If you are a writer, or even a beginning writer, your dream is to see your work displayed in a public bookstore for anyone and everyone to have the opportunity to buy and read. Even in this digital world, the desire to have others read and enjoy your book is still there. While I admit that being traditionally published is a goal of mine, there is still benefits to self-publishing one’s work.
Traditional Publication
Traditional publication of books involves a rather lengthy and slow process. You may have to choose to find an agent who will then solicit your work to publishers on your behalf for a percentage of your pay. Going the route of an agent can be the easiest solution to finding a traditional publisher for your work. You are able to do much of the polishing while your agent solicits your work to publishers on your behalf and perhaps avoid much of that prior to publication.
Although having an agent can be ideal, you can certainly solicit publishers on your own. Just make sure that you are familiar with the types of books that they publish before soliciting your work, and make sure that you have an excellent query letter. Be prepared, though, for rejections before you are accepted. This process is a long one, and even once you are accepted, it could be another year or more before you are published. Because of this, you want to make sure that your writing is not something that is following along with the current trends as trends can and do change. In the past 5 years, I’ve seen many of my students stop reading vampire related books. When trends change, I see them reading more about challenges that everyday students face rather than something that was once trendy.
Self-publication
Self-publication is an easier route if you want your work out there and available. The only time limit to self-publishing is how fast you can write. The downfall to this is the stigma that self-publishing holds due to so many who see writing books as a way to get rich who quickly write and publish without proofreading. The books are often plagued with typos, poor grammar, and plagued with continuity errors. Even the self-help or non-fiction books are written terribly and not fact-checked.
While there can be a huge stigma related to this type of publication, there remains a glimmer of truly talented writers who can outshine those who are only in it to get rich quick. Sometimes, self-publication can lead you to becoming traditionally published, as was the case for Amanda Hocking. When she first started self-publishing her books, she was blogging at the time. The year that everyone received a kindle for Christmas, her bank account skyrocketed and she became a millionaire almost overnight. The success of her self-published books caught the eye of a publisher who immediately signed her on and took over the marketing of her books. She found success in writing, although stories like this are rare. As a YA fantasy author, she has been very successful, and I have even caught some of my students reading her books over the years!
Where to Self-Publish
There are many places to self-publish your book nowadays. You can even find some places that will help with the formatting and self-publication for a small fee. I even offer that service here.
If you are willing to do all of the work yourself, you can check out the following places to publish:
Remember to follow us for more Writing Tip Tuesday!
Also, sign up for our Newsletter for the latest information.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
