You Have Finished Writing a Book, Now What? To Self-Publish or Not?

Writing a book is a major accomplishment that can only be trumped by actually seeing your words in print and holding a copy of your book. Making this dream a reality is a lot easier than most people realize.

When you have a book that you are ready to have published you need to decide if you want to go the traditional route or the independent route. The traditional way involves sending out query letters to agents, and if you are lucky enough to land an agent then the agent will try to sell your book to a major publishing house. Now, if you are able to sell the book, the agent will get a commission and it can take up to 2 years for you to see the book in print. Usually, the publishing company will give you a modest advance, and by modest I mean you cannot quit your day job. And once the book is published, you will have to work tirelessly to self-promote your work.

If you do not want to wait up to 2 years to see your book in print, or you are getting nothing but rejection letters, or maybe you do not want to give money to a middleman (the agent), or you just do not want to get edited there is another option for you besides using a traditional publisher. You can publish the book yourself. Depending on your goals, you can publish for no money at all up front or spend upwards of $10,000.

If your main goal is to just see your book in print, or to have a copy on your bookshelf and maybe give a few copies out to friends and family members, then self publishing is a viable and inexpensive option for you. If this sounds like your reason for publishing and you are not concerned with making money off of the project, then you can use a digital printing option, such as Café Press or Lulu.com, which requires little or no money upfront.