For those who are asking, "How do you publish your own
book?" Thomas Christopher created the CD, Get Your Book
Out!. The CD has videos to show you how to self publish
books by print on demand. The CD is on sale at
http://www.GetYourBookOutCD.com/