How would I go about self-publishing a book?

Question

My mother has a collection of self-written poetry that she has done over the years and wants to get it Self-Published into a book. Does she need an agent or something? Any tips on how to get the book distrubuted? And money is not a problem.
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

www.lulu.com is a great site. I checked it out on the BBB and it's only had 11 complaints in the last 36 months. It's a great publishing company and you are able to price your book. It's sold on www.lulu.com and I think it might be sold on Amazon or other sites too, I'm not sure about that though. My teacher uses it to publish his books.

Answer 2

Good thing money is not a problem because it will cost you lots of it. Self publishing used to be known as vanity publishing. That is what it is. It is basically for people who cannot publish any other way due to rejections. It will cost you money for set up fees and publishing. And you will get a box of books - nothing more. Your book will not be on sale in any bookstores and nobody will be able to purchase it online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble because they won't know it's there unless you tell them.

So then your real job begins. You will have to market the book. That means many things. Buying ad space online. Going personally to bookstores and begging them to stock your book. Sending thousands of letters to other stores asking them to shelve it. Finding any way you can to advertise and promote the book. It is a black hole for cash. And the average sales for a self published book is about 100 copies. It is a losing proposition.

I always offer the following advice. If you truly believe in your book - and you really should - you owe it to yourself and your book to try traditional publishing for at least a year to 18 months. Major publishers do not publish poetry books anymore, but there are many smaller "literary presses" that do. You can find them in Writers Market which you can buy for 30 bucks, but if money isn't an issue Literary Marketplace is the Industry Bible and you can buy it for 300 dollars.

Learn the world of traditional publishing and give it a shot. It is better than being known as a vanity author. If you go to my profile, you will find I have starred many great Q and A on publishing and writing. Feel free to print them out and study them. Many are using my starred questions to form their own reference books. Add me as a fan and you will get updates as I star new ones. I did it so people don't have to weed through thousands of Harry Potter questions on Resolved Questions to get useful info.

If you do decide on self publishing - by all means check with Preditors and Editors and Absolute Write Water Cooler's Bewares and Background Checks. There are a not of self publishers involved in a ton of litigation right now - complaints galore. Publish America leads the pack. They have over 56 thousand posts at Absolute Write alone. Check carefully.

Good luck. Pax - C

Answer 3

there are several online publishing companies and sometimes the best thing to do is shop around. you may also check locally. for instance, if her poetry is of religious nature, then you may be able to get a local bible book store to publish for a fee. you could also do a price comparison at poetry.com. i know they have information on publishing your own poetry book. i have no idea what the cost would be.