KATHY IDE’S
TIPS FOR BETTER WRITING
© Kathy Ide, 2012
~ Self-Publishing ~
There
are both benefits and disadvantages to self-publishing.
Benefits:
1. You make more money
per book. (Commercial publishers usually pay about 10% of the selling price to
the author. With subsidy publishing, you can make 50% or more on each book
sold.)
2. You have more
control over the final manuscript.
3. You don’t
have to convince an acquisitions editor plus two or three publishing committees
to accept your book.
4. You can get the
book published in 3 to 6 months instead of 2 or 3 years.
Disadvantages:
1. You have to bear
the up-front costs.
2. You don’t get
the same level of editing/proofing as with a royalty house.
3. Most magazine
editors won’t review self-published books.
4. Few bookstores
will stock self-published books.
5. You’re
totally responsible for marketing and distribution. (Some houses offers these
services—for a fee—but that’s never as effective as what you can do as the
author.)
6. The time
you spend marketing will eat away at your time to do other things—like write,
or take care of your family.
Before
you self-publish ask yourself the following questions:
1. How
many royalty publishers have looked at your manuscript? What was their
reaction? If they said the writing was good but there’s something they didn’t
like about it, consider following their suggestions. If you need to improve
your writing skills, take a course or read some books or hire a professional
editor. (Check out www.ChristianEditor.com
if you want some referrals to professional, established Christian editors.) If
the publisher doesn’t think there’s a big enough market for the book, consider
the possibility that they might be right. They’re the professionals in the
industry after all.
2. Have
you only approached the big publishing houses? Sally Stuart’s Christian Writer’s Market Guide lists lots of
smaller houses. They may pay smaller royalties and have a more limited showing
in the marketplace, but they’re still standard publishers that won’t make you
pay to get your book printed.
For more details on self-publishing options, check out Kathy's website,
www.KathyIde.com, under Helping Writers/Getting
Published. For assistance in editing and/or proofreading your manuscript for a
subsidy publisher, or for assistance with self-publishing (including
typesetting, file conversion, cover design, and printing), e-mail Kathy at Kathy@KathyIde.com or go to www.ChristianEditor.com.
*Article used by permission.
*Article used by permission.
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