Self Publishing - In Vain or Vanity?

Ambrose Musiyiwa, writing for BlogCritics, writes about the future and the realities of self-publishing. The grey line between POD and vanity publishers, readers' response to self-published books and comments from self-published writers. Makes for some great reading.

"Irving Karchmar says, "It can be done! It just takes work, like anything else in life."

Writers who are contemplating self-publishing need to investigate the industry thoroughly and make sure their work has been sufficiently edited and critiqued before they take it to the printers. They should also be prepared to market and promote their books aggressively."

See ' Print On demand - Free ' if you want some more information about POD publishers.

Suggested course of action:
1. Write book.
2. Post an ad on Craigslist that you need a pro editor to go through your book with a toothcomb.
3. POD
4. Promote

The dificult parts are 1 & 4. And I can't help you with either. Well, maybe a little bit with 4. Promoting a book is nowadays more of a science than an art. Just check if you're doing it all. Flooding book reviewers online with emails touting your book. Even a ratio of 1:10 will get you a huge number of reviews. Youtube video promos. Do it the old-fashioned way. Word-of-mouth.

End of the day, if your book is good, you have a good chance of hitting the mark. But it is true that with a crush of self-published books hitting the market, it will take time to weed out the trash from well,...your trash.