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Self publishing means that you (the author) pay for everything – editing, printing, illustrating, marketing – that it takes to get your own book published.
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Although it’s often called “vanity publishing,” self publishing can be the right choice if done for the right reasons and in the right way.
Here are some tips on self publishing for those who are considering the this option.
- Be honest with yourself. Would you expect others to pay money to listen to your personal opinions or pay money to listen to your stories?
- Have more than one brutally honest and very knowledgeable person read your manuscript and give their brutally honest suggestions. No writer likes to have someone point out weaknesses in their personal work of art. But try to think of an editor as a basketball coach; to become winners, the best basketball players listen to their coaches.
- Talk to someone who has already self published. Self publishing can be a waste of money – or it can be profitable if you have a very good book and if you are willing to do a lot of marketing on your own dime and time.
- Self publishing is probably the best option for publishing your family’s history. But don’t expect this type of book to make any money. If you are just publishing for yourself, family, and friends, have members of the family share in the cost of publishing.
- Get a clear bid on the total cost. Be clear on the total number of books you will be getting on the first printing, as well as the cost of any reprints.
- Pay the money to have someone copyedit before the final printing. Once your book is printed, it’s too late: all your silly mistakes, typos, awkward grammar, misspellings, errors in chronology, confusing syntax, etc. are in ink forever for the world to see.
- Watch out for cheap binding jobs. Make sure the bindery has some guarantee if your book’s pages start falling out right away.
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