Different authors have different reasons for self-publishing. If you are aiming to write and publish your own book, you should make it a point to check out your own motives for doing so. You have to make sure your motivations are strong and valid so you could get on and possibly achieve success. You would need more guts because it is just exhilarating and financially draining.
If no publishing company is willing to take chances on you, you could opt to self-publish your own book. Be ready to shoulder all the costs and take care of just about everything, from writing, to editing, to publishing, and marketing. Here are the most common motivations why authors prefer self-publishing.
An author is rejected by any major publisher because of several obvious and logical reasons. First, he could be unknown to the book industry. Face the truth. Most successful book authors are celebrities or icons in their own fields. No publisher could be willing to gamble on nobody because readers would not be easily open to reading content from nobody. Second, the topic could be obscure.
An author may feel good about an issue, but most other people think it is irrelevant and boring. On the contrary, a very controversial topic for a book is also avoided because no publisher would ever want to face legal hurdles and battles for any unknown author. The subject could be of interest only to a minimal amount of the population.
Lastly, the author’s writing style, genre, and grammar is simply rejected.
Another reason for any author to go self-publishing is that he desperately desires complete editorial and artistic freedom. The author may not agree with any modifications required by the publisher. It is common for some writers to resist criticisms and changes especially if they think such are destructive to their ego.
He may be targeting to take complete control and rights to the intellectual aspect of the book. The author might feel he needs to make sure the rights, sales, database, and fame of the book remain his. Then, he could be motivated by the low overall publishing expense of the book. He could also feel more confident and comfortable with the idea that he is publishing independently.
If authors have no other resort like self-publishing, the history of book publishing industry could have probably been different. Some of the most unforgettable booksellers worldwide were classics that originally had been published independently by authors. Examples are the phenomenal ‘In Search of Excellence’ (Tom Peters), ‘The Joy of Cooking’ (Irma Rombauer), ‘Spartacus’ (Howard Fast), ‘Poems’ (Oscar Wilde), and ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ (Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield).
To sum it up, be reminded that self-publishing is not an entirely new practice. In fact, it has been around, though in different forms, since time immemorial. These days, self-publishing is logically increasing amid further advancement of the modern-age publishing technology. With the emergence of desktop publishing systems, xerography, the Internet, and print on demand, self-publishing is becoming a clear phenomenon in the changing publishing industry.
But are you cut for it? Not all authors have what it takes to survive and make good in having to self-publish a book. Before you get into such an endeavor, be wise to think once, twice, thrice, and many times over.
You should be aware that self-publishing could very well be a great solution for putting your material into tangible print. The practice could very well put you in control of your very own position and destiny when it comes to book writing. If many seasoned and famous authors are under major book publishers, why should you be content at publishing your own work? There are specific reasons.
The first good reason is that you could preserve and maintain your style. In traditional book publishing, an author would have to revise a material for an indefinite number of times to satisfy the requirements and judgment of third-party editors and publishers. Usually, the process gets so tedious and so long that at times, it takes years before a book is finally approved for commercial printing. Conventional book printing is not friendly and ideal for beginners. This is because the entire process could not just be exhilarating. It could be traumatic overall.
Second, an author could attain a great sense of pride when self-publishing. That is because he would be spared from the stress and embarrassment of being asked to revise a work many times or worse of being rejected in the long run. No publisher could ever turn him down if he decides to publish his work on his own. Instead of the editor or publisher, the readers would be the actual powerful judge that would impose verdicts on your book. This judgment could be translated to high sales.
Third, why would you settle to get just a mere $1 in royalty for every piece of book you sell if you could have a major 60% cut on total sales of your product? Generally, self-publishers get that amount of profit from sales of books. In the conventional setting, a publisher would impose high commissions on a book so that in the end, the author brings home a minimal amount of profit from his own work.
The power would be in your hands if you decide to self-publish your own book. Because you do not have a publisher, you should take the sole responsibility of taking care of just about every aspect of publishing, including title, cover design, printer choice, rights, book marketing strategies, after-market deals, and sales. You should be very attentive and highly organizational and systematic to make it all work at the same time.
Then, be able to launch your book as soon as you want. There are no deadlines to beat, no editors to please, and no pressure to meet regarding sales. You could opt to keep your capital minimal by deciding to print a limited number of your book first. You should be able to gauge the reception of the readers. If it does not work well, you could freeze further printing so you could significantly lower your costs, and even possible loss.
Lastly, decide to get into self-publishing to prove to yourself you could do it. Be confident that you are making sense in your book and that readers could really love it. You have no idea whatsoever of how glorious you could feel the first time you would see any of your authored books being displayed in major bookstores in the city. You should not hesitate to publish your own unique book now.
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