Self Publishing Thoughts

As Professor Burton has pointed out to me, I need to be working on the digital component of my personal essay project while I am drafting.  This way, I can promote my eBook and connect with a perspective audience before they are even finished.

I'm trying to get more connected with the writing networks available online.  I attended an online chat session a few weeks ago and found some of their blogs which have been a fantastic starting point.  I came across the blog Literary Lab, kept by writers Domey Malasarn, Scott G.F. Bailey, and Michelle Davidson Argyle.  In this blog, I found a great post on self publishing that is frank and honest about some of the ins and outs of self-publishing.  Here are some points I learned that I need to focus on as I think about my eBook.

Price- The author of this post argues that you need to put just as much time and funding into the professional look and editing of your book.  She really emphasized making the cover captivating.  I've got some photographs, but I wonder if I should start looking at this more seriously, and sooner than i thought.

And off of that point, I was not planning on charging anything for this eBook.  To me it was more important to just get the information out there and promoting my first publication than to make any money.  This blog post also talked more specifically about how much it cost to make her first book and how much she made in the end.

If self publishing book is what I want to do in the future for a career, then this would be really important to learn sooner than later.

Print- This post also pointed out something interesting I have not considered.  While this author was only planning on making an eBook, she discovered that the vast majority of readers still prefer print.  This way, the book was made available for print and/or eBook format. 

Createspace- While you can publish for free, this author argued for Createspace.  It was 39 dollars to publish her book on this website.  Something to look into.

Advertising- This blog post said to not ever underestimate the power of social networking.  I guess I can pay people to review my book, advertise on Facebook for cheap, etc.  I'm also starting to explore the possibilities with Twitter.  The main argument is that self-publishing means that you have to do a lot of work on your own trying to put book out there, and that I might have to throw some money at advertising if I am going to make any money.

For this project, I'm not sure this is applicable, especially if I just decide to not charge anything and cheap out.  This author argues that publication, even self-publication, however, is very important, and should be treated professionally and seriously.

There are lots of other points of advice, and plenty of links to follow up on to hear the ins and outs of self-publishing.  I hope that this is also going to be a great connecting opportunity.