Feb 12 2010
Self-Publishing – Fueled By Many Different Reasons
Different authors have different reasons for self-publishing. If you are aiming to write and publish your own book, you should make it a point to check out your own motives for doing so. You have to make sure your motivations are strong and valid so you can get on and possibly achieve success. You will need to have plenty of gumption also, because the process can become exhausting and financially draining.
If no publishing company is willing to take chances on you, you could opt to self-publish your own book. Be ready to shoulder all the costs and take care of just about everything, from writing, to editing, to publishing, and marketing.
Here are some of the most popular reasons why authors prefer self-publishing.
An author is rejected by any major publisher because of several obvious and logical reasons. First, he could be unknown to the book industry. Face the truth. Most successful book authors are celebrities or icons in their own fields. No publisher will be willing to gamble on an unknown, because readers would not be easily open to reading content from nobody.
Second, the topic could be obscure.
An author may feel good about an issue, but most other people think it is irrelevant and boring. On the other end of the spectrum, a highly controversial topic for a book is also avoided because no publisher would ever want to face legal hurdles and battles for any unknown author. The subject could be of interest only to a small percentage of the population, thus making it unfeasible from a financial point of view (i.e. not enough returns projected from sales).
Lastly, the author’s writing style, genre, and grammar is simply rejected.
Another reason for an aspiring author to go the self-publishing route is that he or she desires complete editorial and artistic freedom. The author may not agree with any modifications required by the publisher.
It is fairly common for many writers to resist criticism and suggestions for change, especially if they think these would be destructive to their work, or damaging to their ego.
The author may also be aiming to take complete control and own full rights to the intellectual aspects of the book. The author might feel he or she needs to make sure the rights, sales, database, and fame of the book remain theirs. Then, he or she could be motivated by the low overall publishing expense of the book. Or, they could also feel more confident and comfortable with the idea that they are publishing independently.
If authors did not have a resort like self-publishing, the history of the book publishing industry would probably have been quite different. Some of the most unforgettable booksellers worldwide were classics that originally had been published independently by authors. Examples are the phenomenal ‘In Search of Excellence’ (Tom Peters), ‘The Joy of Cooking’ (Irma Rombauer), ‘Spartacus’ (Howard Fast), ‘Poems’ (Oscar Wilde), and ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ (Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield).
To sum it up, remember that self-publishing is not an entirely new practice. In fact, it has been around, though in different forms, since time immemorial. These days, self-publishing is logically increasing amid further advancement of the modern-age publishing technology. With the emergence of desktop publishing systems, xerography, the Internet, and print on demand, self-publishing is becoming a clear phenomenon in the changing publishing industry.
But are you cut out for it? Not all authors have what it takes to survive and make good in having to self-publish a book. Before you get into such an endeavor, be wise to think once, twice, thrice, and many times over. As the old saying goes, expect to succeed, but have a plan in place in case things don’t work out as expected. Good luck!
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