Traditional publishing: the pros and cons
Self-publishing is where you organize everything yourself or engage a project manager to do it for you. You get your own editor, typesetter, proofreaders, cover design and printing, as well as distribution, sales and marketing. You have control, you can also reap the financial rewards but you have all the risk. You can also consider traditional publishing, ebooks or print-on-demand. The benefits of self-publishing include: You can get a book printed very quickly after finishing it so that it can be ready to distribute and sell within a month. You have full control over the whole process as well as timing. You can sell by any means you like, e.g. digital, e-book, audio, print, rights to TV, movies etc. You can write for a small niche market that a large publisher would not consider, but in which you can still make sales in. You keep all rights to the material. More money can be made per book. You can test the market and then approach a publisher with evidence of sales. You can get into the game and become an author. As you establish your credibility, you can approach a publisher with a later project. Your time and effort go into marketing and promoting the book instead of chasing a publisher. The drawbacks include: You need to put the money upfront for printing, distribution and publicity (although this doesn‟t have to be expensive). You may have no experience and no contacts in the industry, so it will be harder to get distribution and sales. 1 http://www.TheCreativePenn.com Writing, self-publishing, print-on-demand, internet sales and marketing…for your book
You might not sell as many books, so even if you make more per book, you will make less overall. Self-published books are not considered as “important” as published books by the literary establishment. (Although you will find that on Amazon, it doesn‟t matter as long as your book is professional). You need to do it all yourself, unless you outsource the tasks and management. In terms of personality, you need to be more of a „project manager‟ in order to self-publish. You have to coordinate a number of things at the same time, and if you don‟t keep to the list you will not end up with a book.
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Joanna Penn is the author of “From Idea to Book” – all the information you need to get writing and pursue your dream of being a published author!
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2 http://www.TheCreativePenn.com Writing, self-publishing, print-on-demand, internet sales and marketing…for your book