Thursday 2 July 2009

Self-Publishing snobbery

There's a lot of snobbery in the air when someone mentions self-publishing. A lot of pursed lips and tut-tutting. It's the last resort of a poor writer having been rejected by countless agents and publishers, isn't it? .

Many think so, sadly.


I've read a few SP books and loads of "ordinary" books and have found errors in both. Funny, they are called spelling errors in SP books, but printing errors in books with a publishing house behind them.

The Pros and Cons of self-publishing can be found in the links highlighted. But, at all costs, make sure your book is the best it can be if you follow the SP route (by any route, really). Pay for a detailed edit/proof-read. Pay an artist for a good cover: these don't have to be expensive. Shop around.

But be prepared to sell yourself; pimping on Twitter, Facebook etc. You'll also make a lot of friends from all over the world, as I have found. I may not make my fortune from Eden but I'm sure going to have fun selling it!

2 comments:

  1. So self-publishing maybe isn't such a bad thing? I'm going to try to swing it with an agent, but if nothing comes of it, i will try SP. I've heard Publish America is bad news--that they have rights to your book for 10 years and that no book store will carry PA books. Do you recommend any self-publishing companies? Someone mentioned iUniverse or something like that today...I feel like I'm selling myself short already! But then again: my pages between two covers is a beautiful goal, no matter how many copies are printed/sold. I'm enjoying your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Monica,
    Glad you're enjoying my blog. You're right PA has received some very bad press and with reason. Stay away.

    http://youwriteon.com/ (Youwriteon.com is an English POD company.)

    http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111541 (this is a site called Absolute Write (American) talking about Lu-Lu which is an option you could look into http://www.lulu.com/

    There are a few about. Just remember these days there's no need to part with large sums of money. Just pay for the ISBN and THAT'S ALL.

    ReplyDelete

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