Guide to Self Publishing Your First Book

Many aspiring article writers and authors are turning to self-publishing as the easiest way to bring their literary masterpiece to the marketplace. Article writers are flooding dozens of web-based article publishing sites, such as Helium.com, with a constant stream of articles and Blog posts covering just about every topic under the sun. More accomplished writers, meaning those with more book-like works, are now using free web publishing sites like Lulu.com. However, despite these advances in Internet publishing, traditional publishing in the form of self-published soft-cover books remains a viable alternative today.

If you are considering self-publishing as a way to finish that masterpiece you've been working on for the last decade, you are probably wondering where and how to get started. Here are a few suggestions that might help you see your work finished and perhaps enable you to sell a few copies. Who knows, perhaps you book will someday lead to national recognition and a long-term publishing contract with a commercial publishing and marketing firm. Hope never costs a dime, does it?

Doing your homework is the place to begin before you set out on a self-publishing journey. Reading this article is a good first step in that direction. According to Dan Pekarek, a self-published author of sci-fi novels, the next step is to pick up a copy of The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter. This is a gem of a book and should not be overlooked as a source of invaluable information about how to get started in self-publishing. Inside, you will discover that many well-known authors have begun their writing careers by publishing their first works on their own. Beyond that, however, the book presents an informative guide to lead you through the self-publishing wilderness and on to success.

Once you have a good idea of what self-publishing entails, you could look around and identify the nearest publishing company in your area. You might be surprised to discover that there are still many small publishing companies that serve niche markets, such as religious groups and not-for-profit organizations nearby. These operations can be quite helpful to you and you stand to learn a lot about the publishing business, as well. Unlike a large corporate publishing firm, a smaller firm is far more likely to teach you the ins and outs of publishing and marketing your book.

When meeting with the company's representatives, keep in mind that you will be negotiating a contract for service with them. Be prepared with lots of questions. The more you know about the company and how they can bring your work to print, the greater sense of pride you will have in your finished work. Contract negotiating isn't difficult as long as you keep in mind that you and the publisher are both working towards the same goal: getting your book into print as quickly as possible.

According to Pekarek, a typical contract should, as a minimum, include editing services, formatting, copyright registration, securing an ISBN Number, printing a commercial bar code on the back cover, and an agreement on delivery of the finished product. Ideally, the publisher will also help you bring your book to a book distributor for marketing and distribution to any number of outlets. If your publisher can accomplish all of these things, you have just completed about half the journey to success. Naturally, success is going to cost money.

There's no getting around the fact that self-publishing takes money. Your money. Perhaps you didn't think about that as you were busy writing and re-writing your manuscript. There's no getting away from it and if you have set-aside enough money to cover all the expenses, good for you. If you haven't you will want to get the publisher to give you a detailed cost estimate before you sign the contract. You might think your book is going to be an overnight sensation and hit the top of the hot-sellers list, but on the other hand, if it doesn't, how are you going to pay for it?

Finally, you must be prepared to self-market your book, as if self-publishing it wasn't enough. You do want to turn a profit from your labor, don't you? The only way to do that is make sales. Perhaps you haven't considered the need for a marketing plan, but your book will never get sold unless you have a plan to get it in front of book-buyers. This takes time and effort, as well as money.