When I meet an author with a great book concept, one who's definitely the right person to write that book, right away I'll often encourage him or her to self-publish. This is because I know that, if an author is thoroughly invested in what they have to say, and if they're determined to create a buzz about their message, they'll discover ...
5 Fantastic Benefits of Self-publishing
1. Control. When you enter into a contract with a major publishing house, you're signing an exclusive agreement that prevents your having input into most of the important decisions that will affect your book's perception by the public, and its sales. You'll have very little say about the look and feel of your book cover, the endorsements that appear on the back of your book, or the wording of your press release, for example. And since all of the above elements are critical to giving your book its best chance for bestseller status, such loss of control can pose significant problems. "But don't publishers know better than I what to do to sell a book?" you may ask. Not necessarily. Authors usually know more about their book's subject-and hence, about their target audience (market)-than anyone else. Hey, they wrote the book!
More food for thought about signing with a major publishing house: If for some reason your book doesn't sell quickly and the publisher lets it go out of print, there's often a "waiting period" before the author is allowed to self-publish the book to get it back on the shelves. In the meantime, the reading public sees that your book is "out of print" and a great deal of word-of-mouth damage is done. Self-publishing means that you are at the helm of your book project. Of course, it also means that the responsibility for its success rests in your hands. But when you believe in your message and know that you're going to do everything in your power to get that message out to your target audience, isn't it a good feeling to know that you're the one driving its success in the marketplace?
I suggest a balance of control and delegation. The right publishing ally can coach you through the process of writing and editing your book, and will also advise you to design and market your message in a way that gets optimum results. Your publishing ally may be a book editor, a publishing consultant, a published author, or all three. If she's worth her salt, though, she'll know what it will take to get your book published, and she'll know how to help you make it happen.
2. Money. Why does it make good business sense to self-publish? Consider the following: a contract with the book publisher doesn't give you an ironclad guarantee that your book will ever and upon the shelves. If you're a new author, your publisher will allocate zero marketing dollars to promote your book. It's sink or swim! If your book does sell well, it will be due to your own hard work and ingenuity-and your reward will be a tiny fraction of the book's total profits. Self-publishing admittedly involves more capital risk, but it also means that the extensive footwork you do to market your book will go to producing income for the person who most deserves it. After all, you're the one who's doing all the work to ignite word-of-mouth about your book. Not only that, you wrote it! Don't you deserve to reap 100% of the profit?
3. No Waiting, No Rejection. The Cinderella story of the little book that gets discovered by a publisher and becomes an overnight bestseller is mostly just that-a fairytale. Yes , it happens. But it hasn't been happening a whole lot lately. In the current publishing climate, with major houses paying gigantic advances to celebrity authors-their "cash cows"-not much is left to spend on developing new talent. Let's be honest: a publisher isn't going to spend a dime marketing a book by an as yet unknown author. To get your book considered for publication in the first place, you'll need to have an extremely convincing marketing strategy in place which you intend to implement on your own, at your own expense! Such as the case in every genre from children's books to alternative health to historical novels. First-time authors are being turned away en masse. And since many nonfiction book projects are time-sensitive-well-placed offerings intended to respond to a specific market trend -their authors often while way their precious window of opportunity waiting for agents or publishers to respond to a proposal. It isn't impossible to get a major publishing house interested in a book by a first-time author, but it's getting more difficult all the time. Self-publishing removes the wait (and the accompanying weight from your shoulders) and the discomfort of rejection from the process of getting your book into print.
4. Independence. Self-published authors are usually people with confidence in their message. Many have already developed a following by giving talks and seminars in areas where they live and work. Experts know when they have a powerful personal message-they don't need a publisher's approval to pump themselves up. Such authors, many of whom are already seasoned professionals, self-publish their books because they love being in the driver's seat of their book project. Rather than gamble that a big corporation will treat their book with the respect it deserves, such an author takes the publishing reins to ensure that her message reaches the widest possible audience. No one cares more about your book than you do.
5. Power of Belief. The power of belief in our words is what makes promises good and turns dreams into reality. Authors who self-publish their books believe deeply that others will benefit from reading what they have to say. They have unshakable conviction. Such authors often tell me, "I had to write this book. I just have to get it out there!" Deep belief is the selfless power that drives all true service and makes a difference in the world. Authors with a strong sense of purpose know that they can make their books succeed. They don't want to wait around for a publishing house to "accept" their work. Aware that time is precious, such authors create their own publishing opportunities. They get behind their own message. They launch a campaign fueled with belief in the creative power of intention.
Every good editor or publishing consultant knows that the best way to make your book a true success is to create and market a message that you will both be proud of for years to come. Creating uplifting books is a passion. Make it yours, and every one of your books sold will be a vote of confidence in yourself and the rest of humanity!
About The Author
Ceci Miller, MFA, President of CeciBooks Editorial & Publishing Consultation, has been writing and editing books with bestselling authors since 1988. A graduate of the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop, Ceci Miller has written, co-authored and edited numerous published books, and worked as staff editor for an international magazine. For a free initial consultation, or more information, go to www.CeciBooks.com.
I'm amazed!Everywhere I go on the Web, people are desperately... Read More
Good newsletter names are usually 2-4 words. If shorter, they... Read More
Chances are if you surf the net much you have... Read More
Are you looking to increase your relevancy in the search... Read More
The main task of a newsletter publisher is to select... Read More
A debate is raging in e-publishing circles: should content be... Read More
The first thing you should consider in advertising is the... Read More
What is your worse fear as a self-publishing writer? For... Read More
Publishing, both electronic and hard copy, from articles to books,... Read More
It's not enough to prepare and distribute a monthly newsletter,... Read More
Many times I receive a Welcome Message from someone after... Read More
While sending out a text e-zine may seem like a... Read More
If you publish an email newsletter, do you convert the... Read More
You Have Won! Hold an ongoing prize drawing... Read More
1. Don't bury your subscriber form, place it on your... Read More
1. Many Ezine Publishers use too many styles of separatorin... Read More
Ever wonder how a "guru" earns $3,546 or more just... Read More
When I meet an author with a great book concept,... Read More
While there are seemingly endless ways to promote your e-zine... Read More
Do you struggle with creating content for your ezine? You... Read More
One of the biggest obstacles to building a good sized... Read More
There are literally thousands of ezines being published online these... Read More
There are thousands of email newsletters or "ezines" produced every... Read More
So how do smaller businesses use the internet to drive... Read More
Well, it is definitely yes!In the early day of internet... Read More
Newsletter SoftwareWhat types of newsletter software can I use to... Read More
How to write your ezine in 5 minutes by legally... Read More
Do you place back-issues of your Newsletter onyour website?There are... Read More
Ezine is an electronic newsletter that is published through internet.... Read More
If my in-box is any indication, most of the business... Read More
After creating your email newsletter, you face the challenge of... Read More
What's the point in spending hours preparing a newsletter, message... Read More
We all know that an e-zine won't attract and keep... Read More
When writing an ezine ad, there is a big mistake... Read More
An email newsletter is probably the most effective way to... Read More
This article is particularly for those people who want to... Read More
I'm working on a report for a company that puts... Read More
Who doesn't want to make money online? Internet is here... Read More
You can make a decent income selling products and services... Read More
A few years ago, when I first started seeing HTML... Read More
Print on demand (POD), a cross between self-publishing and digital... Read More
If you want to have a successful newsletter, you need... Read More
Branding, or brand marketing as some now call it, is... Read More
Chances are if you surf the net much you have... Read More
Although we are in the information age, very few people... Read More
We all know that an e-zine won't attract and keep... Read More
Many businesses use email newsletters to introduce themselves to new... Read More
Did you ever wonder why some business owners seem to... Read More
Time, of course, doesn't stand still and never did, and... Read More
It is possible to increase the subscription to your e-zine... Read More
1. Write your own articles.Your articles will give you an... Read More
Ever wonder how a "guru" earns $3,546 or more just... Read More
You've convinced me that I want to sign up for... Read More
1. Use autoresponders to publish and promote your ezine.Autoresponders with... Read More
I'm amazed!Everywhere I go on the Web, people are desperately... Read More
You Have Won! Hold an ongoing prize drawing... Read More
1. Make your ecourse short like 5 - 7 days.... Read More
Writing a newsletter or article can be very time consuming.First,... Read More
Ok, it's time to bring out my soapbox.Something has been... Read More
If you publish an e-mail newsletter, or "e-zine," you'll need... Read More
1. Share your personality with your subscribers. Your subscribers are... Read More
So you want to get a book published and add... Read More
When you have an online business you need to utilize... Read More
When I teach ezine classes, I ask the students what... Read More
Formatting your text newsletter correctly can make a failure into... Read More
The Internet is too rich. Even powerful and sophisticated search... Read More
Ezine Publishing |