Self Publishing?
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The big advantage that traditional publishing has over self-publishing is that the traditional publisher is responsible for marketing and can usually do it better than a self-publisher.
Publishers spend about $40,000 to publish a book. Most self-publishers are unwilling to spend that kind of money.
As for it being career suicide in 99% of the cases, this is far from the truth. The truth is that only 99% of all books are accepted by traditional publishers and until someone makes a name for themselves they really don't care what you do in terms of self-publishing. One the bright side, there are a number of people who have been very successful at self-publishing (such as Tim O'reilly). The publishing industry is about building a name more than it is about how a book comes to print.
- Original Cyn
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In actuality I'm happy I did it because what happened was that I got reader feedback...I'm not talking about friends and family, I'm talking about people who purchased my book and then let me know how much they enjoyed it. Let's face it, we're our own worst critics so for me it validated my career choice.
One of the main reason's self-publishing is frowned upon is because there are no gatekeepers. Anyone can publish anything...but, if you look around the local bookstores you'll see there's a bunch of junk out there anyway!
And regardless of whether you self-publish or not the marketing of the book is really in your hands. YUnless you have a major name (like a celeb) YOU have to get YOU noticed. The publishing house will only back you so much before you get lost in the shuffle.
That's just my two cents

- ResearchScholar
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I spoke to another author who published through a local publisher. Someone came knocking on his door for a movie right. The publisher got half of his earnings. Random House also came knocking on the door. He went with them. The local publisher took half of his upfront money.
Now, he was a author with a big house. He had a agent desire to take him as client. He took the time to write two more novels. The agent has tried to get them published. When I last talked with him, he had numerous rejections from publishers. He was discouraged. The publishing field is part of the entertainment field. It's one of the hardest field that you can ever get into. You need to find out what is right for you. Personally. I like self-publishing. I like being in control and making my own business decisions. Dan Brown started out as a self-publisher with his book The Da Vinci Code.
- ResearchScholar
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The key to any book is the author must promote it and it doesn't matter who the publisher is. If the author stops, the book usually stops moving. Some first time author think that they can write a book. A publisher will take it and they just sit back and become successful. Wrong! You really need to work hard. If you do not want to promote, then you have a book for friends and family.
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The cost for e-book publishing makes is worthy of your consideration. You can do it yourself. The Kindle route gets you into the game.
After two years of no response with a scattering of rejections I went with Kindle. The Christmas Pudding Lie is my first e-book.
IPad publishing is another way to get on the board.
Try doing it yourself. Good Luck
- ResearchScholar
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Congrats on your e-baook. Sounds like an interesting title.Branca wrote:Publishing today is big business. You can try the path of no rejection. Rarely today will a publisher or an agent bother to send a form rejction slip. They are too overloaded. I keep asking why then don't they hire more editors.
The cost for e-book publishing makes is worthy of your consideration. You can do it yourself. The Kindle route gets you into the game.
After two years of no response with a scattering of rejections I went with Kindle. The Christmas Pudding Lie is my first e-book.
IPad publishing is another way to get on the board.
Try doing it yourself. Good Luck
Care to tell us the process involved, i.e., as it relates to an e-book?
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Sounds great..Branca wrote:Publishing today is big business. You can try the path of no rejection. Rarely today will a publisher or an agent bother to send a form rejction slip. They are too overloaded. I keep asking why then don't they hire more editors.
The cost for e-book publishing makes is worthy of your consideration. You can do it yourself. The Kindle route gets you into the game.
After two years of no response with a scattering of rejections I went with Kindle. The Christmas Pudding Lie is my first e-book.
IPad publishing is another way to get on the board.
Try doing it yourself. Good Luck
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- ResearchScholar
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also, i'm afraid I've never heard of an un-published author being paid in advance for an unwritten book... how would that work?