It happened again yesterday. Someone said to me, \u201cI self-published my book.\u201d The old-school side of my brain responded with an image of him having established his own publishing company. But no. When he handed me a copy of his book, I could see that it had been produced by one of the many pay-to-publish services. He paid to have his book published, all right, but he doesn\u2019t own the ISBN, so he doesn\u2019t have the freedom to approach booksellers or distributors and he would be hard-pressed to come out ahead when participating in a book festival. Heck, he can\u2019t even afford to send out very many review copies. <\/p>\n
The truth is, it is darn hard and can get quite expensive to promote books produced by a pay-to-publish company. First, you have the initial cost for their editorial services, page layout and cover design (if you so choose) and the production of the book. Then, in many cases, you have to buy the copies you want to sell. It can take a while to recoup your investment. Many countless authors never do. If you buy into any of the company\u2019s marketing programs, that\u2019s more money out of pocket. <\/p>\n
Some authors hand over everything they have saved for their book projects and then have nothing left to purchase copies of their own books in order to send out review copies, take them to book festivals, etc. It can take many months of aggressive promotion to finally dig out of the financial hole. Some authors just don\u2019t consider the fact that, once the final payment is made toward the production of their books, that\u2019s not the end of their financial responsibility. Now they need money to purchase books so they can sell them. And don\u2019t forget to factor in shipping expenses for those books going out to reviewers, etc. Can you see how these authors are actually going deeper into debt rather than recouping their expenses. <\/p>\n
Mark Levine, in his book, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing<\/em>, provides some interesting facts and figures related to 45 specific \u201cself-publishing companies.\u201d I strongly suggest reading this book before going that route. And I\u2019m not saying it is the wrong route. I just want you to have a clear understanding of the pros and cons\u2014make your publishing decisions from your head, not your emotions. <\/p>\n For many projects and their authors, I recommend true self-publishing. You establish your own publishing company. You make all of the decisions. And you reap all of the profits. If you are a bit intimidated by this idea, sign up for my Self-Publishing Course. I\u2019m offering a discount through June 2010. See my May 24, 2010 blog for details. Learn more about this and my other five courses here: I\u2019m starting a new project today and it involves you. Find the editorial error in my blog this morning and I\u2019ll send you my ebook of your choice. <\/p>\n Choices are: Leave your comment here or email me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It happened again yesterday. Someone said to me, \u201cI self-published my book.\u201d The old-school side of my brain responded with an image of him having established his own publishing company. But no. When he handed me a copy of his book, I could see that it had been produced by one of the many pay-to-publish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/courses.htm<\/a> <\/p>\n
\nThe Authors Repair Kit
\nThe Successful Author\u2019s Handbook
\nThe Successful Writer\u2019s Handbook
\nHow to Write a Successful Book Proposal in 8 Days or Less<\/em><\/p>\n