The Art (and/or Craft) of Self-publishing

How to Get Published...simply

The Art (or should that be Craft?) of Self Publishing
How to Get Published...simply

“I find the easiest part is writing the words; then comes the publishing process...”

An e-book all about writing and publishing your book. Written for "non-techno bunnies/dummies/drongos", like this writer!

Start self publishing and you'll be in good historical company: Horace Walpole, Balzac, Walt Whitman, Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein, John Galsworthy, Rudyard Kipling, Beatrix Potter, Lord Byron, Thomas Paine, Mark Twain, Upton Sinclair, W.H.Davies, Zane Grey, Ezra Pound, Wiliam Carlos Wiliams, Anais Nin, D.H.Lawrence, Alexander Pope, Robbie Burns, James Joyce and Lawrence Stern.

All these famous authors at some time in their careers dabbled in doing it themselves. William Blake did nothing else. He even made his own ink, hand-printed his pages and got Mrs Blake to sew on the covers!
Wish the 10 "ex-Mrs Locks" were so adoring and faithful about my burgeoning literary talents in those early writing days"!
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WHAT DO YOU DO, IF YOU CAN'T FIND A PUBLISHER FOR YOUR BOOK:
What do you do if you have a book that you think may be of limited interest to your readers, or if you have not luck in approaches to traditional publishers?
You've tried and tried and got nowhere. But you still believe your book is good and worthy of publication.
You've got a number of routes to follow:

1.SUBSIDIZED PUBLISHING: This is also known as partnership publishing. However, your book has to stand on it's own merits in the marketplace. Your book has to be worthy of publication, because the publishers have their standards and reputation to uphold.
The amount of money that you contribute towards the cost of your book varies between different "Partnership Publishers"; but I think it is usually between 30% and 50% of the total cost. Therefore the publisher is carrying some of the risk as well as yourself.

2. VANITY PUBLISHING: Definitely not - unless you are desperate to see your name in print. But the vanity publishers are unlikely to market your book. It'll cost you "plenty bucks" and you're likely to have a pile of unsold books in your garage. If you still have a home that is!

3. SELF PUBLISHING (DOING IT ON YOUR OWN):
   Do you really want to publish your book. Ask yourself these questions: Is it really good enough for publication, or am I so desperate that I want to see my name in print? Be totally honest with yourself. Remember, writing is the easiest bit. The hardest part of self publishing is the marketing - getting rid of the books...and you have to do it "all on your little lonesome"!
   If you decide to go down the self-publishing "route", the first step is getting quotes from printers, then "Do it all yourself" - marketing, promotion, etc. Definitely the way for me!
   It's so hard getting a publisher as an aspiring author -especially in today's very tough economic climate, where the large publishers are taking over the "small guys" and getting even bigger. They are dominating the market and these companies are being run by accountants, the "dollar and cents men who just look at the bottom line". Not much "sense" with too many ounces of creativity there.
   And (can I begin a sentence with a gerund - nice word!) this is the reason that I'd recommend starting off by self publishing. Some of the most famous literary names went down this track, then later got picked up by traditional publishers.
   Start self publishing and you'll be in good historical company:
   Horace Walpole, Balzac, Walt Whitman, Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein, John Galsworthy, Rudyard Kipling, Beatrix Potter, Lord Byron, Thomas Paine, Mark Twain, Upton Sinclair, W.H.Davies, Zane Grey, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, Anais Nin, D.H.Lawrence, Alexander Pope, Robbie Burns, James Joyce and Lawrence Stern.
   All these famous authors at some time in their careers dabbled...

and then came the WWW and publishing with KOBO!