So much has already been said about self-publishing, and for the most part it has inspired aspiring authors to plunge into the industry. Almost everyone interested in self-publishing has heard a thing or two about how easy it has become to get a story published and presented in the market. But for many successful authors, the journey to self-publishing success has been everything but a walk in the park.
For sure, you won’t have to focus much on paperback formatting, as there are book formatting professionals out there who will help you in this regard for a reasonable fee, if you’re self-publishing. You won’t have to know much about what’s involved in eBook conversions and stuff such as embedding of fonts, as you can always avail these services over the internet. However, even New York Times bestselling authors know that the self-published author has to toil and moil to make significant breakthroughs in the industry.
During an interview with Mediabistro, Dave Ramsey shared some insights on what it takes to make it as self-publishing author. Of course, just as many unpublished today, the NYT bestselling author wasn’t considered to be good enough by mainstream publishers. Nevertheless, he went ahead to write his first book titled, “Financial Peace”.
Quite obviously, when self-publishing firms rejected a story, the reality that went with financial constrains reared its ugly head. If you had to go ahead and publish, somehow you needed to raise sufficient capital to get your title off production lines.
Another major obstacle with some of most successful early timers in self-publishing was distribution. With mainstream publishing being out of the picture, it was extremely challenging to present a title in the market and distribute it. Ramsey had to do it from the trunk of his car! Fortunately, his efforts bore fruits, and in about 5 years, his title became an NYT bestseller.
Today, the situation is much more favorable for authors who have been rejected by mainstream publishing houses. Actually, most authors today are not going for self-publishing after having explored all other possible options. Rather, self-publishing has gained a life of its own and is now being seen as a priority as opposed to last resort. Yet, as Ramsey noted, a lot more is required of the modern self-published author.
Today, no one is telling self-publishing authors that it’s going to be easy just because CreateSpace, Lulu, Barnes & Noble and other self-publishing will readily accept scripts from unpublished authors. However, the nature of self-publishing is that everyone with story to tell can give it a shot and make it in the business.
For starters, it takes no genius to mount a meaningful online marketing campaign for your book. A consistent presence in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google visibility are a must for any serious self-publishing author. As Ramsey noted, all this takes a bit of planning. You’ll have to be involved every step of the way and consult where necessary.
Here at The Fast Fingers book formatting service, we will address all your book formatting and design needs at reasonable fees.
<source: mediabistro.com, image: www.daveramsey.com>
