Why Choose Self-Publishing?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Terence_Tam]Terence Tam
Getting your idea into a printed book could be one of your greatest lifetime achievements. A publishing company can be a wonderful partner for a developing writer out to publish a book. The publisher can help target the perfect markets and work with the writer on writing the best book possible-and the easiest to sell. However, more and more people are turning to self-publishing as their preferred way of publishing a book.
There are many reasons people elect to self-publish. Among the most common is that self-publishers do not want to surrender control of their book. Publishers will want a say in the book's final draft, from an editorial standpoint and in designing the book's cover. From a business angle, publishers also want to exert control over the book's sales plan, pricing, distribution, and marketing, in order to maximize their profit. Many writers prefer to control their work themselves, on both the artistic and the business sides of publishing a book.
Beyond the control issue, there are other reasons a writer will choose to self-publish a book:
� Lower publishing cost.
� To maximize the earnings the book brings in. (Self-published authors can earn up to 70% of sales of books but only make 10-15% when they are contracted to publishers.)
� The writer loves the publishing business, and wants to be involved in every aspect of getting their book into the market.
� To maintain direct control of the customer list.
� To market to a small, specific demographic of readers, to whom the writer has direct access.
� Simple preference, to publish one's work by oneself.
It's also possible that a writer cannot have their book published by the "traditional" publishing industry. If an author is unknown, a publisher might not take an interest. If the topic the writer wants to publish a book about is obscure or controversial, the publishers might play it safe and not publish the book.
A case in point is Amanda Hocking, who has earned worldwide fame for selling over 1million books on the Kindle.Amanda Hocking wrote her first novel at age 17-and kept on writing more. She supported her writing career by working as a carer for people with disabilities. The truth is, she had written 17 novels but failed to interest any traditional publisher with her young adult paranormal romance and urban fantasy books. Imagine writing 17 books and getting rejected every single time!
Each time she approached traditional publishers, she was told that the market was saturated with vampire books. But she still believed in her books, so she just kept on writing and believing that something good will come out of her efforts.
So while traditional publishing doors closed, she noticed the emergence of self-publishing and decided to give it a try. So on 15th April 2010, she self-published her first book in the My Blood Approves series and sold it on Amazon. This was followed by a second novel and sales started to pick up as she promoted it on the internet on various blog sites with the paranormal romance fans.
Amazingly, within 3 short months, the income generated from her book sales enabled her to quit her job. By the end of 2010 she had sold over 160,000 copies. The book had reached tipping point and word of mouth helped her sell an additional 450,000 books in January 2011 alone. She is one of the few authors who has sold over a million e-books on the Kindle to date.
Self-publishing is gaining popularity because it has gotten easier, and the success stories more widespread. Take time to do some research and learn more about the advantages /disadvantages of self-publishing to become a published author.
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Terence Tam is the founder of Bookpal, he previously spent 6 years as an academic and was a contributing author for several academic books. Frustrated with the level of service he was getting with traditional publishers, he set up his own self publishing company to help other authors publish and market books with cost effective yet efficient solutions
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Choose-Self-Publishing?&id=6708487] Why Choose Self-Publishing?