Anyone could take the chance and opportunity to successfully author a book. In some cases, non-writers are also able to produce and sell some of the best sellers. Do you want to give it a shot? Nobody said book publishing and authoring is an easy task, but you could always try.
Self-publishing is the practice when a writer or author decides to publish his own book. He is opting not to use third-party publishers and resources to do so. To most beginners, this could be exhilarating and highly risky because all costs would have to be shouldered by the author. There is also no guarantee that readers would be persuaded to buy and read the book. When there is less stellar or no sales at all, the author is standing to lose all his capital.
Some writers simply get into self-publishing just to satisfy their dreams of becoming real book authors. To most of them, losing money is just commensurate to the satisfaction of seeing their books make it to the bookstores. However, given the proper guidance and effective marketing schemes, self-published books could instantly sell like hotcakes. How to do it? Pay attention to your content. Here are ways on how you could create and write very interesting content for your self-published books.
First of all, develop a good and bankable idea that would be the subject or focus of your book. Anyone could easily self-publish anything he wants. You could always talk about your own experiences or your own expertise. However, if you aim to self-publish to earn revenues and profits, you should start by considering your own book more of as a piece of sellable product aside from as a piece of good art.
Do a simple and practical research about what topics most readers would surely be interested in. It would also make sense if you would analyze the current book market. The most controversial and interesting subjects might already be discussed by a number of books. As a beginner, it is wise if you would initially stay away from fierce competition. Accept the fact that others’ books on the same subject could truly be better than your own.
How could you get readers’ attention? Aside from focusing on interesting subjects, you could spur some controversy. If you are not good in making instant scandals, you could try out planning a different and impressive marketing campaign for your book. But before you go that far, finalize your content.
Try to condition your mind that you are after sales, not shallow fame. If you make good sales, you could achieve both, so dream of reaching the sky instead of just the ceiling. You could strategically write books that your target audience or readers would surely find most valuable.
Treat your book as an actual and physical product. Thus, pay closer attention to quality. One of the main challenges and setbacks of self-publishing is that you are left to edit and criticize your own work. Commission a third-party person to do so. You should put up a check-and-balance measure. Lastly, do not intend to impose astronomical price tag to your book.
The more affordable it gets, the better is its chance of being bought and read by readers.
Have you heard of the phrase ‘print on demand’ or POD? This practice, also called PQN (print quantity needed) and short run printing, is giving another definition to what is currently called in the book industry as self-publishing. These days, most authors who are considering getting into self-publishing deals are more likely to end up getting into arrangements with POD companies.
To better understand POD and self-publishing, it would be appropriate to take a review of the orthodox book publishing process. There are just too many people and writers who are dreaming of someday being called real book authors. To such people, having a work published could mean attainment of an ultimate dream. Unfortunately, book publishing is not an easy and smooth road to take. It is fully paved with disappointments, rejection, and failure.
In the traditional way, writers would have to approach publishers who could publish their work for commercial release and distribution. It is not as easy as it seems. Before any book is published, it has to be approved first. Publishers have been in the industry or quite some time. They have a knack for identifying and telling which materials could be appreciated and patronized by the public. Thus, they reject materials that are perceived not appealing to readers.
In general, if publishers do not like any author’s book, the material would be turned down. Publishing would then be impossible, unless the writer maintains determination and strong will not to give up. The next viable and practical option to take would be self-publishing. You should know that the practice is not as easy as it seems. When you decide to publish your own book, you should be ready to face and take all the required costs and efforts.
You could enter subsidy or vanity publishing. In both kinds, a writer would be required to pay fees for book publication. In other words, if you are a writer who wishes to have your book published for mass release, you have to pay the publisher to make it happen. In turn, you could have your book published as it is, without any editing and interference from editors and publishers. However, you have to suffer several consequences.
Because your book is not criticized or edited by a third party prior to printing, you could not be sure whether it would remain amateurish among the perception of the public. This way, you are more likely to incur losses rather than generate profit. To minimize risks of losing, you could turn to POD for self-publishing.
In POD, you have to submit your material to a POD company, who would take care of printing whenever there is demand. Your material could be in printable formats like text files, Microsoft Word document, or even RTF. Whenever an order for your book is received, the company would print a copy for the buyer. In this way, the need for warehousing and massive printing is avoided. Thus, every copy you print is actually sold.
What most authors love about POD is that their independence is also kept. Some regard this as a disadvantage because books that are not properly edited and judged by a third party publisher are usually slammed by critics as being amateurish. Thus, readers are usually not patronizing books that are published this way.
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