how does one self-publish a book????

Question

is it better to do it on ur own or have some one publish i for u????

Answer 1

It depends on what you want out of publishing your book. If you are content to have a bound copy sit on your shelf and the shelves of those you love then there's nothing wrong with self publishing. If you are a great people person and a real go getter and can sell your book on your own then give self publishing a try.

For most of us though, having the resources of a publisher can really come in handy. They know the business. They have experience and hopefully know what will sell. You also have the benefit of having your book professionally edited so the best thing you can create is out there on the market. (some writers can be sentimental about their work and have trouble editing it for self publication)

Try lulu.com if you want to look into self publishing. My friend just did one and it's already sold a few copies.

Answer 2

To quote Oscar Wilde, Let's call a spade a spade. Self publishing is vanity publishing. It is for people who cannot publish books any other way. Vanity publishers will publish anything you want as long as you can pay the bill. The content doesn't matter. No agent or publisher is going to approve or reject it. The only thing they want to know is if your check clears the bank. It does NOT make you a published author. It makes you a vanity author. If you went to an agent or publisher and called yourself a published author after vanity publishing, they would laugh you out of the office, pick themselves up off the floor and return to the Aeron chair.

The only thing you get for your money is a box of books. You may sell them to family and friends. You may refer people to Amazon to order your book. But unless you do so, nobody is ever going to know you or your book exists, Vanity publishing does NOTHING for you in terms of promotion. Many vanity presses don't even give you an ISBN number.

Bottom line - they do not get your books on shelves in bookstores. And that is where books sell. The average sales of a vanity published book is less than 100 books. At that rate, you don't even break even. In fact, you will have to plow money into marketing and promotion and you will lose money. I have known many people who lost bundles trying to vanity publish. I hate to say this, but there is a reason when publishers turn you down. If you cannot get a traditional publisher to handle your work, it probably means it isn't good enough. If it was, don't you think they would jump at the chance? Only NINE books in history have been successful vanity published books. One was the Celestine Prophecy. I believe the other 8 were non fiction text books type things. Selling a "few copies" with Lulu isn't exactly a great accomplishment.

Vanity publishing is a black hole. They frequently send people here to this site and others to give glowing reports of how successful the service is. Those are called sock puppets - here to encourage you to blow money on a useless venture. Some of the vanity publishers like Publish America have so many lawsuits against them, they will be in court forever.

My advice is to stick with traditional publishing. if you get a lot of rejection letters, hire an editor to work on the book and figure out why it is being rejected. That is money well spent. A good editor can work magic on a book for you. Paying a vanity press is tossing your money down the potty. Pax - C

Answer 3

Self publishing is not a good idea. Much too risky and you get more benifits having a publisher.

Answer 4

Don't self-publish, you'll never sell the books.

The publishing company doesn't help you and you can't get them into bookstores. Bookstores all have contracts with distributors who don't deal with self-publishers generally. The best you can hope for is amazon.com

Answer 5

have someone do it for you and have someone proof read it so you do not get sued