| Self publishing is a tricky thing. Some people love it | | | | necessarily their first language. Although they |
| and some people hate it. There's definitely a lot of | | | | muddle through, the result can often be a |
| controversy around it. So, let's look at some of | | | | somewhat garbled translation. So, that's another |
| the good and bad points. | | | | thing that leads to the bad reputation that some |
| First, there's something good. One of the greatest | | | | areas of self publishing have developed. |
| things about self publishing online is that anyone | | | | Unfortunately, without some sort of self |
| can be an author. There are no requirements | | | | regulatory or third party regulatory organization, |
| about age, education or credibility. There's also a | | | | the self publishing industry is always going to have |
| great thing called Print On Demand, or POD, | | | | those problems. That doesn't necessarily make it |
| technology. | | | | a bad thing, though. If you use it properly, it can |
| POD simply means that copies of books don't | | | | help you to get your story out there and, |
| need to be printed and shipped until they are | | | | hopefully, profit from it. |
| bought by a customer. The result is that more | | | | Tips: |
| people can be authors because it's, essentially, | | | | If you're not sure how to make a profit from self |
| free to do. Not only that, but it can lead to a | | | | publishing, you aren't alone. Many people aren't |
| potential profit. | | | | sure. The best way to start is to look at what |
| You see, in the old days, authors were | | | | others are doing. There are many standard |
| responsible for paying for copies of their books to | | | | formats for self publication. So, you can use a |
| be printed. Then, those authors had to sell those | | | | standard layout that is already tried and tested. |
| copies to make a profit. That kept many people | | | | Another thing that can be daunting is trying to sell |
| from even trying to self publish. | | | | copies of your publication. One way to do that is |
| Errors are a huge problem is self-published books, | | | | to let others do the work for you. For example, |
| however. So, that's something to list in the "bad | | | | you can sell bulk copies of your work to |
| points" column. You see, many self published | | | | companies at a discount. That makes them happy |
| books aren't properly edited for spelling and | | | | and gives you up front money, but it leaves the |
| grammar. On top of that, the content of many of | | | | selling of the copies to them. |
| them isn't guaranteed to be factually accurate. A | | | | Finally, you may want to set up a package deal. |
| lot of it is more of an interpretation or opinion of | | | | You can contact non-competing companies and |
| the author. | | | | ask them to sell their product with your own. |
| Another issue is the language barrier. A lot of | | | | That could increase sales for both of you, though |
| people want to publish in English, but English isn't | | | | you will have to split the profits, of course. |