In the not too distant past, becoming an author was just a dream for most people. Even if you had the talent and a strong message to write, the chances of getting a publishing house to back you were slim to none. The fact is, most traditionally published david hoffmeister mexico lose money so it’s a big risk when a publisher takes on a new author. The question is “Why should we take a chance on you?”
The self-publishing industry has changed all of that. It has evolved seemingly overnight and we have only just hit the tip of the iceberg. The internet, technology, Amazon’s self-publishing giant createspace and other self-publishing options such as Authorhouse and The Creative Penn make getting your own book in print very doable. These companies will cover every aspect of publishing your book including layout, design, cover design, editing, etc. They will even help you market your book or show you how to do it yourself.
There are also smaller, more focused self-publishing houses that can do a lot of the same things with the benefit of getting closer personal attention. Sometimes the big guys treat you like a number and if you’re publishing for the first time, you may want some hand holding. There are also hybrid publishers which are somewhere in between self-publishers and traditional publishing. To be honest, my research has shown that there is no set self-publishing business model so whether they call themselves hybrid publishers or self-publishers the bottom line is they will help you get your book into print and out to the masses. My advice is to determine exactly what you need to get your book in print and then do your shopping. The best place to start is to ask people that have already self-published. It will save you a lot of time and money.
You don’t need to be in bookstores anymore when you can sell your book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, turn it into a Kindle or Nook book and even an audio book which can be sold on Audible and iTunes. I’m sure I’m leaving plenty of companies and platform options out because the simple fact is there are so many of them and the market is evolving as you read this. The fact is, your book can reach the entire globe the instant it’s published and just about anyone can write a book. I will cover that in next month’s article.
Now, just because you can get your book published doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. My first book took almost two years to finish because I thought a book gets published soon after it’s written. It turns out that writing it was the easy part. I did that in a few months. When it came to editing and approving the edit, then re-edits and re-approving over and over, the cover and back cover design, the forward, and of course, my own procrastination all added to the time it took to get it published.