Self-Publishing – Why not?
Have you done it
You did it and loved it
You did it and didn’t love it
You haven’t done it yet cause you’re afraid
Almost sounds like something you’d find in Cosmo, right?
Then they asked for what you thought of self-publishing and I fear I may have gone to the netherworld of ”somewhere over the rainbow edge”. Once I got finished, I felt like a crusader.
I was proud!
I was victorious!
I had clearly and succinctly (allow me to be redundant) adamant in my opinion.
I shall not be swayed.
I did my unbelievably ego-damaging stint of query letters (which I believe to be unbelievably ridiculous and undoubted one of the reasons self-publishing was created in the first place and can almost single-handedly be blamed for the downfall of the publishing industry–but, lest I wander too far off-topic–I had even gone to the dark side and tried (excuse me while I shudder) vanity press.
I know! I am so ashamed! But, there you have it. I’m out of the closet. I tried–ready for this–iUniverse for my first book. (By the way, I CAN hear the laughter!)
Now, I am a relatively bright person, or so I’ve been led to believe since second grade (first grade was a time of discovery and social toe-dipping). It didn’t take more than 600 queries and one vanity lesson and I knew there had to be a better way–a better use of my time and $$$. Well, I found it–more by accident than anything else.
I’ve decided to come all the way out of that dark, airless, scary closet and share my journey and why I adore self-publishing (and I didn’t even mention that my books are successful–I’m so proud). Here it is–my response to whether or not others should try
Self-Publishing!
Self-publishing (and I’m NOT talking about vanity presses where you pay a fortune and get little back for the cost) is wonderful. I’ve published sixteen books now. The first one was via vanity presses because I simply didn’t know better and had to learn my lesson the hard way. iUniverse and its ilk were (are) expensive and you got (get) damned little for the hundreds of dollars invested. (Not that I hold a grudge or anything!)
Then I moved to BookSurge and while it was better it still wasn’t what I needed or wanted. Then I went to CreateSpace–HALLALUYA–can you hear the angels singing? Imagine my pure joy when BookSurge and CreateSpace merged!
“What’s the diff?” you ask! Lemme splain it to ya!
1. It’s FREE…in case you missed that…it’s F-R-E-E
2. You get FREE templates for book design by size of finished book 5×8 6×9 etc.
3. They have a FREE cover creator for those who are cover-novices. Don’t worry–it took me until my 16th book to get brave enough to create my first cover completely without using one of their templates. It’s a learning experience.
4. They have a digital on-line proof program where you can see your finished product without paying for (let’s say it again…FREE) for a proof copy.
5. They are affiliated with Amazon, so your books get full Amazon coverage (dare I repeat myself) FREE.
6. Once you have your book completed in printed format, you can then make an extra copy and reformat it for submittal to Amazon’s digital books program and others like the marvelous Smashwords–who will put it out on Barnes & Noble, Sony, iTunes, Kobo, Diesel and others for how much? Did I hear FREE?
What more can I say, really?
