What is Self-Publishing?

Opinions vary about self-publishing. I self-published 11 of my own print and eBooks that are business books about book writing, self-publishing, and book marketing. Self-publishing is not a vanity press option, where you can get a company to get your family cookbook or anything into print. And Print on Demand is a digital printing offering, not publishing or marketing. While many choose it because they don’t know the downfalls of it and they get disappointed. I have offered discussions on Print on Demand at my book group at Linkedin.com.

Think YOU when you think self-publishing. YOU are responsible for all the things that you must do to get your book into the hands of your readers. YOU get an ISBN number for each book, which makes you a publisher unless you plan to only sell your book at your Web site. YOU can set up a publishing name/business as Dan Poynter advises since some book printers won’t work with individuals. But, you don’t have to.

YOU will need help on your book, so you choose a book coach, such as myself, to help make your book more saleable. And a good book coach knows a lot about non-fiction chapters to help you engage your readers, not lecture to them. It’s amazing how few people realize this. A book coach will look at the whole picture and help you set up proper pre-marketing and develop your author platform to sell  a lot of copies and brand you, your book,  and your business.

With a professional book coach’s expertise, YOU arrange for your own editors, proof-readers, book cover designers, and formats.

If you want a print version, YOU choose a printer, or a combination printer-and-distributor such as LightningSource or CreateSpace who allow you to print-on-demand with your own ISBN. (CreateSpace offers design services and general hand-holding for a price; LightningSource does not, but Lightning Source provides access to Ingram’s) Or you go to an offset printer who has experience in making books, some of whom can recommend providers of services you can’t or don’t want to do for yourself.

Remember, as a 24 year book coach, I advise my clients to not do what many books tell them to do such as printing huge numbers of books for a discount. Forget the discount, and use a digital printer like Deharts to print only the number of books you can sell in three months. Then, you’ll have more money for promotion and marketing–the things even more important than what’s inside your book. Without them, not much will happen.

If you want an eBook version, you can do this with little effort and money. It’s a good idea, because you can get the mistakes and kinks corrected before you spend a lot on printing. I often advise clients to write an eBook first, then a bit longer print book. You can actually write them at the same time.

Think about your audience before you write your book, and know for non-fiction or self-help, your target readers want a much shorter book–easy-to-read and one that solves their problem.

Now, you know what Self Publishing is. It’s easier than you think–with a little help. Any journey is faster, easier, and cheaper with a partner.

Get all the help you need for your writing/publishing project with Judy’s ebook at Amazon!

Start receiving the individualized attention your book needs from an old pro and savvy book coach with Judy’s 1/2 hour breakthrough coaching session.