When you self-publish your first book you are now in unknown territory. Yes, you could have read books on the subject. You probably spoke to many authors about this subject but until you actually put your money where your book is, you really do not know anything at all about what it is and what is expected of a self-published author.
You need to look at the subject as love. When you self-publish you are constantly spending money for all sorts of projects you never dreamed of in the past.
These are some of the things you should be aware of before you self-publish your book:
(1) You will not be able to put your book on a known bookstores shelf. The reason for this is the publisher pays the bookstore for shelf space. There is not enough room for everybody’s books. They usually stick with the well-known popular authors they know they can sell and make money on.
(2)An unknown author is a risk.
(3)You will pay to self-publish your book.
(4)You will do all the marketing which is completely frustrating.
(5)The best way to sell your book is to do a talk or presentation at a club or group full of people and sell your book in the back of the room.
(6)You will have to pay somebody to edit your book. It is not a good thing to edit your own book. You are to close to it and can not see what others can see.
(7)If you need illustrations done and you can not do your own this is another expense.
I do not want you to get frustrated and not publish your book. If you feel your book is worth the money and effort – go for it. As I said above, This is strictly for people who love reading and writing and are willing to get hooked on an expensive hobby or extra income.
Once you self-publish your first book and you get good feed back from, friends, family and complete strangers you will definitely publish your second book. See what I said. HOOKED.
Thank you for reading my article. Please feel free to read any of my numerous articles on various subjects.
Copyright Linda E. Meckler 2009
