The Pros And Cons Of Self-Publishing From A Broke Woman’s Perspective by Author / Spoken Word Artist lily

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) March 16, 2006

As with anything, my self-publishing experience may differ from yours. Firstly, let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is lily and I write poetry. I work a 9a-5p job, have two children, tend to live beyond my financial means and find myself recently single. I tell you this not because I want you in my personal business, but to emphasize that like a lot of folks, I live from paycheck to paycheck and did not have a lot of money to put into publishing my first book “girl Child (The Transition – In Poetic Form)”. When I decided to self-publish, it was primarily because I wanted to maintain the integrity my book and its overall message. I was clueless as to where to start and learned most things through trial and error. Here are a few pros, cons and tips that will hopefully help you decide if self-publishing is right for you. Keep in mind that there are several options to publishing your book – from self-publishing through your own company to going through a publishing house. Whatever avenue you take, plan on making a 110% personal commitment in order to make your project a success.

Pros:

• Maintain copyrights to your book
• Maintain full control of your project, including the cover design, title and release date
• Earn 100% of profits from books sold
• Avoid the process of sending query letters to publishing houses (and rejection responses you may receive)
• Pick and choose what events and venues are right for you and your book
• Many of the expenses for book production are tax deductible (Keep your receipts)

Cons:

• Incur all costs of book production, promotion and travel expenses
• Responsible for securing a book distributor or negotiating deals with individual bookstores (this task may be difficult depending on your genre)
• Must manage all aspects of the publishing business, including billing/ collecting on past due book retailer accounts

Ways to Cut Corners on Costs:

• Utilize a user friendly word processing program (i.e. Microsoft Word) and take advantage of the grammar/spell checks and text layout tools
• Join a writers group to assist with proofreading and editing
• Keep your cover simple: Not only are graphics intensive covers time consuming and costly to print, sometimes they are distracting and actually turn customers away
• Borrow industry books from your local library to review instead of or prior to purchasing

Take this info as a heads up from a self-publisher who knows how to publish a book on a limited budget. Your book is done and you should be proud – now get to publishing.

More from the Author:

Thursday, March 23rd – lily will be a featured artist at the Love Movement Poetry Event at Viento Y Agua Café and Gallery in Long Beach, CA

Saturday, March 25th – Join lily and a panel of author’s at the Vermont Square Library in Los Angeles, CA to discuss all aspects of getting your book published – From self-publishing to going through a mainstream publishing company. Q&A session and book signing after the workshop.

Be on the lookout for lily’s article “Erase All Doubt” being released in the Spring issue of CYH Magazine (http://www.cyhmagazine.com).

For more information about lily, her book “girl Child (The Transition – In Poetic Form)” or upcoming events visit http://www.mamaincense.com/Publishing.htm.

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