Many writers struggle with constant rejection from the publishing world. A rejection, though a part of the industry, is difficult for writers at any stage in their career. You pour your heart and soul into a book, along with hours of work, only to hear a publisher indicate that it isn’t what they are looking for at this particular time. Many books that were otherwise snubbed by traditional publishing houses have gone on to be very popular. How? It’s simple. Self-publishing is an avenue that many new, or rejected, writers pursue. When you hear self-publishing, perhaps you think about writing a book and taking it to a printer, paying for copies and doing all of the footwork to get your new work listed with major bookstores. But, thanks to the internet and an innovative new approach to publishing, that’s no longer the case. Sure, you still have to pen the book yourself but leave the printing up to someone else. A growing number of POD (print on demand) publishers are stepping up in search of the next bestseller. Print on demand is a term used to describe a publisher who handles all of the printing aspects, but on an as-needed basis.

The best self-publishing companies offer a variety of programs with the majority of them handling the issuance of an ISBN number and getting your book cataloged with all of the major online bookstores, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, etc. In addition, when a book is issued an ISBN number, it can be ordered at any bookstore. Your book may or may not be physically stocked at your local shopping mall, but the bookstore inside will have the capability to order it as requested. As your new title is listed nationally with every major bookstore?s catalog, it will steadily surface globally as well. A year after your book is released; don’t be surprised if search engine results show that it is listed with major online bookstores across the world, including Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, etc. If you have been turned away by traditional publishers, or simply want to retain full control over your book, it’s cover design and content, self-publishing may be the way to go. If you have never been published, it is difficult to find a traditional publisher. With self-publishing, you will have documentation of your previously published work and royalty statements to show its success. Once your book is published, get out there and promote your work. It’s the best way to take your career from new to permanent status.

Self publication means more money in your pocket and not your publishers.  Let us assume you do go the traditional publishing route for  your first book. If you were able to receive an advance of 6-10 thousand dollars, a very good advance for a first time author, I know many first time authors that walk away with advances of two to three thousand and the royalties are not very good either. This is not because they had a bad agent, it is because they have not proven themselves yet as a marketable author. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention that no  matter how small your advance, your literary agent will take  15% off the top. So let us talk about royalties for a moment. Generally speaking, hardcover books pay royalty rates of 10% on the first one to 250,000 copies sold. So if your book has a  cover price of $25.00, then you will earn a $2.50 royalty on  every copy sold, up to 250,000 copies. This means that if you only sell 10,000 copies, then you will only earn $25,000. Some publishing contracts even stipulate that if your book does not earn back its advance, you owe them! Keep in mind that our agent gets 15% of this too, and all of this is paid after you have earned your advance. Paperback  royalties pay an average of 6%.  That is not much of a salary for all of the work you put into  your book. Do not you deserve much more? We think you do! In addition to the small pay check, publishers can withhold your royalties as a reserve against book returns and you are still responsible for promoting your own book, which can mean hiring a publicist. There goes your advance! What does all this mean? It means, if you are willing to do the legwork yourself, meaning packaging, printing,  distributing, and promoting your book, every single cent from every single sale goes directly into your pocket. So if you sell 10,000 books at 19.99 each, you have made  $199,990. Um…that is a lot of money.  Of course you do have to cover your printing and marketing costs but you will earn significantly more per book and with proper packaging, you can roll your costs into the price of  your book. For example, if your book costs $2.00 to print and market then you up your price to $21.99. Readers will  be willing to pay the extra $2.00 because you have told them, through your amazing packaging, that the book will  benefit their lives the way no other book can. In fact, I have seen books sell for several hundred dollars. If you have extremely specialized and unique knowledge, you can price it at any level that you desire and people will buy  it. The really great thing about self publishing is that you can update your book and re-release it anytime you want and keep the profits rolling in. Self publishing is fun, it is  challenging, and it is very very lucrative.