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The latest estimates indicate that the number of books published annually has now surpassed the one million mark. Now, here’s the amazing part. Apparently, about 75% of those authors chose self publishing for their books instead of going with a publishing company.
The traditional role of publishing companies has officially been eclipsed by a new breed of self publishing services that have opened up a whole new world of opportunities for aspiring and experienced authors. How would you like to self publish your book?
With self publishing you don’t need a book deal
I have absolutely nothing against the idea of submitting a book proposal and getting picked up by some major publishing house. If that’s the route you choose, then more power to you. Still, I think it’s only fair to warn you that getting a big advance check on your book deal is probably not going to happen.
As their grip on the world of book production and distribution has loosened, the publishing industry has become much more frugal in the way they use their dwindling resources. If you are an unknown author, not only will there be no advance payment, but you will probably be expected to handle your own promotional campaigns as well. For all but the elite, the glamour of getting published and promoted by a big publisher has vanished.
Technology to the rescue
These days, the aspiring author has a lot of choices when it comes to getting a book to market. Some of the most popular options are outlined in 6 Ways to Publish Your Own Book. For the purpose of this article, I am going to focus on only one of those options.
When I was ready to publish my book TRUE SELF, the choice of which available self publishing service to use was a no-brainer. I chose Createspace for one very important reason. Can you guess what that reason was? The answer is simple, they are owned by Amazon. If you want to go self publishing route and have your book listed on Amazon, go with Createspace.
My experience self publishing on Createspace
One of the things I really like about Createspace is how customizable the process is. If you want experience self publishing and keep it really simple, here’s the process. You can set up a free account, choose the dimensions of your book, use their cover creator software, upload your PDF book file, and hit the submit button.
As soon as you enter your book title, they will even give you an ISBN number for free. That’s a savings of between $55 and $125 right off the bat. In fact, except for the cost of ordering a proof copy of your book for final approval ($3-$4 + shipping) you can do the whole thing for free. If you have a question, they have a service called “Call Me” and as soon as you click it a customer service professional will call you on the phone. It’s amazing!
From self publishing on Createspace to selling on Amazon
Once you approve the proof copy of your book, it only takes 5-7 business days to see it on Amazon. The “Look Inside” feature is also handled by Createspace, but it takes a couple of weeks to set that up.
The quality of the books produced by Createspace is very impressive. The cover, binding, paper, and print quality are as good as any major publisher I have seen. I designed my own cover and had quite a few interior images and charts which naturally took more work on my part, but the results made it well worth the extra effort.
What about Kindle?
Kindle publishing has become so popular that no serious author can afford to ignore it. I got some bids from ScriptLance for Kindle formatting and they averaged about $150, but then something wonderful happened. Just in the nick of time, Createspace started offering a Kindle ready file conversion service that formats your book into an electronic Kindle eBook for Amazon. The pricing for this service starts at only $69 and again, they provide the required ISBN number (not the same as your print book).
As it turned out, the formatting for my book cost slightly more because of all the interior images and charts. The thing is, it was very reasonably priced and I had peace of mind knowing that it was being handled by an in-house team of experts. If you are thinking of self publishing your book, the last thing you want is to rely on some unknown company who may or may not understand Amazon and Kindle.
Go ahead, self publish your book!
If you have been dreaming of self publishing a real book, but didn’t know how to go about it, I suggest you seriously consider using Createspace. I hesitated because I didn’t know where to start or which company to use. Don’t make the same mistake. It’s easier than you probably thought to use a self publishing service for your book and you can start immediately.
If you already have content like an ebook or a series of articles you really like, why not take the next step. If you jump on it, you could complete the self publishing process and have your book on Amazon within a few weeks. Believe me, there is nothing quite like the feeling of accomplishment that comes from holding your very own real book in your hand. Really, what are you waiting for? You know you want to, so, go ahead and give self publishing a try!
